String Quintet �Over the Moon and Under the Shrubbery� Strangely, this was inspired by my mongrel terrier puppy�s love of exploring under the mature extensive shrubbery in the garden. In fact, she is so happy in there you could describe it as over the moon and under the shrubbery.

I was seated at my Hammond pedal organ trying to find musical phrases which describes the dog, while she was playing on the floor by my feet. As she positively responded to certain combinations of phrases I wrote them down and, playing back these musings this tune began to emerge.

Watching the dog playing under the shrubbery as I played my ideas it all seemed to fit. I scored it for a string quintet because of the wide range covering a full five octaves. Strings are the only instruments of similar character which can play this range convincingly. Apart from which, some of the figures and phrases give me a chance to try them out on my new violin, and with my wife being adept at both violin and viola it seemed appropriate. Having said that, I can see that there exists some scope for writing a version for a chamber orchestra, incorporating woodwind and brass, as well as strings. I may well do this in the near future.