The Silent Hour

"I am not usually given to using evocative titles for my works, but in this case the material grew naturally from the sense of the title. The title in fact comes from a poem of John Clare called 'Evening' which I had considered setting as a song. I became less interested in the narrative aspect of the poem, feeling more for the underlying sense of transfiguration. It often seems that the ordinary things of the world can become magically transformed at certain points of the day, or in accordance with one's metabolism! For me, music can reflect that intensity or indeed be itself an agent of change and heightened sense."