"By the Riverbank" is the first piece in a series inspired by Kenneth Graham's "Wind in the Willows.," scored for flute, harp, and cello.

I wrote this for folk harp, so there are no key changes, just mode changes (which use the same scale with a different tonal center). As a folk harp player, I wanted to add to the classical repertoire for that instrument, and since I also play flute and a little cello those instruments also appealed. That said, I felt the ensemble made a lot of musical sense - three different instruments (plucked strings, low bowed strings, and high wind) that represented the most pleasant sounding of their family.

It is influenced by early 70s pastoral progressive rock (the sort of stuff that has lots of acoustic guitar arpeggios), folk, classical, and maybe even a little heavy metal in the fast section!

This was recorded during COVID lockdowns, so I commissioned musicians remotely from three different countries around the world (the flute and cello played to the harp track).

Rat and Mole float lazily down the river. Birdsong can be heard in the air. Suddenly, the boat overturns and they go down . . . .and float back up. The boat gets caught in the rapids and things get exciting, before finally reaching a slower section of river and floating lazily again.

Mercedes Bralo (Argentina) - harp
Heline Fay (Finland) - flute
Akito Goto (England) - cello