This portfolio comprises the nine pieces written during my PhD research at the University of York and a commentary about the process of composition. My work seeks to focus on timbre and texture as guiding parameters, with due attention to comprehensibility through unity of material. I first give an overview of my compositional processes during the years previous to my research. Then I discuss the general principles of my present approach, sketching the links between it and earlier work. Finally, I illustrate these principles by discussing individual pieces and the links between them
