Prelude and Toccata

About

Prelude and Toccata was written especially for the final degree recital given by Hilary Taylor in the summer of 1991 at Goldsmiths College, London. The commission was to write a work of sufficient difficulty to warrant inclusion in a demanding programme and to show off both the performer and the instrument to full effect. The opening improvisation sets the scene, the solo flute soon joined by background chords on the piano. This material develops into the lively and offbeat toccata with the flute very much in the dominant role and the piano providing a driving rhythmic accompaniment. In New Zealand it was recorded and broadcast on Concert FM by Carol Hohauser (flute) and Rachel Spiegel-Neumann (piano). This edition (completed in 2007) is a computer-set version (using Sibelius software) of the rather hybrid computer-set/hand-written earlier version and contains mainly revisions in notation and articulation.