In upstate New York lie the Catskills Mountains - an extraordinary combination of tranquillity and power, peace and majesty. Once seen, they call you back again and again.

The Catskills forms the second movement of East Coast Pictures, commissioned by the British Youth Wind Orchestra with funds from the National Westminster Bank plc. It is a suite of three short ‘pictures’ that were inspired by several visits to a small part of the American East Coast, an area that provides great extremes in the geography and the people.