John McCabe's Nocturnal For Piano Quintet was composed in 1966 commissioned by the Park Lane Group London and first performed by the Lancaster University Ensemble. Duration: Approximately 13 minutes. Composers Note:  The title of this work is a reference to John Donne's poem A Nocturnal upon St Lucie's Day the mood of which is reflected in the quintet. It falls into several movements played without a break: Introduction (Andante) setting forth the main thematic ideas of the music; Nocturne 1 (Allegro vivo) an agitated virtuoso scherzo-like section; a tripartite central part of the work consisting of two Cadenzasframing a brief Interlude the first Cadenza being largely for strings the second mainly for piano and the Interlude harking back to the feeling of the Introduction; Nocturne 2 (Andante molto) a slow piece gradually building to a unison theme on strings accompanied by a tolling piano background. This dies down to lead to an Epilogue ending with a final reference to the work's opening bars. 

Postcards was written in 1991 for the Vega Wind Quintet who first performed it at the Huddersfield Festival in the same year. It is a reworking of a set of eight Bagatelles written in 1965: each movement has been rewritten and enlarged to a greater or lesser extent. The title was chosen to emphasise the nature of the pieces which are in a sense brief postcards from different genres (fugato dance etc). John McCabe (1939-2015) was a British composer pianist and music administrator. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music and built a career as a virtuoso pianist. However he also wrote several hundred musical compositions ranging from large-scale orchestral works to chamber music and solo instrumental pieces - it is said the only classical genre he did not write for was opera. 

Hawk in Winter Light was inspired by the sight of a hawk circling obsessively on a bright November day hence the constantly circular nature of the music and especially its melodic material. Though the central section is quicker the underlying pulse remains the same and the transition to a quicker tempo is hardly noticeable. The piece is therefore and unusually for a brass quintet a single entity in which the outer sections are closely related the final part being partly a reprise and partly a variation of the opening.The piece was commissioned by the KlaraFestival of Flanders and is dedicated to Fine Arts Brass who gave its first performance during thefestival in Belgium on the 20 September 2005.

This Quartet was commissioned by the Delme String Quartet to whom it is dedicated. First performed by the Quartet London 1982. Duration 20 minutes. Parts for this work are also available for sale.