Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman will present the world premiere of her new choral work It Felt Love at Chichester Cathedral on Saturday 21 November, as part of a special evening celebrating her music for film and choral music.
Written to words by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez, It Felt Love will be performed for the first time by Chichester Cathedral Choir, with Portman in attendance.
The short poem reflects on a rose opening its heart to the world, encouraged by light to overcome fear. Its themes of beauty, encouragement and finding the courage to open oneself to the world inspired Portman’s new setting.
I was immediately drawn to the simplicity and beauty of Hafez’s words and to the image of the rose responding to the encouragement of light. There is something very moving in the idea that it is encouragement that allows us to open ourselves to the world, rather than remain frightened. I wanted the music to reflect that sense of something gradually opening and coming into the light.
Rachel Portman
The premiere will form part of An evening with Rachel Portman: From film scores to choral music, bringing together two strands of a career that has encompassed more than 100 film and television scores as well as a growing body of music for choir and concert performance.
Born in West Sussex, Portman became the first female composer to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score, for Emma. Her many other film scores include Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, The Duchess, One Day and Never Let Me Go.
The first half of the evening will see Portman in conversation about her career and creative process, illustrated with clips from some of the films she has scored. She will also perform at the piano, exploring how music can help tell stories and illuminate characters on screen.
The focus then turns to Portman’s choral music, with Chichester Cathedral Choir performing works including The Darkling Thrush, The Gathering Tree and We Were There, as well as giving the world premiere of It Felt Love.
Portman’s choral music has received increasing attention in recent years. In 2025, The Gathering Tree was performed at the Last Night of the BBC Proms, while The Darkling Thrush was included in the Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge.
The Chichester performance will offer audiences a rare opportunity to hear Portman talk about both her film and choral music, before hearing her work performed in the setting and acoustic of the Cathedral.
Portman is a Vice Patron of the Chichester Cathedral Platinum Endowment Trust for Music, which supports the future of music at the Cathedral, including its choir, choristers, Lay Vicars, Organ Scholars and wider music programme. The evening is a fundraising event in support of the Trust’s work.
An evening with Rachel Portman: From film scores to choral music
Saturday 21 November 2026, 7.00pm
Tickets from £20