Sue Ann Kahn, flute; Andrew Willis, piano
George Rochberg's Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo-e III) Five Images for Flute and Piano was written in Jerusalem during the late fall of 1982 for family friend Karen Wolfgang, a flutist; it was premiered by Sue Ann Kahn and Vladimir Sokoloff in Philadelphia on August 19, 1983 at the National Flute Association Convention. Third in Rochberg's "Ukiyo-e" series, following Ukiyo-e (1973) for harp, and Slow Fires of Autumn (Ukiyo-e II) (1978-79) for flute and harp, Between Two Worlds continues the imagistic current that runs through a great deal of his oeuvre.
Wallingford Riegger's Suite for Flute Alone, begun in 1928 and first published in Henry Cowell's quarterly New Music (vol. 3, no. 4, July, 1930) was dedicated to Georges Barrère, the dedicatee as well of Varèse's Density 21.5 (1936), and may well be the first piece of "ultra-modern" music for solo flute. In annotations accompanying the New Music score, Riegger wrote of his difficulties with the design of the Suite and with "the avoidance of diatonic tonality" in a work for which no other instrument is available to contradict the almost inescapable implied tonalities of a solo melodic line. He noted that in the concluding six bars, "each of the semitones of three octaves of flute range is represented once."
Otto Luening's Third Short Sonata for Flute and Piano (1976), dedicated to composer and flutist Harvey Sollberger, is a delightful dialogue, at times dramatic, lyric, and poetic. It unfolds in two parts separated by an interlude wherein the flutist improvises a tuning-up to the piano. The interlude leads without pause to a brilliant virtuosic flute cadenza which begins the second part. The concise, aphoristic materials of this sonata lend an aura of spontaneity to the work, even an apparent disjunction; but Luening's “acoustic harmony,” that is, his method of manipulating and reinforcing overtones, supplies the necessary connections.
Peter Schickele writes:
"Sue Ann Kahn, as flutist of the Jubal Trio, premiered and recorded my cantata The Lowest Trees Have Tops, and in 1982 she asked me about writing something for flute and piano, a sizeable piece, a program-ender kind of piece. Although the work wasn't finished until July 7, 1983, its mixture of sunny stillness and sweet bubbliness led me to call it Spring Serenade; in fact, the Pastorale, the movement that seems to have the most obviously springlike feel to it, was the first movement to be composed."
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Sue Ann Kahn plays Schickele, Rochberg, Luening & Riegger
| MP3/320 | $7.99 | |
| FLAC | $7.99 | |
| WAV | $7.99 | |
| CD-R | $7.99 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo-e III): I. Fantasia
George Rochberg
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Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo-e III): II. Scherzoso
George Rochberg
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Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo-e III): III. Night Scene
George Rochberg
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Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo-e III): IV. Sarabande
George Rochberg
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Between Two Worlds (Ukiyo-e III): V. Night Scene
George Rochberg
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Suite for Flute Alone: I. Moderato
Wallingford Riegger
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Suite for Flute Alone: II. Vivace
Wallingford Riegger
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Suite for Flute Alone: III. Molto con sentimento
Wallingford Riegger
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Suite for Flute Alone: IV. Allegro ironico
Wallingford Riegger
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Third Short Sonata for Flute and Piano: I. Slow and somewhat free in tempo
Otto Luening
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Third Short Sonata for Flute and Piano: Interlude - Free in tempo and dynamics
Otto Luening
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Third Short Sonata for Flute and Piano: II. With fantasy and freedom
Otto Luening
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Spring Serenade: I. Invocation
Peter Schickele
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Spring Serenade: II. Pastorale
Peter Schickele
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Spring Serenade: III. Whirlwind Waltz
Peter Schickele
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Spring Serenade: IV. Song
Peter Schickele
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Spring Serenade: V. Finale
Peter Schickele
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