Suite for Flute Quartet Mvmt. 2 - (4:04) Performed by: - Flute 1: Kathleen Ellingson - Flute 2: Ga Won Han - Flute 3: Caitlyn Phillips - Flute 4: Gabr...
NOTE TO THE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE -This score has undergone minor revisions (mostly regarding the displacement of the downbeat and minor phrase length changes). The attached recording does not reflect these changes.
EDWARD RYAN
SUITE FOR FLUTE QUARTET MVMT. 2, ALLEGRO CON FORZA
2
SUITE FOR FLUTE QUARTET EDWARD RYAN
Written for a quartet of 4 C flutes. Duration approx. 5'00''. Composed: March 2009, New York City. Revised July 2011. Program notes: This quartet is, like so many of my other works, written for friends. I was lucky enough get to know the entire freshman flute class of Manhattan School of Music during the spring of 2009 and kindly asked them if they were interested in performing my music. They, to my delight, agreed. This particualar excerpt was the result of an intense week of writing and rehearsal, and eventually enjoyed a successful performance. I then, due to forces outside of my control, left Manhattan School of Music shortly afterwards, this piece remaining as a final compositional vestige of an otherwise happy year. I as continued work on the Suite, this movement became less about an innocent dance, and more about my old nostalgia and memories. The lighthearted joy found in this movement became more and more of an anomaly - Suite for Flute Quartet became uncharachteristically dark for such an instrumentation. This short movement became a beacon of wit and humor in an otherwise depressing and unsettling music. The form of this piece is that of a traditional scherzo. A dance opens the piece, a trio contrasts it, and the initial dance returns. This ABA form also exists within the dances themselves. This movement is host to a number of oddities. The slow elongated phrases after the climax of the inital scherzo were intended to be a jab at the somber vocal music of Schoenberg. The trio of this movement, depite its name, is in seven, rather than three. Short-lived imitation and close canon clutter the piece, giving the music vitality and color. Recent revisions addressed phrase struture, overall development, the addition of various embellishments, and the addition of an entirely new coda. The attached recording does not reflect these changes.
