My sister, the clarinettist Alison Hughes, is a member of the Camilleri Trio who gave the first performance. The work was conceived in memory of our aunt, Gillian Nicholls. The four movements are:

1. Walk with rainstorm

2. Song

3. Scherzo

4. Until the day break

It is a kind of narrative - in one sense an imagined walk through a changing landscape. A very English one, in other words one in which it rains! But sometimes lit up by sunshine. It remembers Gillie Nicholls, who loved walking and loved life. She died from cancer in 2010. I wanted to write a piece that would remember her and her wonderful enthusiasm and sense of humour, as well as forming a more traditional lament. So there are elements of each in this piece. Gillie was also a profoundly spiritual person. When she and John Muddiman married in 2010 they asked me to write a short song for the wedding, 'Rise Up, My Love', using words from 'Song of Solomon'. The new work for the Camilleri Trio, commissioned by Jennifer Hughes in memory of her sister Gillian Nicholls, also refers in the main title, and in the last movement title, to lines from 'Song of Solomon': the time of the singing of birds is come - Song of Solomon 2:12 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away - Song of Solomon 2:17 A Time for Singing was written for the Camilleri Trio - Alison Hughes (clarinet/bassclarinet), Anja Inge (cello), Joanne Camilleri (piano). It was first performed by them at Mansfield Chapel, Mansfield College, Oxford, on 30 October 2011.