for two flutists and piano
At some point I ran across a quote, supposedly from a letter by Paul Klee, describing his impressions of Egypt, “What is civilization, good or bad, compared with this water, this sky, this light?” This struck me as a perfect title, so I made a note of it in my “idea file,” and came across it when I was looking for a title for this piece, which was written at the request of Flȗtes Fleur de Lis(flutists Kathy Karr and Tacy Edwards, and pianist Naomi Oliphant), who were planning to perform at the 2015 convention of the National Flute Convention.
I say “supposedly” above because, in doing a little research for these notes, I was unable to verify the quote, so I think it might be spurious. However, I like the phrase so much I am keeping it.
The piece is in one movement, and attempts to capture the mood of the title, but doesn’t have a specific section that is “water,” another that is “sky,” and so on. It begins slowly and mysteriously with both flutists playing alto flute, and gradually works it way up in pitch and tempo, ending with a fast, brilliant, often loud, section with both flutists playing piccolo.
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