Expectans expectavi is the high-water mark of Wood’s Romantic church music. Its intense, yearning diatonic language, epitomized by the opening wistful lyricism of the organ, the rich dominant-thirteenth harmony (enhanced by the co-existent ninth and eleventh) and the plaintive opening for the choir (‘This sanctuary of my soul’), is deeply memorable. Equally adroit is the manner in which Wood integrates the opening organ theme and dominant thirteenth into the choral material. A prudently crafted tonal plan, in which D flat and A major are subtly contrasted, and a sonata form full of dexterous variation (including the beautifully modified recapitulation and the haunting ‘memory’ of the main theme before the close) serve perfectly to underpin the introspective warmth of Sorley’s verse.

from notes by Jeremy Dibble © 2025