In his own words:

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I love walking, running, playing, dancing – even driving – outside at night. My favourite night-time songs and poems always had an element of mystery and restlessness – cool musical colours, odd harmonies, insistent rhythms. The words of Pauline Johnson’s “Finale” suggested this to me, and I wanted to highlight it as I set the text. In short, I’ve tried to write the sort of lullaby I would have liked to hear as a child – on a summer night, out walking instead of sleeping.

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Several of the motifs in this song were inspired by Maurice Ravel’s “La Vallée des Cloches.” I wanted the piano accompaniment to sound delicate and percussive, like chimes and bells, to contrast with the lower voices of a men’s chorus.