Instrumentation: Solo flute, Orchestra (1-1-2-1, 2-2-2-0, harp + strings)
Duration: 15'
Year of Composition: 2017
Program Note: Music, at its core, is an exquisite form of communication, and rhapsodies are among music’s most evocative expressions. They spin tales in much the same way a good story-teller does, through colorful language, expressive gesture, episodic narrative, and a sense of improvisatory freedom—all fired in the kiln of audience imagination. Free of the formal expectations that bind other kinds of musical works, rhapsodies are uniquely transportive with the power to sweep the listener to another time or place. It comes as little surprise, then, that so many of them bear titles like Hungarian Rhapsody (as by Liszt) or Rapsodie Espagnol (Ravel) or that so many have earned a privileged place in our cultural consciousness, from Rachmaninoff’s moving Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini to Gershwin’s bombastic Rhapsody in Blue to Queen’s genre-bending Bohemian Rhapsody.
The rhapsody presented here is not without form—it articulates a vague largescale rondo structure—but maintains the episodic story-telling of the genre and, I hope, weaves an engrossing narrative web. The opening material in the flute becomes the basis for nearly all of the subsequent music, transformed through alterations in character, pitch center, tempo, and instrumentation, among other factors. Through these varied presentations, the music indeed takes a rhapsodic journey which, as many journeys do, concludes with an exuberant return home.
This piece exists in two versions—one for orchestra, completed and premiered in spring 2017 and another for flute and piano, which was premiered in fall 2016. For her kind collaboration on both of these versions, as well as her friendship, advice, and belief in this project, Dr. Shauna Thompson has earned my utmost gratitude and is the dedicatee of the work. Her energy, enthusiasm, and personality informed every note. I am also particularly indebted to TCU, the College of Fine Arts, and the School of Music, which generously granted me a sabbatical leave to complete the majority of the piece as well as the commission which supported the completion and implementation of the version for orchestra.
Duration: 15'
Year of Composition: 2017
Program Note: Music, at its core, is an exquisite form of communication, and rhapsodies are among music’s most evocative expressions. They spin tales in much the same way a good story-teller does, through colorful language, expressive gesture, episodic narrative, and a sense of improvisatory freedom—all fired in the kiln of audience imagination. Free of the formal expectations that bind other kinds of musical works, rhapsodies are uniquely transportive with the power to sweep the listener to another time or place. It comes as little surprise, then, that so many of them bear titles like Hungarian Rhapsody (as by Liszt) or Rapsodie Espagnol (Ravel) or that so many have earned a privileged place in our cultural consciousness, from Rachmaninoff’s moving Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini to Gershwin’s bombastic Rhapsody in Blue to Queen’s genre-bending Bohemian Rhapsody.
The rhapsody presented here is not without form—it articulates a vague largescale rondo structure—but maintains the episodic story-telling of the genre and, I hope, weaves an engrossing narrative web. The opening material in the flute becomes the basis for nearly all of the subsequent music, transformed through alterations in character, pitch center, tempo, and instrumentation, among other factors. Through these varied presentations, the music indeed takes a rhapsodic journey which, as many journeys do, concludes with an exuberant return home.
This piece exists in two versions—one for orchestra, completed and premiered in spring 2017 and another for flute and piano, which was premiered in fall 2016. For her kind collaboration on both of these versions, as well as her friendship, advice, and belief in this project, Dr. Shauna Thompson has earned my utmost gratitude and is the dedicatee of the work. Her energy, enthusiasm, and personality informed every note. I am also particularly indebted to TCU, the College of Fine Arts, and the School of Music, which generously granted me a sabbatical leave to complete the majority of the piece as well as the commission which supported the completion and implementation of the version for orchestra.
Premiere of Rhapsody for Flute and Orchestra by Dr. Shauna Thompson, flute; Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; and the TCU Symphony Orchestra