Composed as a wedding present for the composer's wife, and premiered under the baton of Kimberly Dunn Adams at the composer's wedding, Sudden Light sets Dante Gabriel Rossetti's beautiful and mysterious poem of the same name. Beginning softly with a modal melody, it gently builds to a climax on the word "soar" and returns at its conclusion to the modal harmony heard at the opening. Sudden Light is an attractive and useful piece on programs concerning love and commitment and for performance at marriage ceremonies.