Parthenia violata was commissioned with funds from the Irish Arts Council by Darragh Morgan, who gave the first performance with pianist Ian Pace at the Sligo New Music Festival, November 1999. The piece was composed during a stay in Castletownshend, Co Cork, the previous year and is dedicated to my hostess, the late Margaret Thomas Warren. I now re-dedicate the piece to her memory.

Parthenia inviolata ("inviolate virgins" in a bastard mixture of Greek and Latin) was the title of a collection of pieces for bass viol and virginal published around 1614. My title retains the essence of the bad pun, but reminds us that violin and piano come from different families of doubtful compatibility.

There are three sections: a delicate prelude with some tricky unison material, an intense elegy, and a ferocious toccata.

Raymond Deane © 2007