For A Brief Second Time Just Stood Still [5:13] 7.3Mb

Big Ben clock face

This piece owes a lot to the inspiration served up by playing with a bunch of pleasant sounding timbres and seeing what emerged from them. The gentle sound of the combined treated harps (mostly through chorus and some slight flanging) create a third sound altogether, over the faded choir of strings and voice synthesisers, all of which lead up to what is for many a genuinely surprising coda.

Again, this largely improvised piece fell into place in little more than an afternoon with the arrangement and recording of the coda coming slightly later. As for the title, it simply reflects the fact that on first playback of the 'harp section' time did indeed seem to stop for just a moment; I had absolutely no idea for how long it extended and was surprised to find that the overall piece is as short as it is measured. Even now on listening to it again time seems to be almost elastic, with it either seeming to be quite long or very short, depending on one's frame of mind at the time.

This tune also earned me the highest praise I have ever enjoyed: my former colleague and musical friend the late Greg Amov described this as 'one of the best pieces I've ever heard'. Coming from him I can hardly imagine any higher tribute.

This is also available on YouTube.

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