When I was asked to write a short piece for Peter Maxwell Davies’s memorial concert, I thought of trying to find an Orkney folksong to arrange, but I couldn’t find one, so have invented my own. The scoring is the same as in Pierrot Lunaire, that hugely important piece in Max’s life. The theme appears four times, the last time accompanied by the song of a thrush, which according to my bird books are found in Orkney – I hope so!

 

Max was an important figure in my youth: I went to first performances of many of his works, including Revelation and Fall, St Thomas Wake (my favourite piece of his) and Worldes Blis; they were electrifying occasions.

 

D.M.