The composer writes: ŒñFrom very early on in life, I heard a lot of Romantic piano musicŒ„my mother plays repertoire mainly from that period. As Igrew up, my interest turned more towards rock music and other contempor ary styles. Having then studied music at tertiary level, I often found myself incorporating Romantic harmony in the music I was writing without thinking too much about it. Around the time this piece was written, I had been thinking more deeply about the music of Chopin, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and othersŒ„effectually re-tracing aspects of my musical heritage. ŒñFirst Light, then, does not represent a change of style for me but a slightly more conscious recognition of that music which is central in defining the way in which I hear functional harmony. The piece also contains other, more contemporary voicings, influenced by composers such as the American pianists Lyle Mays, Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock.For me the question is not so much one of style as it is of function, a nd this strikes me as being something outside of Œïhistorical timeŒÍ.
