Classical Music | Music for Flute

Recorded on 05/24/2017, uploaded on 03/10/2018

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The music of Henri Dutilleux, who passed away only a few years ago, exists in a world remarkably independent of its time and place. The towering musical figures who were Dutilleux’s near contemporaries and compatriots, Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez, were influential to him but utterly distinct. Without the mystical grandeur of the former, nor the radical austerity of the latter, Dutilleux used his unerring craft to compose music of ravishing color, flair, and ecstasy. The Sonatine for Flute and Piano was written as a “test piece” for the Paris Conservatoire in 1943, meant both to separate the wheat from the chaff of flute students, and to add to the instrument’s literature. It is one continuous movement, but consists of three sections. Interestingly, the composer never forgave this particular piece for its popularity, saying: “…the Sonatine…has been recorded many times abroad, although I have never wanted it to be recorded in France because it doesn’t yet sound really like my music. But I haven’t put any embargo on that.” Regardless of how Dutilleux felt, the short, dramatic, and enchanting work has become a staple of the literature.       Notes by David Kaplan

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.