W Nocy (‘In the night’) was commissioned by The Croft Ensemble in 1986 and first performed by them at the Purcell Room, London in February 1987. This was one of the first compositions that I completed after returning from a year’s postgraduate study at the Akademia Muzyczna in Krakόw. It is a recollection of a particular late evening when I was waiting for a night bus on the outskirts of the city and various nocturnal sounds both natural and human made drifted in and out of my consciousness. These are not literally represented but are reflected in the fragmentary nature of the musical material. The work was slightly revised for a later performance in 2007. A piano may be substituted if a harpsichord is not available. If a piano is used, normal ‘legato’ pedaling may be applied where the articulation implies this. Any added dynamics should reflect those of the other three instruments.