John Tilbury 'At Home'
A 4-CD box set of domestic and archive recordings

Five hours of music played by John Tilbury (and friends on a few tracks).

Disc One
1  Guillaume Machaut  Four pieces arranged for 2 pianos by Gyorgy Kurtag   5:03
John Tilbury & Tania Chen, pianos     Archive concert recording, London 2002
2-6  Howard Skempton   Five short piano pieces
2 - Bishopsgate   (2019)     2:25
3 - Piece in Old Style   (2017)    1:32
4 - Potters Bar   (2004)    1:10
5 - Ageless in Langham   (2022)     1:36
6 - Deal   (2018)    0:52
7  Michael Parsons  Oblique piece 25   (2023)    3:18
John Tilbury, clavichord
8  Cornelius Cardew   Three Short Piano Pieces   (1955)   2:32
9  Linda Catlin Smith   Poire   (1994)    4:39
10  Christian Wolff   For Pianist    (1959)    11:05
Archive recording from about 1970
11  John Lely   Sycamore   (2023)    41:39

Disc Two
1  Morton Feldman   Piece for Four Pianos   (1957)    12:10
John Tilbury, Philip Thomas, Mark Knoop & Catherine Laws, pianos
Unused take from the Feldman Two Pianos recording session, Huddersfield, 2016
2  Cornelius Cardew   Volo Solo    (1965)    11:52
Archive recording from about 1970
3  Erika Fox   J.T.Bagatelle   (2026)     1:55
4  Christopher Hobbs   Five Pieces for Clavichord   (2023)    11:53
John Tilbury, clavichord
5  Dave Smith   Endgame   (2023)    2:00
6 - 10  Mark R. Taylor   Five Nocturnes   (2014-2016)    37:51

Disc Three
1  Catherine Kontz   December 22   (2022)    2:08
John Tilbury, clavichord
2  Dave Smith  Al Contrario   (1991-1992)    34:03
Archive recording from 1995
3  John Tilbury  O'Hara Improvisations   (2026)    8:09
Improvisations interpreting 5 performative drawings by Morgan O'Hara
4  Cornelius Cardew  Bun No.2 for Orchestra   (1964)    8:56
John Tilbury & Tania Chen, pianos   Arranged for two pianos by Dave Smith
Archive recording from a concert in London in 2002
5  Klaus Filip & John Tilbury   Dust and piano   (2019)    16:15
Klaus Filip, electronics   John Tilbury, piano
6  Morton Feldman  Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety  (1971)   7:31
Arranged for piano by Frank Markel

Disc Four
1  John Tilbury   What is the Word   (2015)    6:53
John Tilbury, voice and organ   Text by Samuel Beckett
Archive recording from Kings College Chapel, Cambridge
2  Keith Rowe & John Tilbury  Untitled Improvisation   (2004)    28:09
John Tilbury, organ    Keith Rowe, electronics
Archive recording from a concert in Leeds 
3  John Tilbury & Sebastian Lexer  For Samuel Beckett   (2005)    28:59
John Tilbury, piano   Sebastian Lexer, piano+
Archive recording from the London Musicians' Co-op Festival, 2005
Improvisation on John Tilbury's music for Samuel Beckett's 'Cascando' 
4  Mark R. Taylor   Pour rien   (2023)    11:32
John Tilbury, clavichord & voice    Text by Samuel Beckett
5  Michael Parsons  Salient   (2026)    4:38

Foreword from the 20-page booklet
In 2018 John Tilbury became reluctant to take on more concerts. He lives in Deal on the Kent coast, 80 miles from London, and doesn't have a car, so, although he was still in demand as a performer, at the age of 82, he decided to end his performing career.  When I heard this, I asked whether - if I came to him - he would still be happy to be recorded at home. He said yes, and from then until spring 2026 I travelled to Deal every 6 or 9 months to record John playing piano and clavichord in the lean-to extension at the back of the terrace house where he and his wife Janice live.

We recorded whatever John wanted to play at the time, and so assembled an unusual and varied collection of recordings ranging from pieces from Elizabethan songbooks to new compositions sent by old friends from Scratch Orchestra days.  Sometimes, if John was tired or in pain, we didn't record very much, and the visits became as much a social thing as a recording session - and it was always very enjoyable to talk with John and Janice about music and politics, and hear stories about John's past and his many musical friends.

In early 2026 - around the time of his 90th birthday - John decided that if we carried on much longer, he'd no longer be able to do justice to the music he was playing, and that we should stop. The original idea - insofar as we had one - was to release a selection of what we'd recorded as an album, but once we started listening back to everything, John suggested that we also include some archive recordings, dating from as far back as the 1970's. So began a process of discussion, whittling down the many things we could have included, until we agreed on the contents of the four CDs in this box set, which effectively marks the end of John's recording career.

John Tilbury is a giant in the history of contemporary, improvised and experimental music, not just in the UK, but worldwide. It has been a privilege and a joy to work with him on this unique project.
                                                                                                     Simon Reynell, May 2026

The 20-page booklet also contains extensive sleeve notes by Clive Bell.

Thanks to all the composers and musicians who contributed to this album.

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