Legend of the First Rabbit

“Legend of the First Rabbit was commissioned by Ardeleana Trio in 1987 and premiered at a Christmas concert the same year. I was asked to compose a work for the trio and a narrator, ‘suitable for children of all ages’. It seemed a daunting task – finding the right story and setting it to appropriate music. But once I discovered the imaginative legend explaining the rabbit’s appearance, setting it to music became an exciting challenge: a drum would be necessary to help frame the story; the cello would have a native-like theme and the flute, of course, would be the rabbit. It all fell into place. The resulting work has happily exceeded all my expectations and I am delighted that there is now a French version as well.”