A.J. Potter was born in 1918, the son of a blind Belfast piano-tuner. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Vaughan Williams. A highly prolific, versatile and distinguished composer who won many awards, Potter wrote in a distinctive idiom encompassing a wide variety of styles and techniques. The Sinfonia “De Profundis” was first performed in 1969. A powerful work, it won a Jacob’s Radio Award that year. The other works are in a lighter vein, and combine Irish wit and humour with evocative and poetic orchestration.