Instrumentation: Solo Flute
First Performance: Denis Bouriakov, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. April 16, 2024.
Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association for Denis Bouriakov. Part of the LA Phil Etudes series.
Duration: 6 minutes
For me, etudes are most interesting when they present musical problems in the guise of solutions, when musical ends transcend the means with which they are initially confined. It takes the special sorcery of a musician to make you aware of technique while simultaneously leaving no trace of its burden.
This piece wonders what happens when you set into motion multiple ideas on a single line. How many objects can you throw in the air and keep hovering in defiance of gravity? Can you still feel them as they cycle in and out, propelled by invisible engines? How do melodies survive being blown off course by sudden gusts of wind? And what form of sorcery is needed in order to perform an action and its reaction in the same instance?
Anthony Cheung