Coursing through this dazzlingly energetic 6-minute work for 12 players are numerous versions of a long unison melody. Begun in 1978 and completed by Knussen in early 1981, Coursing was partly inspired by the intense contained force of the water in the rapids at Niagara Falls.
‚The central, swirling section generates a high, bright fierceness of sound that is quite individual.'
The Sunday Telegraph (Bayan Northcott), 22 April 1979