[Full programme note here.]
Some time in the '80s, the editor of a musical journal asked me for a statement on composing. Here is something of what I wrote:
The quiet in which I compose is not a different part of my world, set apart in contrast to noise, bustle and contradictions. This quiet is the focal point in which everything stills, becomes transparent; and I can listen, not only to what I know, but also to what I don't know I know.
In silence, listening. Listening for what arises of its own accord. Listening to this sound, discrete and particular, letting it grow in its own way. Transcribing the sound, following its shape with a pencil, is not a separate thing. Composition is the activity of listening. Listening, not before, not after. Now....
A tree telling of Orpheus was commissioned by the English ensemble, GEMINI, and the score is dedicated to Michael Hall.
