Composing my first piano nocturne in 1977, I  was always writing late at night, parents in bed and the television was switched off in the living room. The downstairs room, the only room in the house apart from the from two upstairs bedrooms. There was no bathroom, the toilet was a short walk to the bottom of yard

Sat at the piano with pencil and manuscript noting down the barely audible notes that were painstakingly discovered in dead of night while mum and dad slumbered. My dad had bought me an old upright piano from the Scouts who did local house clearance. Instrument worked but was out of tune. For years the idea of tuning it was regularly discussed but was never a priority that at the time and did not seem to stop me playing and writing.

When I rediscovered the manuscript I had finally bought a full size electronic piano with weighted keys. Always in tune and can be played fortissimo with headphones at any time of the day or night. I recorded the piece and overlayed the track playing in track backwards, the sound of the reverse envelope notes crescendo to an abrupt attack provides additional spooky nocturnal atmospherics. My daughter-in-law actually jumped on the opening sforzando.