In late 2007, I came across a short guitar tune on an internet music forum simply entitled "Prelude", written by an elderly gentleman called Raymond Beaver from Northern England:

"In 1981, when the last of my children had departed for the drug paradise of Amsterdam, I faced a solitary immediate future. Although I'm not a lonely sort of person, my mood was a little bit sad, and musical stuff started to go around in my head to reflect that. I hadn't written anything since I left the music business in 1975, but this seemed to be a time to write something."

The haunting melody - one of those tunes which was so simple yet so effective - became firmly lodged in my head for days. Very quickly, I felt compelled to put down on paper the orchestral arrangement you can see here.

I contacted Raymond by email in early 2008 to show him the result. Unknown to me, his doctor had just given him only weeks to live, and it was obvious that my gesture had had a profound effect. His surprise and gratitude at such a difficult time had moved him more than I could have imagined.

Sadly, Raymond passed away shortly after. From our correspondence, I know that it would have given him great joy to see his music reach a wider audience or even perhaps be performed. By publishing this arrangement here, I hope that - in his memory - Raymond's goal can be achieved.

"Prelude" is Copyright © 1981 by Raymond Beaver and is published here with permission of the Composer, obtained before his death.