Night Pictures (1986)

Night Pictures, written in the summer of 1986 and first performed at the Bath Festival the following year, are, as the title suggest, 5 nocturnal evocations which, although programmatic, also attempt to conjure up more personal and abstract images. To achieve a satisfactory structure, the first and last movements are the fastest and shortest and employ all fourteen players while the second and fourth movements are scored for eight instruments and are slower in tempo. The central movement, using just 5 players, is a slow lament. Each ‘picture’ is prefaced by a haiku:

1 Sacred night,
through masks
white breath of dancers.

2 At prayer
bead-swinging
at mosquitoes.

3 Don’t weep, insects, 
lovers, stars themselves on the lake
must part.

4 Miles of frost –
on the lake
the moon’s my own.

5 Tonight you too
are rushed
autumn moon.