Program Notes

HausMusik: flute & piano

Duo for flûte and piano: Aaron Copeland ( 1900-1990)

1. Flowing
2. Poetic, somewhat mournful
3. Lively, with bounce

Copeland is the archetypal composer of American music. He wrote music in varying styles;  based on folk music and also more avant garde. He found it more financially lucrative to stick to the former.

This piece was written in 1971 in his more accessible style. It was commissioned  for a group of friends to commemorate the flautist William Kincaid.

In his own words; "Lyricism seems to be built into the flute," Copeland wrote. Duo is in three movements. "The whole is a work of comparatively simple harmonic and melodic outline, direct in expression. Being aware that many of the flutists who were responsible for commissioning the piece would want to play it, I tried to make it grateful for the performer...it requires a good player."

Lets hope we can find one.

6 Piano pieces Op 118: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

1. Intermezzo; Allegro non assai, ma molto appassionato
2. Intermezzo; Andante teneramente
3. Ballade; Allegro energico

Written in 1893 and dedicated to Clara Schumann these short pieces are Brahms' penultimate piano work.  They are emotional and rather introspective.  They are some of his best loved music. Best played through the wall to your neighbours in the bath, the emotional content of these pieces is so concentrated and intense that playing them feels rather like walking a tightrope.

Sonata for flute & piano; Paul Hindemith (1985-1963)

1. Heiter bewegt
2. Sehr Langsam
3. Sehr lebhaft

Hindemith wote this sonata in 1936 in Berlin. He was later classified as a 'musical degenerate' by the Nazis and the first performance of this sonata was banned by the regime.  In three movements, it ends with a rather sardonic march which almost constitues a fourth movement.

This piece reminds me, especially the second movement, of Shostakovich. A commentary on war which ends with a rather sarcastic exposition of a military march.

It is incredibly popular with exam boards!

 		**Refreshment pause

Sonatine Op76: Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)

1. Tendre
2. Souple
3. Clair

Milhaud is annoying! He was a prolific composer who used jazz and Brazilian idioms and also the dreaded (by me) polytonality. His musical projects ranged from the bizarre (Le boeuf sur le toit) to the grandiose (La creation du monde). He numbered among his students  Burt Bacharach, Steve Reich, Dave Brubeck, Philip Glass, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis.

Why annoying? His music manages to be superficial and interesting at the same time. Hideously complex (see polytonality above) whilst sounding simple. Written casually and quickly yet minutely precise.

This piece is all of those things. The piano writing is cruel and uncomfortable , the flute mainly serene. Rhythms are never the same the second time. Also, sadly polytonality. This accounts for the general feel that each hand at the piano  and the flute are playing in different keys. They are!

6 Piano pieces Op 118: Brahms
4. Intermezzo, Allegretto un poco agitato
5. Romance, andante - allegretto grazioso
6. Intermezzo, Andante, largo e mesto

La Merle Noir: Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

Messiaen was a synaesthetic musical genius of profound eclectic spirituality. His music is sincere and incredibly moving. He doesn’t rely on compositional gimmick (Milhaud) but instead creates a complex new musical grammar to express his inner life. Reading Messiaen is like learning to read music from scratch for the musician.

Le Merle Noir (1952) is the first of his pieces to be based on birdsong, a consuming lifelong passion which culminated in his two Catalogues des Oiseaux. It is only five minutes in length but nevertheless demands extreme virtuosity from the flautist.

I told my piano teacher we were playing this. He said, "You're made of sterner stuff than me - I used to get annoyed with Merle Noir, partly because  I thought the real life thing was more beautiful, and partly because it didn't seem to make a huge difference if the 2 players got out of sync, which is easy to do."

Takes all sorts I guess.