At Cambridge University he studied composition with Roger Smalley and organ with Arthur Wills (organist at Ely Cathedral).
[4] During his time at Grimsby (1968–1973) he had private conducting lessons from Sir Adrian Boult, and a number of compositions were performed, including Three Songs of Gerard Manley Hopkins broadcast by Norma Procter and Paul Hamburger on BBC Radio 3.
He studied composition with Peter Maxwell Davies at Dartington International Summer School.
His first major commissions were to write two anthems for the enthronement of Dr. Donald Coggan as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1974: Psalm 150 and Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace.
In 1975 he took a lease on 'Brinkwells',[3] Fittleworth, a dilapidated and remote thatched cottage in West Sussex where Edward Elgar had written his Cello Concerto and late chamber works.