Arisaig was written for my sister Jan, a retired MD who took up painting and harp after ending her practice. Arisaig is Celtic in inspiration, named for a small Scottish town near the
Isle of Skye where my family was first introduced to Sticky Toffee Pudding. It is a short piece, two pages long, that takes advantage of the fact that each note is pitched separately . It is a tonal-ish piece, with the middle register using the notes of e minor. As the piece rises in register, new sharps are added in the order of the circle of fifths. As the piece moves down, flats are added. All twelve pitch classes are used during the course of the piece.

Arisaig does contain a few inside jokes – family references understood only by us!