Cantilena for flute and piano (Op.11b)

1987/1994, 3 minutes 45 seconds

For Abigail ix '94

This version of Cantilena (Op.11) was arranged in October 1994, and given its first performance by Ayako Hasegawa at St. Christopher School, Letchworth, with the composer accompanying. Cantilena was first arranged in 1987 for alto saxophone and piano.

Its title derives from its prominent use of sustained, smooth-flowing melodic lines — indeed the melody was recycled from an arietta from the opera, Yellow Earth Ridge, which has since been withdrawn by the composer.

Cantilena tries to capture a popular flavour, borrowing freely from pop, jazz and rock styles: primary and secondary chords are used in arpeggiated piano figures, as mainstream ballads might do; pedal notes are a feature, especially on the tonic note; and a 'bluesy' style emerges in the third main theme.

A pseudo-rock style is twice used on the climax section, which acts as a song-like chorus.

Cantilena is in the key of D Major overall, but even the introduction uses 'wrong-note' harmony (notably flattened sevenths) to produce ambiguous tonality. The piece demonstrates a range of tone colour for the flute across a wide melodic range.

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You can listen to Cantilena on scoreexchange.com.

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