The Watchmaker, Concert Study for Violin and Piano

When Oksana Solovieva, on behalf of the Artists International Association (AIA), commissioned me to write a competition piece (Barcelona International Young Artists Competition BIYAC), I began to think about technical challenges I might explore. Soon enough, I found inspiration in my family’s longstanding passion for watches. I thought I could write a concert study drawing on qualities such as precision, beauty and sophistication – all attributes I admire in fine watchmaking.

The performer must be particularly attentive to the rhythmic exactitude and metric modulations that characterise much of the piece. Like an excellent watch (or watchmaker), they must uphold the precision of the inner mechanism that drives the music forward, while at the same time playing musically and bringing out the beauty of the work. The opening tempo indication, meccanico con anima, sums up this idea perfectly.

I am very grateful to Oksana for commissioning this piece, and I dedicate it to her as a token of friendship and admiration.

Marc Migó Cortés