John Casken's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis was commissioned to mark the return of the Lindisfarne Gospels to the North East of England, where Casken lives. The book, dating from the 7th century, is one of the finest examples of Anglo-Saxon Northumbrian illuminated manuscript, containing the oldest surviving translation of the Gospels into English. The manuscript was produced at a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne but is normally housed at the British Library in London, and its special exhibition in the Palace Green Library at Durham was marked by a summer-long celebration of the arts. Casken's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis is set in English.