Nahstops 2 was written in 2004 at the request of James Watson, then Head of Wind, Brass and Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music. ‘Jim’, as we knew him, had been a supporter of my music during my student days and the only prerequisite for this piece was that it fitted the same instrumentation as Elgar Howarth’s version of ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’; ie, a large symphonic brass and percussion ensemble.

Nahstops 2 is a dramatic and vibrant piece yet it has no programmatic element as such, ...