Huw Watkins

Miniatures

Huw Watkin's Minatures for viola and piano were written for violist Simon Rowland-Jones and first performed at the North Norfolk Music Festival in 2009. There are eight short movements. The first has the viola playing short, sometimes angular, sometimes lyrical fragments over simple, slow-moving harmonies on the piano. The fourth and the seventh movements are variations on the first. In between are highly contrasted miniatures: number two is fast and impassioned, while number three is slow and contemplative. The fifth miniature has the viola playing rapid semiquavers over insistent repeated notes in the piano, while the final movement is very slow and serene. (Huw Watkins)