"'Elegy' was painted in January 2006. It is based on listening to Britten's
'Serenade' and making a connection  with a Constable postcard
(from Manchester Art Gallery)  I happened to browse at the same time.
The image was of  a cornfield in summer and not a particularly exciting
reproduction. What interested me was the sense of  oppression
the music lent in. It matched many field walks I was taking at the time,
'getting out of the house' for fresh air. Peter Warlock's 'My ghostly fader'
I had also just heard, and the (translated) words, seemed to connect
with both the Constable image and 'O rose, thou art sick' -   which Britten
titled 'Elegy'. When working on the painting I was amazed to read that Britten
had himself been enjoying a book of Constable images while composing the
'Serenade'".