This musical portrait is dedicated to my mother and speaks of her love and care but also looks at the contradictions of her character and her individual strengths beyond solely being a mother.

This short work hints at the febrile intensity of moving towards a goal only to be mundanely under-whelmed by the outcome. It deals with the contemporary phenomenon of instant gratification and the subsequent potential for disappointing outcomes. This modern day reality is treated as an implication of the dangerous rise in consumer culture and expectations of instant (but often incomplete) knowledge, that drives the desire for quick gains and an insatiable appetite for more. The aphoristic nature of the piece is in itself a commentary on the disturbing rise in superficial approaches to matters that once were afforded more time and thought.

I am fascinated by consciousness. Do we live in a dream or are our dreams reality? Buddhism extols the virtues of meditation, supposedly leaving the burden of reality behind while other great thinkers like the Taoist master Chuang-Tzu speaks of awakening to dreaming. One awakens out of dreaming, the other wakes up to dreaming. Which is it? This piece explores the strange world of dreams where anything can happen, seemingly without our control.

This piece is inspired by the work of Pati Makowska, a photographer who created a wonderful series of pictures featuring abandoned palaces in Eastern Europe. Whilst the grandeur of these magnificent structures can still impress from the outside, the dilapidation of the once glistening halls and grand staircases can only hint at what used to be. The music has both the might of Slavic fortitude and the pomp that was formerly ‘de rigueur' inside these noble walls, but now gives way to ghostly murmurs and a faded memory of power and wealth. Echoes of grand balls ring around the dusty, empty rooms but soon dissipate, just like the memories of those who experienced these lavish occasions.

This piece begins with a simple C major chord and proceeds to step up one note at a time. This provides an ever-changing musical backdrop, which allows a melody to develop over the evolving harmonic landscape, eventually arriving back at C major again. The narrative that the piece was built upon, focuses on a habitual desire to do better and contemporary Sisyphean efforts towards self improvement. However, the resolution alludes to a sense of relief when a space for reflection is finally realised.

This work is a cheeky romp in the style of a fast rag. It’s capriciousness hints at the carefree play of children but its crunchy harmonies never stay still for long as it whisks you off on a whistle-stop tour of its own making.

The interior world that nostalgia inhabits and the safety that its privacy compels, allows for lyricism and power to live alongside exuberance. This piece embraces the wide range of feelings associated with nostalgia where unabashed sentimentality modulates into a vibrant coda.

Dying is inevitable. Some of us are told of the terrible news that our life can be measured in years or months, while others have their lives snuffed out without warning. However, there are those who die peacefully, which is the focus of this piece. This is a musical description of the last few seconds of mortal life. ‘Last Breath Panic’ comments on the body’s astonishing instinct to keep going. This then gives way to ‘Euphoria’, a sensation often experienced by those in the final moments of their life. Then comes ‘Resignation’, the realisation that there is nothing to prevent this impending journey into the unknown. In a darker take on these imaginings the piece then shifts to the notion of ‘Futility’ where one simply gives up the fight. In an ironic twist, the penultimate section experiences a ‘Last Memory’ as the soul recalls a moment once had, before ending with a final gesture indicating ‘Release’.

Aspects is a set of variations - harmonic variations. Many composers have set about showing their inventiveness by taking a simple theme and manipulating it into all kinds of wonderful melodies but still using the theme as their base. This work uses a set of chords rather than a melody, from which nine different treatments have been worked. Each short segment has its own sound world alluded to in each title.

i). Theme

ii). Variation 1 Searching For The Idea

iii). Variation 2: The Waltz Of Madness

iv). Variation 3: The Chase

v). Variation 4: Secrets Of The Cathedral

vi). Variation 5: Caught In The Maze

vii). Variation 6: Oceans

viii. Variation 7: Rude Man

x). Variation 8: Cycle Of Thinking

x). Variation 9: Mighty Nature

This piece celebrates the experience of re-awakening a happy moment that was previously long forgotten. Memory Remembered refers to a moment of reconnection to a positive past experience, and the feelings of warmth that this evokes.

Sunflowers have been made famous in the world of art through Van Gogh’s many depictions. Their bright yellow colour and their religious obeisance to the sun make sunflowers a symbol of happiness and hope. However it is their sheer beauty and nobility that inspired this music.

The dedication of this piece is to a very special person who possesses all the moods in the music. From serenity to idiosyncratic bursts of energy but always defaulting back to gentle kindness. The recurring theme speaks of the determination that is ever present.

This lively dance is inspired by those who are free from the constraints of convention and who promote creativity in all its forms.