Stucky, S :: Concerto

Concerto

Stucky, S

Steven Stucky presents the Concerto for Two Flutes and Orchestra, here in a reduction for two flutes and piano. In three movements: I. Elegy. Largo; II. Games. Allegro giocoso; and III. Hymn. Adagio.

From the composer:

'Like Classical concertos, this concerto is in three movements, but it is less usual in some other respects. For one thing, the tempo sequence is reversed: slow-fast-slow instead of the usual fast-slow-fast. For another, the opening slow music is not merely an introduction but rather a substantial slow movement that constitutes the emotional heart of the work an elegy for the Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski, who died only a few months before I began writing the work. He was not only my own mentor and friend but a beloved colleague of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its Music Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen. Yet the first movement is not so much an expression of grief as it is an homage to the beauty and greatness of spirit Lutoslawski s music embodies, and an attempt to honor him on his own terms by concentrating on the harmonic and melodic aspects of music that he held dear.

The shorter second and third movements move from this dark beginning towards brighter, more optimistic music. The second movement, 'Games,' is a scherzo in near-perpetual motion, whose materials (including lots of major and minor triads) are playful and sometimes quirky. The last movement, 'Hymn,' proceeds along two parallel tracks, almost as if two pieces were being played at once. The strings and horns play the 'hymn': slow, serious, sustained, lyrical music that climbs during the course of the movement out of the depths of the doublebasses into the treble regions. At the same time, though, the solo flutes play another music entirely, a fast, capricious descant seemingly at odds with its sober surroundings. As the movement goes on, the soloists win more and more of the orchestra over to their livelier music, until by the end the hymn has disappeared entirely, absorbed into the joyful clamor of the descant. Why 'Hymn'? Partly because the technical structure of the music has something in common with certain medieval church music, but mostly because it expresses hope and praise inspired in my case not by religious feelings, but by the pleasure of spending my life making music and the privilege of collaborating with great musicians.'

Duration: 17'. For advanced players.