Euphony, for flute choir (2007)
Duration: 8’
Score excerpt
MP3 Player
Instrumentation:
Piccolo – Flute I, II, III – Alto flute – Bass flute – Contrabass flute
Commissioned by:
Woodbridge Flute Choir, Prince William County, VA
Debbie Gilbert, conductor
Premiere:
Woodbridge Flute Choir
Bull Run Library, Manassas, VA
October 21, 2007
Performers in audio recording:
Woodbridge Flute Choir
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Burke, VA
Spring 2008
Program Notes:
From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Euphony
Pronunciation: ˈyü-fə-nē
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -nies
Etymology: French euphonie, from Late Latin euphonia, from Greek euphonia, from euphonos sweet-voiced, musical, from eu- + phone voice
1 : pleasing or sweet sound; especially : the acoustic effect produced by words so formed or combined as to please the ear
Euphony is essentially a series of variations on the theme performed by the solo third flute at the very beginning of the work. The theme is transformed in various ways as it is repeated several times throughout the work; for example, the tempo, time signature, key center, note values, style and mood of the theme are each altered to some degree over the course of several repetitions. The theme is nearly always accompanied by at least one, and often more than one, layer of free counterpoint, and the tonality and harmonization of the theme evolves over the course of the work from minor to major. Finally, I used the motive of the minor third, which was the original impetus for the composition of the theme, as a unifying element throughout all levels of the work.
This work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Ms. Debbie Gilbert and the marvelous Woodbridge Flute Choir of Woodbridge, VA.
— October 2007