In selecting nine fragments of text from a newspaper article which described Scott’s ordeal, I was primarily looking for philosophical strands: the acceptance of misfortune, the wait in hope, the possiblity of death and the change of expectation. I was less interested in the geographical prison, the hunger, the cold and the eventual rescue than in the attitudes which circumstances such as these inspire in people. Thus the piece is not only about Scott, but rather reflects on the idea of courage in general. Scott’s ordeal simply happened to be a particularly memorable instance of human courage.

The nine fragments represent a psychological journey. When a person is dying, it is said that their life flashes before their eyes. It seems to me that Scott went through this process in slow motion. However, there were also weeks that passed almost without incident (at least to his memory), and it is the idea of the extremes of fast and slow motion which are at the core of my piece. This has not necessarily translated into the actual speed of any particular section, but is rather reflected in the sense which the music conveys of the passsage of time.

The second movement of Ice Man has been recorded by Genn Riddle on the CD Greenbaum Hindson Peterson.