The Light of Paradise (2023)

Written By Paul Mealor

Fourteen Devotions of Margery Kempe

By Paul Mealor - Composer, United Kingdom

The medieval mystic Margery Kempe (c. 1373–1448) was an extraordinary and controversial figure. Rejecting the conventional expectation for a woman of her day of marriage, she undertook extensive pilgrimages to sacred sites across Europe and the Middle East, often dressed in white.

Kempe understood her travels as divinely ordained trials and recorded her visionary experiences in The Booke, a spiritual autobiography begun in 1430. Although illiterate, she dictated the text, transforming intensely personal experiences into a remarkable work of devotional literature.

The Book of Margery Kempe

The surviving manuscript was copied shortly before 1450 by a scribe who identified himself as “Salthows”, now known to have been the Norwich monk Richard Salthouse. After the sixteenth century, Kempe’s book disappeared from view and was not rediscovered until 1934, when it was found in the private library of the Butler-Bowdon family. It is now held by the British Library. It is the first known autobiography written by a woman.

Pro Coro Canada The Light of Paradise

My The Light of Paradise is an hour-long work commissioned by the Zurich Chamber Singers and scored for choir and saxophone quartet. The piece is a “choral opera” with its fourteen movements, which I choose to call ‘devotions’, loosely modelled on the fourteen Stations of the Cross.

Drawing on Kempe’s words, the work traces a narrative arc that reflects both her physical pilgrimages and her inner spiritual journey. The choir is asked to mirror this journey ‘physically’ as they move around the stations of the Cross on the stage.

Neither opera nor oratorio, The Light of Paradise blends choral writing, solo voices, and instrumental interludes to create, I hope, a distinctive and immersive sound world. In a British musical tradition that has often been cautious in addressing religious ecstasy and mysticism, The Light of Paradise stands out for, I believe, in its direct engagement with visionary experience, presenting Kempe’s intense spirituality in a form that is both immediate and accessible.

I look forward immensely to returning to Edmonton to work with Michael and Pro Coro Canada and hear their great artistry bring this deeply personal work to life.

Paul Mealor, January 2026

Paul Mealor

Described in the New York Times as “one of the most important composers to have emerged in Welsh choral music since William Mathias… A real and original talent,” Paul Mealor’s music has rapidly entered the repertoire of choirs and singers around the world. His music has been described as having “serene beauty, fastidious craftsmanship and architectural assuredness… Music of deep spiritual searching that always asks questions, offers answers and fills the listener with hope…” 

Paul Mealor (1975) is a Welsh composer, currently Professor of Composition at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. His stature as a composer grew significantly when Prince William commissioned him to write music for his 2011 marriage to Kate Middleton. The composition Ubi Caritas et Amor was performed by the choirs of Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal at Westminster Abbey and was heard by 2.5 billion people, the largest audience in broadcasting history. Wherever You Are, composed for the BBC Two Television series The Choir: Military Wives, was released in December 2011 and became the number one Christmas hit on the UK Singles Chart. In 2012 he was voted the UK Classic FM’s nation’s favourite living composer. 

Paul Mealor was appointed as Pro Coro Canada’s Composer-in-Residence from 2015-2017. In 2015, Pro Coro Canada gave the North American premiere of The Farthest Shore to a capacity audience at the Winspear Centre. In addition, they performed Stabat Mater and gave the North-American premiere of The Shadow of Thy Cross – where one audience member was heard saying: “I’ve found my faith again.” In speaking to his appointment with Pro Coro Canada, Professor Mealor said, 

“I am really delighted to be taking up the prestigious position of composer-in-residence with Canada’s premiere professional choir, Pro Coro Canada. Having worked with them recently and their fantastic conductor, Michael Zaugg, I just know this is going to be a year to remember! Watch this space for lots of new music sung to perfection!” 

https://www.paulmealor.com/
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Composing My Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom