In the autumn heat was written as part of my composition course at Sydney University and is dedicated to Catherine Fluke who has been a good friend of mine for many years. Catherine was also the first performer at a Sydney University concert in, I think, 1999. The piece then languished in my cupboard for some time before I began composing again in 2020, just after COVID caused widespread lockdown. The work is in three sections: slow (Lento Freely), fast (Allegro Scherzo), and then a repeat of the initial slow tempo. It has no time signatures allowing the performer to move freely through the phrases.