Flute Sonata (1994)
Form: Chamber Instrumentation: flute, piano Year: 1994 Duration: 15:00 Premiere: FP: 4/94, Jennifer Keeney, Robert Conway, Royal Oak, Michigan
One of my earliest published compositions, first performed by soloists from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and later recorded on my debut Naxos recording.
Program Notes
The Flute Sonata, composed in 1993 and the oldest piece on Left at the Fork in the Road, was first performed in the same year in Detroit, Michigan. The first movement begins with the piano demonstrating the wide melodic leaps of the principle theme, which later becomes compacted, the flute stating a tuneful stepwise melody that seems both sure and simple. The second movement is a lively divertissement where the flute is able to showcase its melodic capabilities. The midsection is marked by a piano ostinato, over which the flute soars into its higher register. The brisk, final movement is marked by the constant alternation of 2 and 3 meter, where the musicians - except for a contemplative e minor middle - hang on to the rapidly changing patterns for dear life.
