Flute Concerto (Rouse)

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The middle movement of the flute concerto by the American composer Christopher Rouse (* 1949), which premiered in 1994, is dedicated to James Bulger , a toddler who was murdered by two ten-year-olds .

Origin and premiere

Christopher Rouse ( awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Trombone Concerto in 1993) completed his compositional work on his Flute Concerto , a commission for flautist Carol Wincenc and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra , on August 15, 1993 in Fairport, New York . The world premiere by the performers mentioned under the direction of Hans Vonk took place on October 28, 1994 in Detroit .

Cast and characterization

3 flutes , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , bassoon , contrabassoon , 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 3 trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion (3 players, with: glockenspiel , xylophone , cymbals , pair cymbals , tam-tam , whip , tubular bells , tenor drum , Snare drum , bass drum , tambourine , vibraphone , sandpaper blocks , rod ), harp and strings .

The performance lasts about 28 minutes. The five movements of the concert are headed as follows:

  1. Amhran
  2. Alla Marcia
  3. Elegia
  4. scherzo
  5. Amhran

The flute concerto, composed in a loosely bowed form, is framed by two slow movements entitled “Amhrán” ( Gaelic for “song”), in which the solo flute develops melodic, improvisational-like spinning over a calm string foundation. They evoke a Celtic-Irish atmosphere, according to the composer's statement, reminiscent of the chants of the Irish singer Enya .

The second and fourth movements call for rapid tempos. The second movement, an attacca following the first movement, noisy, pushing “ march ”, shares thematic material with the fourth movement, which takes up the Irish dance form jig and is increased to an almost breathless pace.

The central movement of the concert is an “Elegia”, opened and concluded by the bassoon solo, dedicated to two-year-old James Bulger , who was cruelly murdered by two ten-year-olds in 1993 in Bootle, England . The movement contains a chorale-like passage, which increases dynamically on its second appearance and ends in garish dissonances.

reception

The Flute Concerto , published by Boosey & Hawkes , received a standing ovation at its premiere and has - at least in the USA - become part of the flutist repertoire.

There are (at least) four commercially available recordings of Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto (as of 2013):

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Adeline Tomasone: Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto: Origins, Observations and Analysis. Doctoral dissertation. Temple University, 2007 ( abstract ( memento of October 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ))

Web links