On the Rocks was written for Andrew Ball in 1992. Apart from a few (unperformed) miniatures it´s the first solo piano work I´ve written for ten years. Improvisatory and lyrical in style and cast as one ten-minute movement, it was inspired by two contrasting - although not unrelated - ideas. The first of these was to create my own version of abstract cocktail lounge music, suitable perhaps for performance in one of Brighton´s seafront hotels. Coupled with this was the thought of Debussy writing part of La Mer further along the coast in an Eastbourne hotel, early in the century, and perhaps with the sounds of the lounge of his day ringing in his ears.
The sound of a phonograph recording of Debussy playing was uppermost in my memory whilst writing the piece; a truly magical tone, luminous, deep, but never heavy. There are also (for those with very quick ears) one or two fleeting quotes from his works. Martin Butler (Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press)
Duration 13 minutes