Obstinato & Scareso

Our Description

An exciting work in 2 movements lasting about 12 minutes. Commissioned by Christine Potter, and premiered by her with the Washington Flute Choir at the American National Flute Association conference in San Diego, August 2005.

Review by The British Flute Society magazine

This piece shows that the flute choir is very much alive and kicking. Long gone are the days when flute choir was the thing you played in while you waited to get a place in the school orchestra; with repertoire like this the flute choir is now an arena for highly polished ensemble playing, sensitivity and awareness between players and technical skill.

The Obstinato is for solo bass flute with the group (3 flutes, one doubling on piccolo, alto and bass). It has rhythmic drive and the jazz-influenced language is instantly likable. The Scareso begins with a fast Bach-like solo alto flute line, which is fused with Mower's characteristic style to create something unique. The solo part requires a good deal of skill. In alto and bass flute terms, this is real virtuoso ­writing, but everything works as it should. The accompaniment parts are all interesting to play and full of energy. Although this has a single solo part, all the parts are ­indispensable and soloistic in their own right.

This is a fantastic addition to the flute choir repertoire, and I hope one that will receive many performances in the next few years. - Carla Rees

Movements

• Obstinato
• Scareso

Item Details

Instrumentation

• Part 1: Solo Bass Flute doubling on Alto Flute
• Part 2: Flute
• Part 3: Flute
• Part 4: Flute
• Part 5: Alto Flute
• Part 6: Bass Flute