… working together was written in January and February 1984 for Gemini, who gave its first performance, directed by Peter Wiegold, at Kingston Polytechnic on 8th March 1984. I had been asked to write something based on the idea of "working together", so the piece is a commentary on the (often problematic, but potentially rewarding) nature of co-operation. Three distinct layers of musical activity - the two clarinets, the two stringed instruments and the trumpet - raucously co-exist for most of the piece (the duet for clarinets is a series of canons, suggested by the scene with the Painter in Act 1 of Berg's Lulu). In the final section, in which the clarinets and the trumpet pay homage to 1920's Territory Jazz, all three layers are drawn together into a sort of ragged but jubilant entente.