Be rooted and breathe. Stand a little straighter and feel comfortable! Last Sunday's afternoon concert was a memorable one for me. Thank you Lympstone entertainments for giving me the opportunity to perform an entirely solo programme. Thank you Susie Hodder-Williams for being such an insightful musician. Thank you if you came and gave your ears and eyes and stillness to the sounds and music of the flute and the composers...

Flute voices: solo.
Music for flute, piccolo and alto flute.
Lympstone Church, 20th Oct, 4pm.


Mike Mower           Two-Timer (1993)

The composer writes “This piece fluctuates between triplet and double time semiquaver metre in a question and answer feel. Try to create the impression of two instruments playing a duet, especially in the first section to letter A, where the feel changes every two bars.”

Johann Sebastian Bach                Partita in A minor for Solo Flute, BWV 1013 (c. 1722)

I  Allemande -  a dance with 4 beats in every bar, of German origin, it is serious in character but not heavy.

II  Courante -  a ‘running’ French dance.

III  Sarabande - a slow, stately dance. The earlier, livelier Sarabande has its origins in Latin America and later a slow version emerged in France and England.

IV  Bourée Angloise – a lively dance.

Francis Poulenc           Un Jouer de Flûte Berce les Ruines (1942)

‘A Flute Player Lullabies the Ruins’

Pierre-Octave Ferroud         Trois pieces pour Flûte (1921-22)

                I Bergère captive (The captivating shepherdess)  II Jade  III Toan-Yan (La fête du Double-Cinq)

A set of three pieces for solo flute in a quasi-Chinese style by French composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud (1900-1936).

The composer wrote this note describing the third movement:

"The Toan-Yan holiday (or the day of Double Five) is celebrated in China on the fifth day of the fifth month - whence its name - and it is dedicated to the commemoration of a certain hero who flung himself into a body of water and drowned rather than submit to military dishonour. The solemnity of the holiday gives way in turn to mystical and fervid dances which symbolize the contrast between peace and war."

Later in the movement, the theme marked "très libre dans la mesure" [] is described by the following annotation:

"This theme is an authentic Chinese melody that is played on the large recorder - each Chinese instrument has a monopoly on certain musical themes, on account of its form, fingering and extent. One must play it in a chanting manner [psalmodier] with extreme simplicity, and without rhythmic precision."

Michael Colquhoun         Speshal Birds (2005)

The composer writes “Speshal Birds was inspired by the birdsong I heard every May while staying in a cabin in the Green Mountains of Vermont. While there I was the guest of a very ‘speshal’ friend, Stephanie, and this piece is dedicated to her.”

Daniel Dorff       Tweet for solo piccolo (2011)

            Commissioned and premiered by American piccoloist Lois Bliss Herbine.