What is composing like as a career?
People say to me 'Can we meet up for a coffee? I am thinking of composing as a career - what is it like, how much money will I earn will I get a lot of work' and I say that it is like a lot of other things, there is an awful amount of luck involved in it. You can't guarantee whether it is going to be a success or not. When I started work in 1977 I was earning very little money, which was fine, I was relatively young and managed on a little income. But generally, with little ups and downs, that has improved over the years and as the projects have got bigger my income has increased and we are very lucky at present that there are enough projects happening, films and pieces for theatre, to be quite comfortable.

Is it an enjoyable career?
I think if you are thinking of composing just in terms of whether it is a good or bad career I could only talk personally because for me it is a wonderful career as it gives me the opportunity to work with a huge number of different people - different musicians, film directors, theatre directors - on a very wide range of different projects so I am constantly stimulated by different things outside this room where I work. If you talk to a concert music composer (I have written concert music but that is not primarily what I do) you would probably have a very different response because what they do is more individual and they are more on their own than I am. I am often talking to a director as we try to imagine together what particular music is needed for a project. So I find it quite a social activity, which I enjoy, and a very collaborative activity, which I also enjoy.

Was music an important factor while you were growing up?
When we were little my brother and I both played a lot of music. My mother played piano and my father played the drums, so quite often at the weekend we would all play together - probably extremely badly - but it was extremely enjoyable and it meant that music was a big part of our lives right from the beginning.

Did you study music at college or university?
Although I had spent most of my childhood and adolescence studying music, when I went to university I studied theatre and French. When you study theatre at university there is a lot of opportunity to work on plays and different bits of theatre and so on. I would often write music for the plays with in the university department.

How can I encourage my child to think of composing?
If a child feels there is music there and music is part of his or her life then a huge amount of encouragement may not be necessary. One thing that would be a huge help would be to have musical instruments around. In my personal view one instrument that is invaluable and wonderful is a piano - it does not have to be a piano - but if you had a piano, and ideally an acoustic piano, then children at some point will sit at it, they will make up things and they will sing with themselves. They will play little things that they make up and that will develop into something. I think that is probably the single most important thing - that there is something available for them to do and that you as parents listen to music and express your enjoyment of music to the children.

Are there any college courses or university courses my child could do?
Once the seed of composing is sown and the child or young person wants to do that, there are a number of relevant courses at music colleges and universities. It is important to look through what is available with your child and to find out what is available and try and find out what is most suitable. There are some very specific courses like film music, or there are more general courses at the music colleges. Different people will benefit from different things. There is certainly no shortage of courses. There are also wonderful summer schools available.

What is the best thing about composing for films?
One of the things about composing music for films is that you hope that you are reaching a wide audience. When a film like Shakespeare In Love, which I wrote the music for, is well received and wins awards and so on it is tremendously pleasing. In the case of that film it is piece of work that I am very, very proud of and when you find that a piece of work that you are pleased with is actually pleases a lot of other people that is a very rewarding process.