1993

for flute and orchestra

By:

• Anthony Ritchie

Duration:

17' 00"

Instrumentation:

221 bass cl 1; 1210; 1perc; strs

Contents:

Three movements

Samples

Score (808k)

Page 64

© Anthony Ritchie

Availability

• This work has 4 scores, 4 recordings and a resource

Programme Note

The Flute Concerto was composed for flautist Alexa Still in 1993 while Ritchie was Composer-in-Residence with the Southern Sinfonia. Unlike the Symphony “Boum”, written in the same year, this Concerto is a generally happy and open-sounding work, and reflects aspects of Alexa Still’s personality as well as her playing. She first performed the concerto on September 4th, 1993 in The Glenroy Auditorium, and subsequently recorded it with The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

The first movement is energetic in style, with a bubbling first theme. This is contrasted by a darker and slower second theme, exploring the lower register of the flute. The music accelerates back to the main theme before heading into a percussive middle section. The flute then presents a lyrical idea that is related to earlier themes, and this leads to a cadenza. A brief recapitulation drives the music to a forceful ending.

The slow second movement is lyrical and improvisational in style, and begins with a solo for bass clarinet. A warm and gentle theme appears, followed by a short cadenza for flute. The orchestra returns with a fuller version of the theme, but it soon fades into anxious repeated chords on the oboes and bassoon while the flute plays nervous, flickering gestures. As the tension dissolves the clarinet introduces a laconic theme, interspersed with little cadenzas on the flute. The music builds to a climax where the main theme returns in a contrapuntal version, again fading into the anxious chords. A brief and mysterious coda contains references back to the opening cadenza, and the movement ends unresolved.

The third movement is like a sequence of dances with different characters, bound together by a buffeting crotchet rhythm. After a flourish from the orchestra, the flute introduces a sprightly theme, followed by a quirky, subsidiary idea. The buffeting rhythm from the start is transformed into a pop-styled ostinato pattern, and the flute plays a lyrical melody above it. This theme was inspired by the composer attending a performance by The Muttonbirds, a well-known NZ rock group. The quirky theme returns in a more subdued setting, the music slows, and unexpectedly becomes a dreamy and child-like waltz. This distraction is swept away by a loud chord, and the main theme returns with renewed purpose, leading to an exciting conclusion in which all the elements of the movement are combined.

The Flute Concerto was recorded by Alexa Still and the NZSO in 1996, on the Koch CD 3-7345-2-H1, entitled ‘Kiwi Flute’. The second movement of the concerto was published in a special version for piano and flute by the Centre for NZ Music, in their 1998 publication Little Dancings: A Selection of flute music by New Zealand Composers.

Commissioned:

Commissioned by the Dunedin Sinfonia (now the Southern Sinfonia) during Composer Residency

• Southern Sinfonia

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• Rock

Dedication:

Written for Alexa Still

• Alexa Still

Related Works

Flute Concerto

Anthony Ritchie

Performance History

	05 Sep 1993	Performed by Alexa Still (flute) and the Dunedin Sinfonia (now the Southern Sinfonia) in the Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin
		Alexa Still    Southern Sinfonia
	12 Oct 1996	Performed by Carol Hohauser (flute), University of Guanajato Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Sewell, at the Cervantino Festival, Guanajato, Mexico.
		Andrew Sewell
	09 Aug 2008	Performed by Alexa Still with the orchestra of The National Flute Association, conducted by Steven Byess in the concert F6 Flute: High Winds, at the at the American National Flute Association’s annual convention, Kansas City, United States
	02 Nov 2008	Performed by Wellington Youth Orchestra with Lucy Anderson (flute) conducted by Gregory Squire at the Wellington Town Hall.
		Wellington Youth Orchestra
	27 May 2009	Performed by the Dunedin Youth Orchestra with Feby Idrus (flute) at the Glenroy Auditorium in Dunedin, 2009
	06 May 2010	Performed by Tianyi Lu and the University of Auckland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Uwe Grodd, as part of the 2010 Graduation Gala Concerto Competition.
		Uwe-Alexander Grodd
	21 Jun 2010	Performed by the Auckland Chamber Orchestra with Alexa Still (flute), and conducted by Peter Scholes at Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall, in Auckland
		Alexa Still    Auckland Chamber Orchestra    Peter Scholes