Walton’s musical life began as a chorister at Christ Church Oxford, and from time to time he returned to choral music, generally in response to a specific invitation or commission. Set me as a seal upon thine heart was composed in 1938 for the wedding of Ivor Guest (son of Lady Alice Wimborne, with whom Walton was close at the time) and Lady Mabel Fox-Strangways. Within its brief time-span, Walton’s setting of these aptly-chosen lines from the Song of Songs bears recognizable hallmarks of his style—intensity of mood, bitter-sweetness of harmony, and a certain melodic angularity which precludes any hint of sentimentality.

from notes by Collegium Records © 2012