Huw Watkins

Arietta, a quiet moment of introspection, where the violin's melody unfolds slowly, suspended above the piano's gentle harmonic web. Huw Watkins, 2020

Taking Thomas Hardy's short story as its starting point, we are transported to the present for a contemporary take on the novella which explores the power the mind can have over that person's actions....

Text by William Blake.

The Phoenix and the Turtle sets a poem by Shakespeare published 1601 that uses the metaphor of a bird's funeral to describe the death of an idealistic love. Watkins spins out a jazzy melody surrounded...

Charm me Asleep is a gentle, lilting piece with a beautiful melody and homophonic texture. This is one of a pair of works, along with Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount, written by Watkins for the Cardiff Polyph...

A beautiful work of contemporary polyphony in which shifting textures create momentary dissonance. An alluring melody passes between the voice parts.This work can be performed alone or as a pair with...

A setting of a text by William Blake from his collection of poems Songs of Innocence and Experience for SATB choir, harp and strings. The poem is a lullaby in which a mother hopes her sleeping baby's...

At less than seven minutes in length, this technically challenging work makes effective use of the soprano sax's powerful and expressive nature whilst successfully balancing both energetic and exubera...

Watkins' 'Four Inventions' evolved from the composer's conversations with writer Rhett Griffiths who commissioned the work about his poem 'The Sibling Solution'. The poem is included with the publicat...

A trio combining gentle, hypnotic music with more troubled outbursts, this atmospheric work evokes moods associated with night and sleep. The highly complementary combination of clarinet, violin and p...

Setting Dylan Thomas's evocative yet humble poem 'In my craft or sullen art', Watkins conjures up a beautifully introspective introduction with the use of a simple quintuplet motif which is later tran...

Postlude' was one of 10 birthday candles written for Mobius' 10th anniversary and is scored for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet. At just 3 minutes in length and with a lento tempo marking, 'P...

The idea to write a horn trio came to the composer (also an acclaimed pianist) after giving a concert with a horn player from the Nash Ensemble, which included the Ligeti and the Brahms horn trios. Wh...

Commissioned for the renowned Florestan Trio in 2009 and performed them in the UK, France and Germany, Huw Watkins' Piano Trio is a formidable addition to the chamber music repertoire. As an establish...

'Opening with an impatient gesture in the piano immediately answered by an energetic viola line, the piano then joins and interrupts'. This sets the scene for Watkins' 'Fantasy', a contemporary work w...

Commissioned by the King's College Choir to write the carol for their celebrated Christmas Eve service A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Watkins, who studied at King's as an undergraduate, has se...

This pair of English psalm settings for mixed choir is the newest addition to Watkins' growing collection of vocal music. Each under 5 minutes, they are fitting both for liturgical use and concert per...

I wrote my Sarabande for the pianist Piotr Anderszewski in 2014. It's a five minute long piece which explores the characteristic triple time rhythm of this baroque dance form.Huw Watkins