The ‘Night Piece’ for solo piano was composed in the spring of 1963 in response to a request from the Committee of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition for a work to be compulsory for all participants. The Committee, of course, regarded it a high honour that the country's leading composer should so generously accede to a request for such a piece of occasional music. In addition to adding to the prestige of the competition the piece was also invaluable in revealing the competitors' imaginative and interpretative powers as they had had no opportunity of hearing any previous performance or recording.