A few days ago, I dreamed I was composing a new piece. I could hear the ending and also sense the kind of music that led up to it. The final notes themselves were in my mind and I saw the notation, so after I awoke, I could write the passage down. Although I quite often compose in my dreams, it rarely has this clarity.

Nowadays I wake very early and begin to work straightaway in this little attic room above my apartment in Amsterdam, where there is a pleasant view of sky and treetops.  I practise the piano and compose. It is a dull day today and all I can see is grey sky and the branches of plane trees swaying in the wind.

Over the summer I worked on a piece for Chinese instruments. It was a frustrating time, just reading about them and listening to recordings, yet not knowing the nuts and bolts in terms of tuning, range and fingering etc. I couldn’t compose with certainty. The sounds of Chinese instruments are absolutely beautiful, however the issue is how to write for them appropriately.

Hamish is my closest friend, albeit a fairly grumpy one. He has seen much of my joy and sorrow and commented on nearly all of what he has seen. There has been plenty of laughter along the way. It is now over 20 years since I left Edinburgh but the connection with him has grown stronger, not weaker.