Inspired by a beautiful supermoon, Syzygy was composed with the huge golden moon profiled in the Tower Studio window. Free and lyrical, this Prelude portrays the timelessness of the beyond, with fluid rhythms and ecstatic melodic shapes exploring the spiritual realm as one steps into the wonder of a kairos moment. The lunar cycle is loosely depicted with the cycle of 5ths and, here, we may comprehend 'When' as might owls: waiting quietly and flowing with the rhythm of the universe.

When composing Treasures of Darkness, I imagined the Owl House built with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, and the spread chords in the music depict the unfolding of revelations: perhaps Truth, Wisdom, Strength and Peace, portrayed in a bossa nova style Allemande. In ‘What’ should one place value?

In the Courante, Touch of Heaven, the owls fly, high above, through the spectacular night sky, maybe a meteor in their midst, perhaps the gleam of unknown galaxies. With the slow beat of their strong, broad wings depicted musically as falling arpeggios, in that process of journeying and searching ‘Where’, they are found, soaring in the extravagance of the Divine.

The devastating recent storms, which have brought so much tree damage to Marchmont, raises the hard question of 'Why'. Capturing the feeling of despair when things of seeming permanence are blighted, the desolate, question-like Theme of this Sarabande evolves into a set of Variations with a sense of increasing agitation. The owls visit and revisit the scene of the Broken Oak.

The barn owlets gaze in wonder upon their parents' striking heart-shaped faces in the Owl House. Face of Love has the flavour of a Scot's Air, a lullaby for the owlets in the nest, with the tender simplicity of the opening melody shifting into the minor key for the middle section as the ache of deep love is expressed. Perhaps it is in Love that the question of 'Who' can best be answered.

As the owls wake to bathe in the mystery of the night sky, this playful Gigue, Star Dance, depicts the energy, drama and seeming randomness of the universe, with a roll call for the names of each of the stars in turn spoken across the registers of the 'cello. Awestruck in the face of the majesty of the celestial array, 'How' is expressed as an attitude of wonder, with this stellar dance offering the final word of wisdom in the Letters from the Owl House.