British composer Robert Pearsall (1795-1856) was trained inand briefly practiced law but, after a mild stroke, moved to Germany where he pursued his interests in history, painting, genealogy, heraldry and, above all, musical composition. There he became absorbed in the Cecilian movement, an effort to return music to a more subservient role in the church and which held the Renaissance masters of the 15th and 16th century (Palestrina, above all) as ultimate models. He received training in traditional counterpoint and transcribed Renaissance works into modern notation.

The six part Light of My Soul, owes much to the 18^th century examples of Palestrina and Lotti, yet reveals a handling of suspensions which seem altogether modern in its boldness and scope.  The lyrics by Edward Bulwer-Lufton, originally a secular madrigalian poem, speak of a divine guiding light, longing for spiritual clarity.

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