Croquis was commissioned and first broadcast by the BBC in 1980. The collection of short pieces were spaced between programmes across an entire evening on Radio 3.

Born in Gloucester, Jeremy Dale Roberts was early befriended and encouraged by Gerald Finzi and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and went on to study with William Alwyn.

Jeremy Dale Roberts draws inspiration from the French baroque, the paintings of Giorgio Morandi, poetry of Cavafy and Mandelstam and even the Balinese gamelan. Jeremy Dale Roberts was born in Gloucestershire in 1934 and studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music with William Alwyn and Priaulx Rainier before taking a degree in music at the University of Durham. As well as composition, he has been active as a teacher for many years, notably at Morley College, the Royal College of Music (1966-98, latterly as Head of Composition) and as Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Iowa (1999-2000 and 2004). Other activities include work for the Finzi Trust and the RVW Trust, and extensive editorial work on the recently published editions of Gerald Finzi’s music.