Work withdrawn

'Delphic Bee' is inspired by the most prestigious and authoritative oracle amoung the Greeks: the Delphic oracle - the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Speech patterns may be detected in the unison rhythms of the piece, which have a compact 'bee-like' energy, suggestive of the pattern making activities of bees, and often the sound seem to almost buzz. Apparently the oracles at Delphi were delivered in a frenzied state, induced by vapours rising from a chasm in the rock of the cave in which the responses were given. The music acknowledges this imagined 'gibberish' as enlightenment, in the same way the priests at Delphi interpreted the enigmatic prophesies, and preserved them in Greek literature. The last recorded response from the Delphic oracle was in AD 393, after which the Emporer Theodosius I ordered pagan temples to cease operation. ‘Delphic Bee’ was commissioned by the City of London Festival.