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- Joan Tower
Concerto for Flute (1989)
- Associated Music Publishers Inc (World)
- 1(pic).1.1(bcl).1/0.1.btbn.0/2perc/str
- Flute
- 15 min
Programme Note
Composer note:
Concerto for Flute (1989) was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and dedicated to Carol Wincenc who gave its Carnegie Hall premiere in 1989 with Hugh Wolff conducting.
The 15-minute work starts with the low register of the flute alone before the orchestra comes. As the flute gets more active, the chamber-size orchestra provides competitive tension which is matched phrase by phrase as the piece heads relentlessly towards to a finale where the "music blows wide open" (Wincenc) in a virtuosic display of flute scales and arpeggios.
—Joan Tower
Concerto for Flute (1989) was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and dedicated to Carol Wincenc who gave its Carnegie Hall premiere in 1989 with Hugh Wolff conducting.
The 15-minute work starts with the low register of the flute alone before the orchestra comes. As the flute gets more active, the chamber-size orchestra provides competitive tension which is matched phrase by phrase as the piece heads relentlessly towards to a finale where the "music blows wide open" (Wincenc) in a virtuosic display of flute scales and arpeggios.
—Joan Tower
Media
Scores
Reviews
The Flute Concerto gives Wincenc a roller coaster workout up and down the registers…
13th December 2023
Ms. Tower’s new Flute Concerto was Sunday’s centerpiece. It is a one-movement work that makes a musical virtue of its technical cleverness. The flute’s natural reticence in big formats is a problem met head on, not simply avoided by separating solo instrument from orchestra.
Indeed, low registers set against finely separated ensemble colors give the flute a strong and intelligible identity. Voices from within the orchestra often double the solo line. Elsewhere, its racing, skittering passages explore and expand on the instrument’s natural trilling character. There is an honest sentiment and energy here.
31st January 1990
Tower's FLUTE CONCERTO also revels in dramatic contrasts. The writing reflects the solo instrument's shining, agile character in music of lyrical and dark appeal, lilting ardor and fleet virtuosity.
Discography
Joan Tower: Piano Concerto - Homage to Beethoven
- LabelBMOP Sound
- Catalogue Number1093
- ConductorGil Rose
- EnsembleBoston Modern Orchestra Project
- SoloistMarc-André Hamelin, piano; Carol Wincenc, flute; Adrian Morejon, bassoon
- ReleasedSeptember 2023
- LabelD'note Classics
- Catalogue Number1016
- ConductorMax Bragado Darman
- EnsembleLouisville Orchestra
- SoloistCarol Wincenc, flute
More Info
- Joan Tower's Homage to Beethoven now available on BMOP/sound
- 12th September 2023
- BMOP/sound's upcoming release features four works by American composer Joan Tower, including Piano Concerto (Homage to Beethoven), Rising, Red Maple, and her Flute Concerto.