Concerto Piccolo

Description

The guiding concept in this piece, as in my Motet Without Words, was to take the “Neo-Tonal” triad (G-Bb-C) and ask the intriguing question: what would Baroque Music have sounded like if composers had adopted this triad rather than the common C-E-G triad. The piece is laid out in three movements, like a Handelian Concerto Grosso. But because it is a short work, and for a flute orchestra, it amused me to make a pun of the title. The first movement is preparatory and is laid out for Solo and Ripieno instruments, although it is homophonic after the style galant. The central slow movement provides the expressive core, whilst being more contrapuntal in nature. The finale is pure counterpoint, a fugue in 3 voices, again using the Solo and Ripieno principle. I have dedicated this work to my friend and fellow composer Ian Wilson, with whom steel sharpens steel. I had such fun, inspired by the notion of an orchestra of flutes, and I hope you will enjoy playing as I did writing it!