Triptych was commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble and first performed by them in the Wigmore Hall in May 1984. It is a single movement, lasting 6 ½ minutes, whose title derives both from the three sections of the piece, and from the fact that, within that division, things tend to happen in threes. The first section is slow and improvisatory, dominated by the piano; the second is more flowing, with a solo for the double bass in its high register; the third begins with a fast and jerky piano solo, and remains very fast until the end.