Scrublands Suite was originally conceived in 1997 for string sextet as my contribution to Purgations, an Arts Council funded multi-media collaboration with text written and performed by Mark Hewitt and projected images by Tom Walker. In that form, it was first performed at All Saints Arts Centre, Lewes in February 1998 and later in the same year as a concert piece. In May 2010, the project, now titled Scrublands was revived with considerable revisions to the text and performed at the Old Police Cells in Brighton as a Brighton Festival Fringe event. The main changes to my music were the addition of an extra movement at the end, a slight reordering of the original movements and eliminating music that was just intended as background.

The eight movements were variously intended to be introductions, interludes, moments of reflection and generalised commentaries on the unfolding text and images. However, they were written in such a way that they could also be experienced as ‘standalone’ music. The arrangement for string orchestra was made in April 2023. Apart from the addition of a double bass part, very little was changed from the original string sextet version other than the designation of some passages to be played ‘solo’ or ‘tutti’.

The last movement, originally added in first revision was intended as a ‘throwaway’ ending to be played as the audience departed at the end of the Old Police Cells performances. Its inclusion in any concert performance is optional, depending on the nature of the conclusion desired.