With a title that refers to the energetic and rumbling Bass beneath the music Weir's work for Chamber Ensemble boasts an intriguing structure. Trios and Quartets appear for fleeting moments as the musicians jostle into groupsthat are soon abandoned...as the piece progresses so unison is gradually although tentatively achieved. Written for a large chamber ensemble of fourteen players the piece was completed in 2002.

There are three mysteries about this piece by Purcell originally scored for Viols. When it was written for what purpose it was written and why the eccentric title ‘Chacony’ rather than the French ‘chaconne’ are questions whoseanswers are all shrouded in the mists of time. The suggested dates of early 1680’s and as a piece of light music for some sort of theatrical performance almost answer two of the three questions. The Chacony is scored here forString quartet but could be played by a larger ensemble.

Commissioned by the St Magnus Festival with funds from the Scottish Arts Council. First performed by The Fires of London in June 1978 in St Magnus Cathedral Kirkwall.The work takes as its starting-point a sequence of dreams related by Franz Kafka in his diaries of 1910. Eduardova was a Russian ballerina whom Kafka had seen dancing in Prague in the early part of this century. The music of The Dancer Eduardova is based on dancing particularly the csardas which in his dream Kafka had asked the dancer to perform just one time more. Kafka's dream-sequences contain the uncomfortable contrasts of the grace of the dancer and the loathsome gestures of unconscious intriguers;there are abrupt changes of mood to sorrow and despair. Flowers presented by all the Princes of Europe appear in the dreams as do trains and trams on which Eduardova travels with two vigorous violinists.

Piccola Musica is written for string trio and is in five short movements independent of each other apart from the ‘’tie-up’’ between numbers I and V. The texture is in the main contrapuntal though less consistently so than in Maconchy's Quartets and the mood is more relaxed. The five ‘’piccoli movimenti’’ are: I Allegro moderato II Andante III Moderato IV Poco lento V Allegro moderato- meno mosso-allegro moderato: in its end is its beginning.

Raymond Premru was for many years the principal Bass Trombone of London?s Philharmonia Orchestra as well as having been a member of the Philip Johnson Brass Ensemble an active jazz musician teacher and composer. He listed hisinfluences as Berg Prokofiev Bartok Ives jazz and Bach though what emerged from his sensibility is diatonic modernist and skillfully suited to whatever instrumentation he chose.The five movements which appear typeset in thisscore A Tale From Long Ago Blues March Of Knights And Castles Le Bateau Sur Léman and Petite March are sometimes performed as a shortened version of the Divertimento to great effect.

Work for Chamber Ensemble commissioned for the Fires of London by the St Magnus Festival Society with funds from the Scottish Arts Council.

This work for chamber ensemble was written for Gregory Knowles and The Fires Of London who gave the first performance at the 1982 Lucerne Festival at the Municipal Theatre of Lucerne.Miniature score. Duration c. 40mins.