In 2017, Quatuor Capriccio approached me through our mutual friend, violinist Nicolas Dautricourt, to commission a ?capriccio? for their annual ?Festival Capriccio-en-Maine?. They also mentioned in passing that one strand of the festival programme explored the form of theme and variations.

Willingly accepting the opportunity to work with such an excellent ensemble, I set about exploring the notion of ?capriccio?, and quickly discovered a little gem of information: although disputed, one theory about the origins of the word relates to an Italian Renaissance hairstyle - ?capo riccio? or ?head hedgehog?. Whether this rather vivid image is historically accurate or not, the usage of the word in Italian developed to mean whimsy, fantasy and mercurial light-heartedness. From this the use of it as a title for a range of musical works which relate to these ideas in some way developed ? although even here, the usage is in itself rather capriciously varied.

This was sufficient inspiration for me ? using theme and variation form, hedgehogs, and a touch of whimsy, I made a work which, typically for me, uses influences from music ranging from traditional South African bow music to electronic dance music, formal disruption, and some vocalisation for the quartet.