Legend

LEGEND
In a letter accompanying the commissioning contract for this piece, fellow piccolo player and enthusiast Mary Laurie wrote: “…I do not hope for anything reminiscent of Kuhlau, but something that a Kuhlau lover could love too…please not a stupid mess of chirping birds.” With this directive in mind, I set to work to write a piece based on my experiences as a player of flute duets and etudes, but containing the harmonic variety and surprise that I rarely found in them. Formally, the piece is like a high school contest solo–several contrasting sections strung loosely together. I called it Legend because, like any good story retold, it contains elements both old and new. And there are chirping birds, but they quickly get turned into something else…