Graduate Recital, Flute

This recital explores works for flute inspired by birdsong. The flute\u27s range and flexibility make the instrument a match for the avian syrinx. Vivaldi\u27s Concerto in D Major presents a bird that bursts into refined song for the listener\u27s pleasure. This showpiece depicts a captive pet at once caged and preserved for exhibition by the musical score. Messiaen\u27s Le Merle Noir, on the other hand, features an unruly specimen whose shrill utterances and suspended melodies suggest both volatility and ancient wisdom. Other works on the program explore birdsong differently: Michael Colquhoun\u27s work requires the performer to arrange chirps during performance, in the same way that birds arrange song components spontaneously. Richard Rodney Bennett\u27s Six Tunes takes as inspiration the 1717 recorder method The Bird-Fancyer\u27s Delight, but the calls heard in this version hardly resemble those of the tame species that antique manual trained