Editorial Note: Just after the following interview had been edited for inclusion in the present issue of Tempo, we were saddened to learn of the sudden death of David Johnson at his home in Edinburgh on about 30 March, aged 66. He had been an occasional reviewer of Scottish musical events for Tempo. The projects mentioned in the interview were destined to remain unfulfilled, but his substantial legacy of compositions and scholarship had made a distinct and independent-minded contribution to the Scottish musical scene.