Composing is the most mysterious of musical arts. It begins with silence, followed by inspiration, then music. Where it comes from, nobody knows.

Something happens in our every day life. It could be anything, we see a painting, we read a poem, we experience a tragedy, a triumph, and we react. The event is breathed in, internalized, and processed in the recesses of our minds and our souls. The reaction quiets until there is silence, the canvas on which music will be painted.

In the silence, the event that provided inspiration transforms itself into sound, as yet too quiet to hear. It could be a snatch of melody, a short rhythm, an entrancing harmony. It gestates slowly in the depth of the silence, and then one day, if the silence is deep enough and the composer is listening, it peeks out like a small animal in the woods. It is exquisitely fragile, so delicate that the slightest disturbance is enough to frighten it away.

The composer listens quietly, waiting for the idea to strengthen. As it takes form and shape, other ideas emerge, musical ideas that strengthen and illuminate the original inspiration. Like a living being, the music is born and grows and evolves into an artistic, organic whole, and the composer breathes life into it by sharing it with others.

Peter’s music for piano has been called “Beautiful!”, “lyrical, lovely melodies and interesting harmonies”, “sounds like water” and compared to the music of Ravel and Debussy.