It has not been easy to decide which writings to include from a large output of over half a century. Some articles have become out of date so I have made some adjustments in the text or in footnotes to show that I am aware of more recent work. The result is a documentary compilation with some inevitable repetitions arising from various contexts.

The typescript was read by Stephen Banfield, Arnold Whittall, my sister Meriel, my wife Bridget and in part by Stephen Stuart-Smith and my son Francis. Michael Middeke, at Boydell & Brewer, also made valuable suggestions at various stages. It has been a pleasure to work with the firm – and the University of Rochester Press in the US – where both my books and those for the Bernarr Rainbow Trust have in every case been produced to the highest standards.

David Roberts, as copy editor, took on further responsibilities with his usual expertise, as with several previous books of mine; his wife Jenny has set the music examples here. They have all provided essential input in a situation where I was naturally close to much of this material. I am grateful to the copyright owners of the original publications of text and of music, as cited alongside the articles and music examples concerned.

There have been several articles and reviews around the time of my eightieth birthday and I have much appreciated the detailed consideration that has been brought to my work in 2014. Richard Leigh Harris, ‘Rags, Blues and Transformations: Peter Dickinson at 80’, Musical Opinion, October/November 2014; Nigel Simeone, ‘Peter Dickinson on Heritage Records’, International Record Review, November 2014; John France in Music Web International, 7 November 2014; and Stephen Banfield in Tempo, April 2015. There have been concerts: Nathan Williamson played Paraphrase II for piano at the William Alwyn Festival, Southwold, 9 October. At the Royal Northern College of Music on 26 October, Rosie Burton gave the much delayed premiere of my Sonatina for solo bassoon (1966/2011); the Fantasy for clarinet and piano was played by Linda Merrick and Harvey Davies; and there was an arrangement of Bach in Blue made for John Turner, recorder. The Park Lane Group put on a programme at 22 Mansfield Street, London W1, on 10 November with young artists.