'Winter finding' for orchestra (2004-5) is a ‘journey’ work that seeks to explore the universality of human experience filtered through the prism of the natural world.
I had in mind four large canvasses by the American painter Cy Twombly, entitled 'Quattro Staggioni', as the initial impetus to my work, provoking me to consider the circularity of human life. Not wanting to be too close to these paintings musically, I commissioned through the Arts Council of Ireland the English poet Lavinia Greenlaw, a long-time collaborator, to write four short poems inspired by the Twombly paintings and by her own experiences of solstices and equinoxes over the past few years (a project of hers). The resultant poems use the seasons as an allegory for human life and existence, and form the structural basis of the work as well as lending some of their images to the smaller-scale construction of each section.

The first part of the work is about finding energy in darkness, where winter is not dead but is rather brooding and gives birth to a peculiar life of its own. In part two, something is travelling, like a seed on its way to conception – the essence of spring, perhaps. Part three posits the idea that summer is not necessarily a happy and relaxed season, but in some places the light actually becomes oppressive because of its unchanging quality. The final part relates to Severn, the autumn poem, which was inspired by Lavinia’s experience of the Severn bore, its destructive power and how it can sweep everything away, leaving space for life to begin over again.

'Winter finding' was commissioned by RTÉ and premiered in September 2005 by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, conducted by Gerhard Markson.