The music is inspired by the various bird calls on the clifftops at Bempton, where my opera was to be set. In particular, I was fascinated by the fact that facing inland on the cliff, one would hear (to human ears, at least) the delicate and melodious of the birds of the field, while, by contrast, facing seaward, one would be confronted by the raucous and dissonant cries of the kittiwake, puffin and gulls.