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The Delius Singers present two works with radically different approaches to the same theme - life and its ending. Both compositions are the last substantial composition by their composer, and show a similar desire to ruminate on their impending deaths. In Parry's case, writing in 1916-18, his set of six anthems are also imbued with grief, as Parry mourned the loss of his friends and pupils killed in the First World War. Recognised immediately for their power and profundity, many movements have become regular anthems in churches and cathedrals, with the poet of each text interrogating one aspect of the Christian journey to the afterlife.

Started just two years later, Delius planned a large-scale composition for orchestra and chorus using texts from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, but after sketching the first movement it was set aside as Delius's health declined to a point where his body was almost entirely paralysed. A decade later, the chance to complete this final work arose thanks to the help of Eric Fenby, who offered his services as amanuensis to Delius and completed the other movements by dictation. Arranged here for piano duet and chorus, the work gives voice to a post-Christian conception of death, loss, and the purpose of life, reflecting Delius's Nietzsche-inspired indefatigable thirst for life.