Every summer, Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England, together with its neighbors from Winchester and Salisbury, mobilizes all its forces and stems one of the most important church music festivals in Great Britain (Southern Cathedral's Festival). Leonard Bernstein was commissioned to compose for the festival in 1965 - the occasion for the now very popular Chichester Psalms.

The three-part work is based on Hebrew psalm texts that Bernstein himself compiled, emphasizing its liturgical character. Bernstein was released from his duties with the New York Philhamonic Orchestra for a sabbatical year in the year the Chichester Psalms were composed, and he used this opportunity to compose. He reports, 'At that time I spent most of the year writing only twelve-tone music and even more experimental things. I was happy to be able to bring out these new sounds; but after about six months of work, I threw it all away. It wasn't my music; it wasn't sincere. And as a result, the Chichester Psalms came out - certainly the catchiest B-flat major-like tonal piece I've ever written.'