My Two Miniatures originated as two separate vocal pieces, both of which were written in collaboration with the poet Steve Willey while I was a Masters student. Returning to them years later, I realised that the extremely disjunct vocal writing was much better suited to instruments, and I reworked both pieces to become the pair of miniatures for ensemble they are today. The influences on the two pieces are perhaps more obvious than one might like; the opening of the first movement, in particular, was clearly written by a composer who had recently heard Varèse’s Intégrales for the first time. I hope, however, that they stand up on their own terms; they certainly represent an important milestone in my development as a composer, and contain the seed of a lot of the music I have composed in the years since I wrote these pieces.