Standing together on the quay, gazing out over a shimmering Sydney Harbour, Richard Meale and I were deep in conversation. It was 1999, and his thoughts were fixed on philosophy, existence and what lay beyond.

Just as I was outlining my theory – that we never really leave (“but where do we go?”) – a small boat released a stream of smoke.

“It’s like the smoke … It’s there, but we can move through it.” I had a plane to catch back to London that afternoon, and Richard was encouraging me to delay my departure a little longer.

It was his brilliance, curiosity and restless mind that fuelled my deep belief in, and eventual obsession with, the concerto he was writing for me. We spoke endlessly on the phone, exchanged letters and faxes, and met whenever I was back in Australia.

In 2002, I felt especially honoured to attend a performance of Richard’s Three Miró Pieces with him at the Sydney Opera House. [The program performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra] also included his magisterial Very High Kings [from The Mystical Voyage of Christopher Columbus]. As the extraordinary final chord rang...