Intricate Images (2014)
cello and harp (20’)

1. Prelude
2. Barcarolle –
3. Berceuse
4. Capriccio
5. Song Without Words (for H.P.) –
6. Arabesque
7. Postlude

The title of this piece was suggested by 'I, in my intricate image', the opening poem of Dylan Thomas's second published collection, Twenty-Five Poems (1936), and chosen in honour of the poet's centenary year in which it was premiered. Aside from this coincidence, I have sought to capture in music something of the elusive and enigmatic quality of Thomas's early poetry with its dense, lush Blakean imagery. The piece takes the form of a suite of seven movements whose titles point to fin de siècle salon music genres, an association suggested by the unusual and intimate pairing of instruments, which are treated as equal partners.

Commissioned by Tŷ Cerdd for the Swansea Festival 2014 and first performed at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea on 7th October 2014 by Steffan Morris (violoncello) and Catrin Finch (harp)