Septet was written in 1980 and was first performed by members of an ensemble from The Northern Sinfonia (now Royal Northern Sinfonia).
The single movement can be seen as a kind of sonata form analogue, with three groups of contrasting musical material forming the 'exposition'. The first 'group' presents three instrumental characters: a bubbling clarinet, a lyrical horn and a rather curt, ironic bassoon. The second idea which follows immediately is of the nature of a chorale for strings which leads to a modified re-exposition of the opening 'characters'. A third idea presents a lyrical horn melody as a foil to the chorale.
The rest of the piece is concerned with the interactions between these musical ideas, the final word going to the limpid string chorale.
The work was performed again in April 1988 by an ensemble including the clarinettist Janet Spotswood, members of the City of Leeds String Quartet and the bassist Guy Henderson.
