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Tango and Telemann for Solo Flute


Details

Weronika Balewski full profile / Solo flute / 1 musician


Full program notes

Part I
Georg Philip Telemann's Solo Flute Fantasies (a selection)
Claude Debussy's Syrinx for Solo Flute

Telemann's inventive and creative flute fantasies are a window into this prolific German composer's imagination. I'll share a selection of my favorite Fantasies and the way they have accompanied me as a flutist my entire life.
Then to prepare for the more abstract storytelling of Piazzolla in the second half, I'll tell you the Greek myth of Syrinx and play Debussy's short solo flute piece of the same name.

Intermission

Part 2
For many years now, I've dreamed of performing all six Piazzolla Tango Etudes on one concert. They are amazing as stand-alone pieces, but in this program I invite the audience to experience the story they tell together. The character descriptions of each etude give us a tantalizing hint and leave much to the imagination, as we enjoy Piazzolla's unique blend of tango dance music and classical art music, which he called "tango nuevo."

Astor Piazzolla's Tango Etudes
No. 1 Décidé (Decisive)
No. 2 Anxieux et rubato (Anxious, stolen time)
No. 3 Molto marcato e energico (Marked and energetic)
No. 4 Lento - Meditativo (Slow, meditative)
No. 5 [No description]
No. 6 Avec anxiété (With anxiety)


Historical context

The Western concert flute, initially made of wood, was known as a solo instrument in the European Baroque period, roughly from 1600 to 1750. Telemann's Solo Flute Fantasies are emblematic of the period. Then, fashions changed, aesthetics changed, and the flute blended into ensemble music for a few hundred years. The violin and piano rose as major soloistic instruments during this time. In the early 1900s, as flutes made out of metal started appearing in Europe, musicians once again began seeing the potential of the flute. Debussy's Syrinx was a seminal work in re-establishing the flute as a solo instrument. Piazzolla drew on this 20th century tradition, as well as on the prominent role that the flute plays in South American street music.


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