Disguises

These portraits of three people were chosen in some way for their similarities as well as their contrasts.
In the 1st movement a famous composer who was a seminal influence on my musical life; in the 2nd movement, my late mother who, when she died, left me, among countless wonderful memories, the little 6 note theme that appears throughout "Music for Miriam";
in the 3rd movement, an old friend, who brings me occasional benign madness and hilarity when I most need it, and whose joviality disguises a certain wistfulness.
I decided, upon completion of the work, that I wanted to dedicate it to the subject of the first movement, Sir Malcolm Arnold and I received the following email from Antony Day on the 20th September 2006:
"Sir Malcolm is delighted you are honouring him in this way and wishes you every success with the new piece. He looks forward to hearing it."
Thus, the above dedication.
Four days later came the sad news of his passing, and a few days after that I heard from Sir Malcolm's manager, Fiona Southey, who wrote: "The concept for your piece (........) is made especially poignant in that MA was aware of what you had in mind and only to delighted to sanction your request to also dedicate the entire work to him. I do know that he was really very happy with the thought."
RIP Sir Malcolm, and thank you.
Jon Lord

October 2006