In 1975 I was approached by Gavin Henderson, the then Artistic Director of the York Festival, to ask if I would be interested in writing the music for the production of the York Cycle of Mystery Plays at the festival in the following year. I accepted the commission as it seemed to me to be an exciting venture, as there was a tradition of producing these plays with mainly amateur actors and musicians, with just one or two professionals taking the major roles. I wrote a score for choir, brass band, and percussion, which was performed every night by local amateur musicians. The plays were performed in the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey in York and ran for several weeks.