Rautavaara, E :: Concerto - 'Dances with the Winds'

The flute concerto ‘Dances with the Winds’ was composed in 1974 for the Swedish flautist Gunilla von Bohr, a specialist in all members of the flute family. The ordinary flute thus alternates with a bass flute at the beginning and end of the four-movement concerto, the second movement is assigned to the shrill piccolo and the third to the sensuous alto flute. The last movement is a summary of all the musical events in the concerto. At the end the bass flute soars to the top of its register, the note D acting as the pivot to many of the symmetries in the work, against a resigned B flat minor chord on the orchestra.

’The colourful Flute Concerto Dances with the Winds is a more extrovert piece with Nielsen as a fairly certain forebear. The action-packed opening movement withstands some fairly aggressive interjections from the brass, though by 3'43'' the string writing has taken on a modal quality reminiscent of Vaughan Williams. The brief second movement recalls the shrill sound world of fifes and drums; the elegiac Andante moderato offers plenty of jam for the alto flute, and the finale’s striking mood-swings have just a hint of Bernsteinian exuberance about them.’

- Gramophone UK review

For advanced players.