Tiers of Time

This piano quartet was written to mark the retirement of Professor John Casken from Manchester University in January 2008. It is partly inspired by the landscape of the High Peak that surrounds Whaley Bridge where both John and I lived for a number of years; in particular, the dazzling bright sunshine that can be viewed from some of the peaks, the bleakness of some of the moors and the wonderful sense of space that can be felt there. All the musical material for the work is derived from the final bars of John Casken’s own Piano Quartet of 1990; indeed, my work ends with an altered quotation of these final bars as if someone is recalling a similar experience but remembering it slightly differently.

Philip Grange