Composed: 1996
Duration: 7 minutes

Programme Note

This ‘Romantic’ piano miniature was written for Margaret Atkinson and first performed at her home in Half-Moon Bay, San Francisco in 1997.

The work is based upon sketches that the composer wrote to accompany a Children’s ballet based upon ‘The Rose and the Nightingale’ – a short story by Oscar Wilde. This evocative and wistful piano piece is sectional in nature and follows closely Wilde’s unfolding narrative. It begins, with a short impressionistic introduction, that has an almost Debussy-like quality to it. This is followed a simple and plaintive melody – an innocent portrayal of the Nightingale ‘theme’ and the backdrop to the opening scene, in which a love struck prince must find his beloved a red rose or forfeit the princesse’s love.