The slightly enigmatic title of this piece has Middle Earth associations (read on for elucidation). It has four continuous sections, all based on the same original material but each with a very different feel: a jaunty stroll, a fast waltz (c.1’ 06”), an F minor lament (c.1’ 57”), and finally an upbeat jazzy finale (c.3’ 17”). Don't forget to swing

The slightly enigmatic title of this piece has Middle Earth associations (read on for elucidation). It has four continuous sections, all based on the same original material but each with a very different feel: a jaunty stroll, a fast waltz (c.1’ 06”), an F minor lament (c.1’ 57”), and finally an upbeat jazzy finale (c.3’ 17”). Don't forget to swing the quavers in this last section.

I must have been in a Let’s-go-out-for-a-walk-in-the-sunshine kind of mood when I started writing the piece, as it opens in a very carefree, contented sort of way. I may also have been fantasising about strolling through the landscape where The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films were shot, because I found myself writing a bar that was somewhat reminiscent of a fragment of Howard Shore’s score for the films. Bearing that in mind, you can see how I arrived at the title of this piece: North Island Ramble is a reference to the fact that the films were shot on New Zealand’s North Island. You just have to imagine that you are out for a healthy stroll in that landscape, when you notice a diminutive person with hairy feet...

The hobbit bar appears in appropriately different guises in each section, but I’m sure you’ll spot it each time (unless of course you’ve never seen the films or heard the music, in which case you need to get out more).

This is also available as a harp duet.