Jordan Hunt

Two, Alone for Solo Violin

Performed by Amalia Young

P6 005

Jordan Hunt - Two, Alone for Solo Violin

Performed by Amalia Young
Film and Recording by Bobby Williams

The Royal Academy of Music, my alma mater, commissioned Two, Alone as part of the Academy 200 series to celebrate their Bicentenary, a project to build a contemporary library of 200 new solo works by alumni. A violinisit myself, I collaborated with violinist Amalia Young, a 2021 graduate, who performs on this stand-alone single.

Deeply personal, Two, Alone is a nod to the creation of the piece, composer Jordan Hunt and violinist Amalia Young working alone in different parts of the country, corresponding online. It also alludes to a feeling during lockdown life of individual co-habitation, living with my partner in distinct but colliding orbits, a sense of confinement and energy which is echoed in the initial five-note idea that never quite fits the time signature, out of phase except for sporadic moments of release. Whilst writing, it became a metaphor for my own mental health journey, developing into an emotive climax of creativity. An unrelenting moto perpetuo for solo violin, Two, Alone charts a course of introspective discovery through an internal landscape as the opening pattern spins and flowers, with new off-shoots and inner melodies coming forth; an inherent tension driving the piece toward its climax and eventual resolution; a sense of calm and peace prevailing.