As a member of a British Services Army Family I spent a number of years in exotic climes. Like a lot of my creative work �Tropical Rain� was inspired by the exotic sights, sounds, colours and scents of my early experiences. Personal memories of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the odd �mountain�, The Peak, spring to mind with this piece. The monsoons of that region were terrifyingly wild, but this piece represents only gentle rain. The tune moulded itself to the rhythm of rain I recently experienced and the descending nature of the repeated phrase invokes the hypnotic rhythm and hints at a resolution, possibly through cessation. It can be repeated �ad infinitum� for a truly hypnotically relaxing experience.

It is scored for a Flute, Oboe d� Amore (for it�s particularly mellow tone and lower range) and a Bass Clarinet for it�s dark richness of tone. Contrasted with the bright flute and �jingling� harp, representing rain, the totality is underpinned with relatively ambient strings as a mere foil of a background. Once the phrase sequence is completed the phrase is taken over by the strings and the woodwind is obliged to become the foil.

A nice little concert piece which is surprisingly easy to play and also works well on an organ or a piano.