Ultramarine is a blue pigment the name of which is derived from the Latin for 'beyond the sea'. To 'feel blue' is an idiom of uncertain origin.

This piece uses elements from Thomas Morley's O grief, even on the bud, John Bennet's Weep, O mine eyes and William Wordsworth's On the Power of Sound all of which feature the lachrymose and/or the maritime. It is in three parts; O grief, Sounding and Abyssal Plain.

The piece was written for EXAUDI and their director James Weeks as part of the 2014/2015 Sound and Music Portfolio scheme.