A composer mourns a leading critic

The British composer Colin Matthews pays tribute to Bayan Northcott, who has died at 82:

… He was a distinguished writer and critic, most notably for The Independent from 1986 until 2009.

But it as a composer that he would have most wanted to be remembered, although his scrupulous concern for writing exactly the right notes meant that his output was relatively small. The eight years that he took to perfect his Concerto for Horn and Ensemble was not untypical, but his major achievement, the Concerto for Orchestra, first performed at the Proms in 2016, was achieved in a relatively relaxed three years…. He was the gentlest of souls, but always firm in his opinions.