Secret Psalm was originally written in 1990 for Nona Liddell to play at the memorial concert for Michael Vyner (1943-1989), Artistic Director of the London Sinfonietta for many years, who began life as a violinist and particularly loved the slow movement of one very well-known concerto, which provided the starting-point for the three "verses" of this short meditation.
In 2003 Oliver Knussen reworked Secret Psalm to include in a retrospective concert of his chamber music at Weill Hall in New York, where it was first performed by Jennifer Frautschi.