The Glory Tree is a song cycle for solo soprano and chamber ensemble by the British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad.
The Glory Tree was inspired by Shamanic rituals and is set to the text of Old English poems, including Dream of the Rood and Judith.
Frances-Hoad detailed the structure of the composition, writing:The piece is in five continuous movements, with the 1st, 3rd and 5th being the journeys to heaven, across the sea, then down to Hell, and the 2nd and 4th songs use the texts of Rune poems to link the three levels of the world – in the 2nd song, Icy Hail falls from the heavens and turns into water, and in the 4th, a boat travels across the water to reach the land, whereupon the last movement, the descent to hell, begins.
"[2] Barry Witherden of BBC Music Magazine similarly remarked, "Refreshingly, on this evidence, Frances-Hoad's allegiances are to mainstream modernism, rather than the various popular post-modernist ‘isms’.
[3] Ivan Hewett of The Daily Telegraph was slightly more critical, writing, "Frances-Hoad's skill at creating a rich texture from modest chamber forces is astonishing.