Flute Vibes

Instrumentation

Flute
1
Piano
1

Additional Information

I have worked with a number of flautists over the years.  For a series of concerts with Chris Britton, I decided to compose a fun, accessible piece which would give the audience an idea of the many sounds the flute can make.

The extended flute techniques displayed in Flute Vibes include singing and humming while playing; producing more than one note at a time (multiphonics); and percussive effects such as key clicks with open and closed mouthpiece.  

Various sorts of tonguing are also used, including flutter tonguing, slap tongue or “tongue pizzicato” and tongue stops.  At one stage the head joint is played on its own, and then the body of the flute is played without the head joint (trumpet sound). 

Aeolian sounds, jet whistles, pitch bends, glissandi, harmonics, buzz pitches, microtonality, quarter-tone scales, head vibrato…the list goes on!

Tags

Details

Premiered in Oxford: Exeter College Chapel, 17 May 2015
Year

United Kingdom

Minutes
5

Recordings

Date recorded
17 May 2015
Performers
Chris Britton (flute) and Kirsten Johnson (piano)
Title
Flute Vibes
Venue
Exeter College Chapel, Oxford