In this program I question the limits and boundaries of the instrument and the performer against the challenging and sometimes physically impossible demands of the music and the composer.
Unity Capsule, by Brian Ferneyhough, is a massive complex monolith for flute solo. Of his hyper virtuosic works written in the 1970’s, Unity Capsule might be the most extreme example. In several ways a continuation of the ‘Time and Motion Study‘- series, Unity Capsule examines as one if its main premises the potential energy (musically and psychologically) of a soloist facing a score that can’t possibly be played by only one performer. Or is it?
The performer must filter several layers of articulation, gestural types and rhythmical patterns: he or she should attempt a musically viable reconciliation amongst straightforward ‘pitched’ music: alternate sounds, such as key clicks, breath sounds, vocalizations, multiphonics or harmonics, each of which may be found under different basic tempi than that of another level. The resultant performer’s anxiety, or adventurousness, becomes part of the expression of the piece.
Through, a refreshing piece with a new aesthetic for the bass flute by Fernanda Navarro, deals with that same shaping adventurousness and necessity. The desire of having a voice in an environment where one should not be heard, the urgency to speak and physically being restricted to do so, shape this piece in a virtuous and corporeal way.
Both pieces, the key works of UN(!)limited(?), together with other inventive and physically challenging pieces, unite impossibilities, restraints, boundaries and limits and turn them into new possibilities, opportunities and aesthetics.
Program:
OR for flute solo (1981) – Robert Dick
Spire V for flute solo (1999,) – Cesare Saldicco
Unity Capsule for flute solo (1975) – Brian Ferneyhough
ligament at distance for flute solo (2015) – James Bean
Through for bass flute solo (2015) – Fernanda Navarro
No I am not roaming aimlessly for flute solo (2017) – Anahita Abbasi
Duration:
+/- 1 hour
Technical needs:
1 stand
1 piano bench