Browse Works
Instrumentation
Additional Information
From Dusk to Dawn (1989)
This piece was written for the flautist Anna Pope and her mother, pianist Maria Solimini. It is in four sections, suggesting different aspects of night and darkness. It starts quietly with evenly-spaced piano chords and clearly-defined flute and oboe lines, but the texture gradually blurs towards the second section. This evokes dusk out of doors, with bats flitting across the path and birds hawking insects.
The piano moves to its lowest register, and the alto flute and cor anglais are used for the third section, which is intended to evoke the darkest and most mysterious and frightening part of the night. Dawn is heralded by a sotto voce phrase on the piano, joined by flute and oboe playing together in the same rhythm for the first time in the piece.
The final section is characterised by tremolos on all three instruments, and the piece finally resolves onto a cloudy E Major chord.
BMIC
