Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Three Images for Flute and Guitar came about after requests from flute players in Australia and overseas. The three pieces in this set are ones that the composer always thought would particularly suit the flute and guitar combination.

Manouche Waltz is composed in the style of the light and airy Bal Musette waltzes of early 20^th Century France. The Bal Musette was a public dance-hall entertainment staple of Parisians. Manouche is the French term for gypsies.

Moonlight in Lombok was inspired by the depictions of water lilies in Sydney artist Geoff Harvey's painting. The reflective and cascading patterns of the piece reflect the gamelan ensemble sounds which are heard in Indonesia islands, plus a sense of stillness - ringing and gently percussive sounds from the guitar and wooden folk-flute-like writing.

Kharkiv Café gets its title from the place the composer was sitting when the opening idea came to him - a café in Kharkiv's main street, Sumskaya, in Ukraine. The flute and guitar continually roll and bounce ideas off each other in tangents of melodic line, parting and then joining up to restart the process. It is a frenetic and energy-filled finale to the set, punctuated by a calm and dreamy waltz in the middle section.

Work Details

Instrumentation: Flute, guitar.

Duration: 11 min.

Difficulty: Medium

Contents note: Manouche Waltz (3 min., 45 sec.) -- Moonlight in Lombok (3 min., 30 sec.) -- Kharkiv Café (3 min., 10 sec.).

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc associated with this work:
Manouche (Gypsy) Jazz, East Asian (particularly gamelan).