C.P.E. BACH: “Hamburger” Sonata in G Major (1786)
C.P.E. Bach was a son of J.S. Bach and one of four Bach children to become a professional musician. He is credited with ushering in the transition from the Baroque era to the pre-Classical era of music. Along with his compositional endeavors, C.P.E. Bach was an accomplished keyboardist and for almost 30 years served under the employment of Frederick the Great. He resigned from this position to become music director of Hamburg. The title of this sonata stems from his time in Hamburg and the piece embodies elements of empfindsamkeit, a set of ideas which contrasted the established approach to musical writing in the early Baroque period. C.P.E. Bach’s compositions focused more on the emotions being conveyed to the audience and sudden contrasts in mood than what had been written previously. When compared to the compositions of his father, J.S. Bach, the higher level of chromaticism in C.P.E. Bach’s music is worth noting.
LIBBY LARSEN: Aubade (1982)
“‘Aubade’ is a word drawn from several sources: Auba (dawn), Alborada (Spanish), Albus (white). The word means morning music, as opposed to the serenade, or evening music. It is a song or a poem to greet the dawn and usually denotes music of a quiet, idyllic nature. It is also seen as a morning love song, or song or poem of parting lovers at dawn. In the 17th century noblemen held gatherings, feasts in the morning for which aubades were composed. They were played in the open air just as the sun began to break the horizon.”
— Libby Larsen
GABRIEL GROVLEZ: Romance et Scherzo (1927)
Romance et Scherzo was written as a Morceau de Concours (competition piece) for the Paris Conservatoire in 1927. It represents an era of flute playing that challenged current constraints and drove flutists to new levels of musicianship. Although not considered a staple in the flute repertoire from this era such as compositions including Chaminade Concertino and Fauré Fantaisie, it is an invaluable piece of music that captures the essence of flute playing and explores various aspects of 20th-century French flute music.
VALERIE COLEMAN: Tzigane (2011)
“Tzigane journeys through Eastern Europe. Our guides for the trip are the Romani people, historically referred to as “gypsies,” a pejorative term. Coleman was also inspired by her collaboration with a Palestinian virtuoso on the oud, a short-necked lute played across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The music, inspired by Middle Eastern scales and gestures, buzzes with a wild, free spirit. Bold, virtuoso solos for every instrument alternate, some coy, some show-off-y, some filled with passion.”
—Tim Munro, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Creative Partner
AARON COPLAND: Duo for Flute and Piano (1971)
“In draft stage since 1969 had been a work for flute and piano, commissioned by seventy pupils and friends of William Kincaid, first flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1921 to 1960. After Kincaid died in 1967, John Solum… and Elaine Shaffer, also a Kincaid pupil, corresponded with me and were most helpful when it came to the preparation of the final score, which is dedicated to the memory of William Kincaid… The first movement is altogether a rather easygoing pastoral sort of movement, while the second uses harmonic and melodic language more akin to my later works, with the principal idea in the flute projecting a whole-tone sound similar to the opening of the Piano Quartet. The second movement has a certain mood that I connect with myself – a rather sad and wistful one, I suppose. The last movement is lively, with a triadic theme in a free form. The whole is a work of comparatively simple harmonic and melodic outline.”
— Excerpt from Copland Since 1943 by Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis
