Tori Amos would “never” have created her latest album unless she was composing classical songs for a musical.

The singer/songwriter was inspired to take on the challenge of forthcoming record ‘Night of Hunters’ -a 21st century take on a traditional song cycle based on classical themes – by penning tracks for a musical directed by Marianne Elliott, which is set to debut next year at Britain’s National Theatre.

She said: “This [record] could never have happened if I hadn’t been doing the musical; that’s the key.

“I must say though, I looked at Marianne just a couple weeks ago and she asked, ‘Is this the hardest thing you’ve ever done?’ And I said, ‘In any lifetime, even when I was a Roman.’ ”

The ‘Cornflake Girl’ hitmaker admitted she was originally intimidated when musicologist Alexander Berg told her the cycle had to be based on classic themes because she was worried what her friends in the music business would say if she made a bad job of the project.

She added in an interview with Wired.com: “I looked at him and I said, ‘You know, it’s easy to get that thing wrong. And if you get it wrong, it’s worse than tripping on your Louboutins during Fashion Week in Paris.

“‘You can’t recover from something like this amongst your peers.’ ”

Despite being worried about taking on a different challenge, Tori tries to ensure she adapts various styles throughout her career to make sure people do not get bored with her music.

She said: “I’ve had to keep exploring different ways of presenting the music so I don’t repeat myself.

“So people don’t say, ‘That’s exactly what she did 10 years ago.’ ”