The Torn Veil is largely an orchestral work with some shorter choruses and solos which is suitable for use as a ballet. It is based around the true story of a Pakistani Muslim lady, Gulshan Esther as told in her book “The Torn Veil”. Being crippled by Polio from birth she seeks healing from her condition, travelling with her kindly father to see a specialist in London. The Doctor however says with some dismay upon seeing her condition the ‘only prayer will heal her’. Hearing this she decides to go Pilgrimage to Mecca to seek this healing. After she returns to Pakistan her father dies and she is heart-broken in losing his love and fatherly concern. She starts to pray much more in earnest and hears a voice telling her to read about Jesus in the Koran. She starts to study her Koran for inspiration and she reads of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (Jesus the Son of Mary) who works miracles, heals the sick and cures the blind. She decides to pray to this ʿĪsā and after several years of prayer – now in a moment of desperation he comes and heals her and teaches her to say his prayer ‘ Our Father’.
The Torn Veil has less choral passages than Cormac’s other works and tells the story through longer orchestral passages with leitmotifs to indicate the dramatic action. All texts apart from the Our Father are taken either from the Quran or from her own words as described in her Book of the same title. The Torn Veil’ Cormac met her while writing this work when she spoke at the Ecumenical Prayer Group at Cockfosters where Cormac was a music minister.
The Torn Veil has less choral passages than Cormac’s other works and tells the story through longer orchestral passages with leitmotifs to indicate the dramatic action. All texts apart from the Our Father are taken either from the Quran or from her own words as described in her Book of the same title. The Torn Veil’ Cormac met her while writing this work when she spoke at the Ecumenical Prayer Group at Cockfosters where Cormac was a music minister.