December 6, 2010

Three Flute Sonatas. After we posted a recording of Prokofiev's Flute sonata on Facebook last week, one of our friends mentioned that he thinks it's one of the greatest flute sonatas written in the last 50 years. We hastily agreed; only later it occurred to us that even though it sounds as fresh as ever, it was written more than 50 years ago, in 1943. We decided to look around for other interesting music for the flute written at about the same time. Fortunately, there are great pieces in our own library. Two more flute sonatas that would qualify were written around the middle of the 20th century: one by Francis Poulenc (1957) and another – by Paul Hindemith (1936). All three sonatas are rather elegiac in style, and even Hindemith, who is often so cerebral, is almost lyrical in his piece, especially in the first two movements. Poulenc wrote his sonata for the great Jean-Pierre Rampal. Prokofiev was approached by David Oistrach, who asked him to transcribe it for the violin – a rare occasion, since usually it's the flutists who borrow from the violin repertory.

The Prokofiev is played by Sonia Formenti and Mauro Bertoli (Piano); Poluenc – by Madelene Campos and Saori Chiba, Hindemith – by Jennifer Bartel and Melody Lord. You can listen to the sonatas here and decide for yourself, which one you like best.

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