January 7
Cantilena from Flute Sonata
Francis Poulenc

Today we celebrate the birthday of Francis Poulenc with a recording of the beautiful second movement from his Flute Sonata. A member of the composer collective Les Six, Poulenc was an active composer in the beginning of the 20th century. This second movement is representative of his style that is reminiscent of romanticism but written for the 1900s.

Performed by Morgan Monty, flute and Winifred Goodwin, piano.

January 22
Lullaby
Dick Goodwin

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley and Winifred Goodwin, piano

January 27
Dialogues
Jean-Michel Damas

Born on this day, Jean-Michele Damase (1928-2013) wrote prolifically for the flute. He described his own music as, “basically music that is cheerful and singing, but also enriched with a certain nostalgia and a little depth.” His flute writing also exhibits a thorough knowledge of the instrument and a playful rhythmic sense, making it a joy to play.

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley and Wendy Cohen
Recorded by Jeff Francis

March 8
Black Anemones
Joseph Schwantner

Joseph Schwantner is known for his dramatic and unique style and as a gifted orchestral colorist. Black Anemones – a transcription for flute and piano of a song originally published in 1980 – explores the lyrical side of the flute. Jennie Oh Brown is a great friend of the USC Flute Studio and her recording of Schwantner’s flute works, Looking Back, is available Innova Records

Performed by Jennie Oh Brown, flute
Cindy Trowbridge, piano

March 23
Poemeto
Osvaldo Lacerda

This beautiful melody was written by the Brazilian composer Osvaldo Lacerda (March 23, 1927-July 18, 2011). To me, it embodies the warmth and generosity of spirit that I found in everyone I met while visiting Brazil. The performance took place at the Festival Inverno in Vale Veneto.

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley, flute and Paolo Bergmann, piano

March 31
Fast from Fury of Light
Jake Heggie

Jake Heggie, born on March 31, is an American composers most known for his contemporary operas which earned him a Guggenheim Fellowship. Fury of Light was written flutist Carol Wincenc to celebrate her Ruby Anniversary and is inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem, “Sunrise.” The last line of the poem informs the piece, saying “whatever you want, it is/happiness, it is another one/of the ways to enter/fire.”

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley, flute and Winifred Goodwin, piano

April 2
Vocalise
Sergi Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born on this day in 1873. Known both as a pianist and composer, his works exemplify Russian late Romanticism. The Vocalise, originally written for voice without words and piano, has been transcribed for countless instrumental combinations. The simple and poignant melody is supported by Rachmaninoff’s characteristic lush harmonic language that makes his style so attractive and recognizable.

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley and Winifred Goodwin, piano
Recorded by John Epps

May 15
Sicilienne
Maria Theresia von Paradis

Born in Vienna on this day in 1759, pianist, singer and composer Maria Theresia von Paradis was blind from the age of 2. Her most famous composition, the Sicilienne posted here (originally for piano quartet), is now thought to have been composed by Samuel Dushkin, a composer himself who claimed to have found the work. Regardless of its origins, it is a poignant melody and a beautiful addition to the flute repertoire.


Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley, flute and Charles Fugo, piano
Recorded by Jeff Francis

May 17
Gymnopédie 1
Erik Satie

Erik Satie, born on this day in 1866, published his set of Gymnopédies for piano in 1888 in Paris. In contrast to the displays of virtuosity often exhibited by 19th-century piano music, these pieces are decided simple and tranquil. The precise meaning of the title is uncertain except for a poem by Contamine published alongside the first Gymnopédie which includes the lines “…amber atoms in the fire gleaming/Mingled their sarabande with the gymnopaedia.”

Performed by Philip Snyder, flute and Sabrina Raber, piano
Recorded by Jeff Francis

May 23
Notturno
Jean Françaix

French composer Jean Françaix was born on this day in 1912. His parents were both professional musicians and he showed an early and prodigious talent. As a young child, he began composition lessons with famed teacher Nadia Boulanger, who considered him to be one of her best students. None other than Maurice Ravel wrote to the young child’s parents, Among the child’s gifts I observe above all the most fruitful an artist can possess, that of curiosity.This sense of wonder, play and humor is evident throughout Francaix’s entire output. He was also a wonderful melodist, as heard here in the Notturno from his Divertimento for Flute and Piano (1953).

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley, flute and Winifred Goodwin, piano
Recorded by John Epps

June 23
Intermezzo from Sonata Undine
Carl Reinecke

Carl Reinecke, born on this day in 1824, was perhaps the most influential flute composer of the 19th century. His iconic Sonata Undine exhibits the romanticism, sweeping melodies, and programmatic form typical of the music of his time. This recording is part of a larger project pairing music based on poetry with the words that inspire it. The album Words and Music is available from Titanic Records.

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley
Recorded by Jeff Francis

July 3
Evening on the Plain
Philippe Gaubert

Philippe Gaubert, born on this day in 1879, is well-respected as a flutist, composer, and pedagogue. As the flute professor at the Paris Conservatory, he wrote many of his compositions and methods to help the students there. This shorter piece is less often played but exhibits the flutist’s knowledge of the sonority of the instrument.

Performed by Jennifer Parker-Harley, flute and Winifred Goodwin, piano

July 25
Barcarola et Scherzo
Alfredo Casella

Today we celebrate the birthday of Alfredo Casella, born in 1883 in Italy. Casella was an avid promoter of Vivaldi’s compositions and is sometimes credited with the 20th-century resurrection of this master composer’s works. Despite being a composer at the turn of the century, many of Casella’s works invoke older styles including the dance forms that inspire the Barcarola and Scherzo forms of this piece.

Performed by Emily Stumpf, flute (UofSC MM and DMA) and Luke Fang, piano

July 27
Aria
Ernst von Dohnanyi

Ernst Dohnanyi, born on this day in 1877, was a Hungarian composer whose career was modulated significantly by the two World Wars and the political upheaval surrounding them. His compositions are often neoromantic and their extensive use of chromaticism couples intriguing harmonies with high technical demands. Many flutists are familiar with his Passacaglia but this piece adds a more lyrical item to his flute output offering a taste of his lush harmonic language.

Performed by Jenny Davis (DMA ‘21) and Claudio Olivera, piano

July 27
Aria from Sonata for Flute and Piano
Otar Taktakishvili

Otar Taktakishvili, born on this day in 1924, was a prominent Georgian composer perhaps best known in America for his Sonata for Flute and Piano. He also composed the Georgian National Anthem and many of his compositions, including the flute sonata, reflect his nationalist fervor.

Performed by Mimi Harding (UofSC BM) and Claudio Olivera, piano

August 17
Complainte-Danse de mowgli
Henri Tomasi

Henri Tomasi, born on August 17, 1901, was French composer and true contemporary of his time. He was a founder of the influential music group, Triton, alongside Prokofiev, Milhaud, Honegger, and Poulenc. As the title suggests, Tomasi was inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s writings about India and his perception of Indian tonality. He weaves these sounds into a lament and then a dance, ending with a cadenza-like coda.

Performed by Emily Stumpf and Yewon Kerr.

August 19
Cantabile et Presto
Georges Enesco

Georges Enesco, born on this day in 1881, is widely regarded as one of the most successful Romanian composers of all time. He studied composition at the Paris Conservatory until 1899 and in 1904 was commissioned to write his Cantabile et Presto as the flute examination piece for that year. This piece showcases many aspects of the flute as well as the romantic style that was popular in Paris at the time.

Performed by Jenny Davis, flute and Perry Mears, piano

August 22
Menuet from Three Pieces
Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy was born on this day in 1862. He is most well known for his impressionistic style of composition and his extension of the contemporary limits of harmony and form through the usage of non-traditional scales and chromaticism. The Three Pieces for Flute and Piano are a transcription of movements from two different suites for piano. This movement, Menuet, is from his Petite Suite, L. 65 for four-hands.

Performed by Brianna Futch, flute and Claudio Olivera, piano

September 2
Sprite
Michael Torke

Today we celebrate the birthday of the contemporary American composer, Michael Torke. Torke’s music has been described as “optimistic, joyful, and thoroughly uplifting” (Gramophone) and his piece, Sprite, falls easily into all three categories. The piece was written for and premiered by Carol Wincenc who, according to the composer’s program note, asked for “a valentine, for flute and piano.”

Performed by Jenny Davis, flute and Claudio Olivera, piano
Recorded by Jeff Francis

October 23
Second Prayer from Four Prayers
Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem, born on this day in 1923, has been called “the world’s best composer of art songs.” This affinity for melody is clear in Four Prayers for flute and piano. Christopher Chaffee is the Professor of Flute at Wright State University and great friend of the University of South Carolina Flute Studio. His album Four Prayers is available from Open G Records.

Performed by Christopher Chaffee, flute (Professor at Wright State University) and Joshua Nemith, piano.

November 21
Idylle champêtre from Impressions Exotiques
Sigfrid Karg-Elert

Sigfried Karg-Elert, born on this day in 1877, was a German composer and organist who wrote several boundary-pushing works for the flute in addition to his many well-known works for organ and harmonium. While many flutists are familiar with his 30 Caprices for Solo Flute, Karg-Elert wrote eight other substantial works for the flute including Impressions Exotiques, all written between 1917 and 1919. His compositions for flute sought to exploit the full range of dynamics, colors, and technical capacity of the increasingly popular Boehm flute.

Performed by Jenny Davis, flute and Claudio Olivera, piano

November 29
Flute Sonata in C Major
Gaetano Donizetti

Today we celebrate the birthday of Gaetano Donizetti, born in 1797. Donizetti was a leading composer of bel canto opera in the early 1800s and this piece clearly comes from a similar aesthetic. A rare piece of flute music from the early romantic period, this work shows off soaring melodic lines carried by brilliantly technical passages as only an opera composer can supply.

Performed by Sabrina Raber, flute and Qiaoni Liu, piano