Program Note
The Sonata for solo flute is a musical portrait of my friend and colleague James Kortum. Its inspiration comes from working with James over many years. We taught in adjacent rooms at Newcastle Conservatorium, hearing James practice was always part of my day. His wizzy technique on the flute, a luscious slow movement, and the orchestral repertoire for flute - Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Nights dream is a favorite. On hearing whistle tones for the first time, I knew that this eerie sound would have to be a feature of the Sonata.
Contents: Space Squaw, What's That Thing?, All the Things That Art
Composer notes
Burwood Park for solo flute was composed in 2008 for Brisbane-based flautist, Janet McKay, for a concert at the Queensland Art Gallery in South Bank.
This piece is named after a park situated in a Western Sydney suburb. Programmatically, Burwood Park consists of five sections depicting the sounds of nature and people we come across as we walk through the park: birds and the wind in the trees, children singing and playing, chess players getting stressed and agitated, screaming and shouting at each other and Tai Chi dancing.
Burwood Park begins in a slow, mysterious and improvisatory style. A quirky, rhythmic, birdcall motif emerges, gradually transforming into a scene of angry chess players. This is a very loud, fast, exciting and virtuosic passage which showcases the technical ability of the flautist. The final section is based on a pentatonic scale to imitate the Asian music typical of Tai Chi. A tranquil and meditative atmosphere should be conveyed to represent the Tai Chi dancers in the park; their slow dance movements moving along to the peaceful music. Whistle tone and singing techniques produce a range of soft harmonic effects to end the work.
Burwood Park features a range of extended techniques including bend, vibrato, flutter- tonguing, tongue-ram, air and key click articulation, jet whistle, whistle tone, singing, colour trill and multiphonic effects. All fingerings for the multiphonics and colour trills and other contemporary playing techniques are clearly shown on the score.
The duration of Burwood Park is 6 minutes.
Contents: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, Passacaglia
Contents: A Day in the Sun, Bossa, Butterflies, Cool Cat, Dreams, Flat Out, Japanese Garden, Jazz Waltz, Ocean Spray, Over the Sea, Summer Days, Whisper on the Breeze
Contents: Leaping Turtles, Toy Waltz, Crunchy Footsteps, Butterflies Dancing, Figurine, Through My Window, First Climb, Cool Shoes, Clock And Tickle, Proof, Juggling Popcorn, Two Faces, Daisy Chain, Dragon-fly, Only One Cloud in the Sky, Summertime in Venice
