​Shakespeare’s play about the civil war that established the Lancastrians as kings of England at the end of the 14th century.  Although it ends with the restoration of order and stability, peace comes at a terrible price.  We wanted the music to reflect this, so there’s a strong theme of lament there. Composed after listening to a lot of English 13th/14th century music and, in particular, to the French composer Guillaume de Machaut (c1300-1377).