Tim Parkinson

Featuring: Apartment House

"Violin and piano piece 1998 is the first of five I’ve written since (the others from 2000, 2009, 2017, 2022). This one is from a period of work from 97 to early 99 working with ideas drawn from organic forms and structures. In this work the two equal parts are played simultaneously and uncoordinated, with re-occurring structured points of contact. It was first performed by Mia Cooper and me at the BMIC in London the same year. Violin piece 1999 is one of two works for solo violin to date (the other from 2006). This one is from a period of work from late 1999 to 2005 working with more heterogeneous ubiquitous material which has probably arisen from the urban environment in which I live. It was first played by Brian Lee in a recording session the following year. Each period of work of has grown out of the previous and leads to today where it is ongoing.

Septet 2007 grew out of the instrumentation which was for quite a standard line up of flute, clarinet, string quartet, piano, which Apartment House had asked me to make for a radio broadcast in Cologne. I’d written another septet in 2004 which is for a more vagabond collection (flute, violin, piano, reed organ, 3 percussionists & audio track). But this line up for 2007 put me in mind more of that inherited old chamber music sound which is smoother and more homogenous. So I began by stockpiling it, all of it all at once, then leafed through it, then spread it all out until the sound ran out.

Violin and piano 2017 began with the old notion of melody and accompaniment, which I think of as another found object which is just completely commonplace and everywhere. Here I started with the complete line end to end, then fitted the vertical supports. The final shape of it seems to me to have been carved out of all that potential coupled with what felt like certain inflexible non-negotiables I had to work around. That ended up being a very involved working process which took weeks.

So working processes change, since I change. There’s still the thrill of limitless potential, even only with the sounds of these familiar instruments. But it’s always finding the here and now of it, in this well-trodden arena strewn with ruins and ancient masterpieces, while living in an information tsunami and environmental apocalypse." - Tim Parkinson