Notes between Friends

This cameo for cello and piano was commissioned by BBC Radio 4 for the official departure of the UK from the European Union (EU) (January 31 2020).  The composer had written  Fanfare into Europe for the UK’s entry into the EEC in 1973, and Radio 4 used this as the opening music for Mark Mardell’s Brexit: A Love Story? – a series of 25 programmes documenting the sometimes troubled relationship between the UK and the EU.  For Radio 4’s PM programme on 31 January 2020, the official date the UK left the EU, the producer wanted to return to the …

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A Song for Sue

This cameo for solo piano originated as the main theme for the 2nd movement of the Concertante for Piano and Brass Band, composed and premiered in 1966, and dedicated to Sue, his wife to be. In 2020 the composer decided to make a new arrangement of the music for solo piano, specially for an album of his solo piano music released on the Naxos label. After a short introduction the melody is unfolded against a backdrop of arpeggiated chords. A short transition section prefaces a repeat of the melody, this time developing into a majestic climax, before subsiding into silence. …

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Lullaby

I wrote this little piece in 1965, when I was an undergraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. It was written to celebrate the birth of my first niece, Jane Ann, and is dedicated to her; but it remained unpublished until I started discussing the repertoire for a new recording of my music for solo piano in 2020. It then emerged as a suitable piece to include, and it is now being published for the first time for pianists of all ages to enjoy.

Lullaby (or Cradle Song) Is cast in ternary form, and whilst the simple …

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Friday a.m.

This expansive miniature was written in 1981 and was my response to the emotional impact of listening to the Adagietto from Mahler’s 5th Symphony, hence my dedication: with apologies to Gustav. Indeed, the main melody of my piece follows the melodic line of Mahler’s, but takes off in a different direction and ‘gradually metamorphoses into a lighter style reminiscent of a jazz improvisation…..as though we move from the philharmonic hall in Central Europe to a Manhattan jazz club around 2am, when everything is subdued and transient’ (McLachlan).

Although written many years ago, the piece is a rather personal creative utterance …

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