You can take everything except the bird

Violin and Viola

Programme Note

You can take everything except the bird is a musical landscape full of gesture and melody. The melodies never fully get to sing out, and the gestures never really take flight. The two are constantly in argument with each other.

An equally apt title for this piece would be You can keep everything except the bird depending on how the argument throughout the piece is perceived.

You can take everything except the bird was premiered by Gaglianos Ensemble on 29/3/14 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

Liam Mattison (London, March 2014)