Fastness is a disc of orchestral music by Nicholas Simpson, who read law at Nottingham University, played guitar in rock bands, and then studied composition with John Tavener at Trinity College of Music, where he won the Chappell Prize for composition and the Ricordi Prize for conducting. Simpson practised as a criminal layer in London, but quit to be a professional musician on moving back to Manchester in 1998. His music has been widely played both in the UK and abroad, his output including three symphonies, a piano concerto, chamber music, an oratorio and Quarantine, an opera based on Jim Crace's 1995 Booker-shortlisted novel of the same name.