What are you working on?

MonikaFL · Post by **MonikaFL** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:52 pm

I think it's fun to see what people are working on, what pieces, etc.

My friend and I are planning a recital of flute/bassoon music, with a little bit of piccolo, clarinet, harp, and voice thrown in for a change in timbre.

So, I'm mainly working on:

Petite Suite for flute & bassoon by Pierre Dubois
Sonatine for flute & bassoon by Pierre Gabaye
Sonatine for flute & bassoon by Eugene Bozza
Airheads for flute & clarinet by Gary Schocker
As It Fell Upon A Day for flute, clarinet, soprano by Aaron Copland

The Dubois and Gabaye are REALLY nice... even though they're 20th century, they aren't waaaaaay out there harmonically, you know?

I think the audience will especially enjoy those two.

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:33 pm

Looks like a nice program.
As it's been the heavy audition & contest season in my area, I've not practiced much lately, but my students sure have! OT on the extra lessons, and rehearsals with accompanists. Some pieces they're playing: Reinecke Ballade; Bloch Suite Modale; Lakme Flower Duet; Hovhanness duet; Telemann fantasies; several Handel sonatas; Telemann sonata, G major... and some simple pieces for near-beginners from the 40 Little Pieces book. My husband and I have a couple concerts, choral and orchestral, coming up, and have discussed planing a recital for late spring or early summer. We're lacking programming inspiration

at this phase, however. We'll have to decide whether to do solos or chamber music, or a mix. The last one was mixed, so maybe something different. I'm itching to try some more-contemporary things, but they might be a tough sell here. Nobody seems to want to listen to pieces they don't already KNOW!?!

Of course, since flutists are scarce here--unusual, I know!--that's pretty much anything I play, so what the heck?

**How is Airheads? I bought it, but haven't tried it yet.

MonikaFL · Post by **MonikaFL** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:46 pm

Ohhh I love the Bloch "Suite Modale" -- I should order that. I've only admired Alexa Still playing it on one of her CDs.

I hear ya on the audition/contest season. I accompany all of my students if I can, and I have a bunch of high school upperclassmen so I'm spending plenty of time at the piano. LOL I was thinking that next year I'm going to back off a bit on that, but by then I'll have so many of the huge pieces in the repertoire learned, it'll be good to keep it up!

What does your husband play?

I know what you mean about adding in 20th century music. I feel like I have to be really conscientious with the 20th century music I add in, if I want people to come back to hear more music in the future! LOL

Airheads is fun! I found a recording of it on eMusic.com I believe... and you can listen to clips on Amazon.com (the CD is "American Souvenir")... my friend isn't convinced that he's actually going to sing the "bee-um" at the end of the 3rd movement though, hahah!

apicultrice · Post by **apicultrice** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 11:55 pm

I am doing auditions for doctoral programs (is there an emoticon for "typing that makes me want to throw up!"?). I'm doing Mozart in G, Martin's Ballade, and Shulamit Ran's East Wind, as well as excerpts (Daphnis, Mendelssohn Scherzo, Brahms 4, and Firebird, which is just about the scariest thing I've ever played in my life). After auditions are done, I'm hopefully going to start in on Takemitsu's Voice, as well as a few other modern pieces from local composers.

My students are all etude-ing it up, with some Copland Duo, Debussy's Syrinx thrown in, and a couple who are working on the Godard Suite.

flutegeek1992 · Post by **flutegeek1992** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:48 am

I'm so happy someone came up with this topic-I always ask this at flute choir and school.

I just finished performing Bach's sonata #5 in E minor for my solo and ensemble event (I got a 1). I'm now working on "the gift" by Rhonda Larson, Bach's sonata in C Major and a number of Telemann duets. I'm in the inbetween stages of music, so I don't have much to report.

apicultrice-I LOVE firebird. Its an amazing piece, isn't it? I agree with you though, it is so scary.

apicultrice · Post by **apicultrice** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:18 pm

It is! It is a beautiful work.. The Nashville Ballet did the Firebird and the Rite of Spring as a combo on Valentine's Day last year, and I found the music and the ballet to be equally enchanting. They used canned music, though, which was completely disappointing!

But yes, the flute part makes me want to stomp my feet and yell curse words.

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:14 pm

apicultrice wrote:... and Shulamit Ran's East Wind...

If this is the piece I am thinking of [for solo flute with no accomp.] then it is a really cool piece. My most recent teacher just won the Flute Society of Kentucky's annual Young Artist Competition with that piece [ ages 30 and under]. It is really neat.

I myself am working on Bach's Sonata in Eb Major. Not my favorite piece in the world, but I am already getting started on my next piece : Autumn Reflection by Jennifer Higdon..... very neat piece in my opinion. I really like it.

apicultrice · Post by **apicultrice** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:12 pm

Yeah, it was the piece for the final round of FSK. I was actually pretty surprised that they chose that one! It's also the prelim piece for NFA's Young Artist Competition this year.

MeLizzard · Post by **MeLizzard** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 9:40 am

Sorry for the long pause; my husband's a 'cellist. Well, actually, he's a pathologist, but, inside, a frustrated 'cellist! We love to play music together, but our tasts are sometimes almost incompatible. I don't like "ugly" music, but I prefer more newer pieces than he does. Most music written specifically for flute and 'cello is relatively new. Yes, we've already done The Jet Whistle

. We will, doubtless, revisit it someday.
**Isn't that an awesome CD!!! Everything on it is gorgeous!!!!!!!!

Has anyone played Raindance, by Mark Phillips? It's a pretty, reasonably accessible contemporary piece for flute and tape, featuring flute with various water sounds. I'm thinking about this one for a recital. Not too hard, and maybe it wouldn't scare everyone away, LOL.

Isabelle · Post by **Isabelle** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:37 pm

I got a new peice a couple days ago...Meditation from "Thais"...it's really neat, and it's not the hardest peice in the world, but as I'm practicing, I'm starting to realize it's not as easy as I first thought it was. Anyhoo, I can't wait to preform it, I am in Love with this song!

musical_Kat · Post by **musical_Kat** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:14 am

apicultrice wrote:It is! It is a beautiful work.. The Nashville Ballet did the Firebird and the Rite of Spring as a combo on Valentine's Day last year, and I found the music and the ballet to be equally enchanting. They used canned music, though, which was completely disappointing!

But yes, the flute part makes me want to stomp my feet and yell curse words.

I absolutely LOVE the Firebird! My junior year of high school we went to the BOA nationals (marching). Our show that year was the Firebird Suite. It was amazing. It was of course slightly watered down since it was a marching performance but not too much really.

lhampton · Post by **lhampton** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:24 pm

ahhh firebird....makes my head hurt

and voice by takemitsu is sooo cool. I have it but haven't mastered the techniques needed to perform it. And the copland duo...one of my favorites. I had this friend at tanglewood and she made up a little story to go along in the 3rd movement...it was about a cowboy and cowgirl...incredibly cool

currently I'm working on:
hindemith- andantino excerpt
messiaen - le merle noir
burton- sonatina
mower- sonata latino
taktakishvili - sonata

and the bach e minor is one of my all time favorites. soo great. the third movement is just...out of this world

pearlburkartguy · Post by **pearlburkartguy** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 10:01 am

In Wind Ensemble:
After A Gentle Rain(piccolo)-Iannaccone
Armenian Dances Part 1(piccolo)-Reed
Mother Earth: A Fanfare(piccolo)-Maslanka
Symphony No. 8 for Band(piccolo)-Persichetti
Commando March(piccolo)-Barber

In Lessons:
Sonata for Flute and Piano-Muczynski
Sonata No.5 in E Minor for Flute-J.S. Bach
Sonata for Solo Flute-La Montaine
Andante Pastorale and Schertzettino-Taffanel

In Orchestra:
The Firebird Suite: 1919 version(piccolo)-Stravinsky (I agree with everyone that this is a very difficult piece!

)

In Flute Quartet:
Steeley Pause-Higdon
Quartet for Four Flutes-Kuhlau
Grand Quartet in E Minor-Dubois

I believe all of this will keep me busy for a while!!!!!

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 2:02 pm

Hmmm...... stuff I am working on....

Orchestra:

Brahms 2nd Symphony [Principal flute]
random stuff for a kids concert [Ronald McDonald and the Symphony Orchestra!..... fun stuff...

]. For that we are playing: Star Wars, Superman, a western piece that has the "good bad and the ugly" which no one can keep a straight face through while we play it... and something else.....

Symphonic Band/ Wind Ensemble [piccolo].

English Dances- Arnold
Slava!
French Dances Revisited- Adam Gorb
and some piece by Persichetti..... descriptive I know....

Lessons:
orchestral excerpts
Andersen Etudes
Hymn of Pan- Charles Delaney [almost finished.... just have to record it

].
Fantasie in A minor - Telemann
Autumn Reflections by Jennifer Higdon
Chaminade's Concertino

soon to start:
Charanga by Michael Coquhoun
Ibert Concerto
Lookout by Robert Dick

Flute Ensemble:
Legend of the Sleeping Bear [piccolo]

and we are reading stuff in our woodwind quintet.

Flute_star3 · Post by **Flute_star3** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 6:28 pm

I'm working on Mozart concerto in D for lessons and L'arlesienne, Pastorale by Bizet, Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikowsky, and Polonaise from Christmas eve for symphony. I'm not very good with names, so sorry that this is so messed up.