The first movement is quite simply a long-drawn-out melody which the flute 'sings' and then elaborates expressively.
A rapid, syncopated movement with a 'floating' middle section.
A slow theme and a variation, culminating in a short cadenza, which leads to the fourth movement.
A mischievous 'whistling' march. However, the bustle and gaiety of this lively movement is interrupted by a second cadenza from which re-emerges a shimmering version of the theme from the first movement that now accelerates with a crescendo into a short and energetic Coda.
5th March 2022 - 5th March 2022 |
Nick Houghton, Anne Hodgson, All Saints Church, Lewes, Sussex. 7.45pm
Composer's note: I was given a beautiful old bronze flageolet by an aunt whilst in primary school, and I greatly enjoyed playing it. At 11 in the Cadet Corps Band at Brighton Grammar School I played military flute in B flat and piccolo in E flat, so I always held a special affinity for the instrument, often composing prominent solos for it within the context of my orchestral music, but never completing a concerto until this one in 1996. Flautist Gay Byam-Grounds had been soloist and leader of the English Serenata who had formed the ensemble which had helped me develop the full-length stage show of 'The Snowman' from 1993 onwards. As an enthusiastic performer of my music she first commissioned a quintet for flute and string quartet which I then developed into this concerto for flute and string orchestra. It is in four movements: 1.Allegro cantando 2.Scherzo con spirito 3.Andante espressivo 4.Marcia giocoso Duration c.18' |
5th March 2022 | Nick Houghton Anne Hodgson, All Saints Church, Lewes, Sussex 7.45pm |
16th January 2021 | Anna Hodgson and MAS, All Saints Church Lewes, Sussex |
1st March 2015 | Sir Neville Marriner,conductor,The Orchestra of the Academy of St.Martin in the Fields,soloists: Gustavo Nunez, Jaime Martin and Andrew Marriner. Wind Octet for soloists within the orchestra: David Theodore, Rachel Ingleton (oboes); Timothy Lines, Katie Lockhart (clarinets); Graham Sheen, Gavin McNaughton (bassoons); Stephen Stirling, Susan Dent (horns). Released on Pentatone Classics/Hybrid Multichannel
PTC 5186 506 Super Audio CD Global distribution by Naxos, Recorded at St John's Smith Square, London
THE BARBER OF NEVILLE ON PENTATONE Released September 23rd 2013 by Pentatone Classics/hybrid multichannel/super audio. Link: http://onebitaudio/?cat=44 Recordings took place September 24-26 2012 in St. John's Smith Square with the Orchestra of The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields. Clarinet Concerto perf. by Andrew Marriner with revisions previously unincorporated; Bassoon Concerto perf. by Gustavo Nunez (principal Concertgebouw Amsterdam); Flute Concerto perf. by Jaime Martin; Serenade for Wind Octet perf. by soloists from the orchestra. Music producer Andrew Keener, location sound engineering Erdo Groot and Roger de Schot from Polyhymnia, supervising producer Job Maarse for Pentatone. Editing Baarn Studios Netherlands. |
25th November 2014 | Orchestra and soloists of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, Church of Saint Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London
Concertos and wind octet, soloists to be confirmed. |
13th January 2014 | Conductor: Neville Marriner Ensemble: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Soloist: Jaime Martin, Classic FM radio
Record Label: Pentatone |
29th October 2013 | Jaimie Martin, Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Classic FM London 8.54pm CD play |
2nd October 2010 | Rachel Coghlan flute, Daniel Parkinson conductor. Chester Chamber Orchestra, Wesley Methodist Hall, Chester |
18th December 2009 | Anthony Robb (flute), Oxford Philomusica, Howard Blake (conductor), Sheldonian, Oxford |
Almost all of the pieces listed above are being heard on records for the first time; the Clarinet Concerto, in which Sir Neville Marriner’s son Andrew (principal clarinet of the London Symphony) is soloist, is being recorded for the first time in the revised edition. Howard Blake, an Englishman who is now 75 years old, is much like his late American counterpart Alec Wilder in that he sees little if any distinction between “popular” and “serious” music---for want of better nomenclature. His style is lyrical above all, and his professional and contrapuntal grounding sets him apart from mere tunesmiths. He can write memorable melodies and he knows how to shape them and how to orchestrate them---in the marvelously compact first movement of the Flute Concerto, for instance, the melodic line is briefly traded off with the ‘cello. The Scherzo (second movement) is superb idiomatic flute writing, with deft handling of the strings. The slow movement is a deeply felt Andante espressivo, a piece that seems to be all about the flute’s middle register and the warmth of the lower strings. The finale is a march marked Grazioso. Jaime Martin is a marvelous artist who plays expressively, securely and without affectation.
Christopher Hathaway, KUHF 88.7 - News for Houston. [ Music Library Reviews: Beethoven, Wagner, and Blake], 5/11/2013
His Flute Quintet (also in its arrangement as Flute Concerto) declares a no-barriers statement of faith in that good-hearted marriage between joy, melody, pensive asides and solace. Avoiding blandness he spirits the listener away with enchantingly imagined and expressed moods and cheerful merry-eyed delight. Much the same applies to the light-suffused warmth and Gallic impressionism of the Trio for flute, cello and harp. This would go well in the same concert as the Ravel Introduction and Allegro and the Bax Elegiac Trio.
Read more: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Sept09/Blake_survey.htm#ixzz1dJiRnWak
Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International, 7/6/2010