'Shorts' is a collection of fourteen miniatures for oboe, viola and cello, inspired by the occasional poems of W. H. Auden of the same name. The poems, often mere three-liners, are at times witty, profound, flippant, work-a-day or exquisitely crafted. I have tried to reflect something of this diversity in the music. Some of the miniatures last only a few seconds, others approaching half a minute. Like the poems, Shorts could be "dipped into" or performed in succession.

This is a full score - it would not be practical, except perhaps in a couple of the pieces, to produce separate parts as cues would be so frequently needed as to render a set of parts virtually identical to this full score.

Although conceived for Oboe, with Viola and Cello, the oboe part of Shorts could be played by any other melody instrument that can match the written range.

(In the audio file the Viola glissando in No.III begins an octave higher, despite efforts to correct this!)