The composer’s new album with Sydney Chamber Choir spans Arabic poetry and Old Testament verses to contemporary texts.

Your new album, Lux Aeterna, is all about the struggle of light and darkness. What drew you to this theme and did you always intend the works to share this commonality of concept?

The works were written over a long period of time (17 years) so there was no deliberate plan for the theme of this CD. The theme of light struggling against darkness emerged as a strong concept when grouping these pieces together, and I was fascinated to see this once we had finished recording all the works. The idea of finding a way forward in the midst of challenges – light against darkness – is a common human experience and one that runs through many of my pieces. These contrasts are expressed in many ways in the music – from the divisions of day and night, moon, sun and stars in the Genesis creation story through to the plight of an artist struggling with an inner darkness through to the plight of modern day Palestinians.

Paul StanhopeComposer Paul Stanhope. Photo...