Six Pieces

Description

These pieces were written between 1999 and 2000. At that time, I was living In Modena, Italy, although making frequent visits to my family home in Kent. I mention this because some years later an Italian journalist wrote that the pieces have a particularly English atmosphere. I’m not sure what was intended, since I wasn’t particularly indulging in any programmatic writing –  for me they were simply  my first creations specifically for flute and piano.
The pieces were initially written for my flute students, and as such were intended to present a few challenges, while offering material that was, hopefully, not too difficult, and enjoyable to play. As usual with my work the challenges are mostly in the rhythmic writing; no overtly irregular time signatures, just a few syncopations and odd internal bar divisions that possibly relate more to pop and jazz than to “classical” music.
The piano parts are fairly easy, since I had to play them myself during lessons, although there are a few exceptional moments when my humble strumming abilities at the keyboard weren’t quite enough. For this reason, I soon got the backing tracks assembled. The pieces are brief, averaging under two minutes each.
The book was originally issued by a small publisher in North Italy; I am glad the pieces have finally found their home in my Forton catalogue.
A full audio version and a “minus one” backing track is available for each piece. The backing tracks each have a two-bar count in, even if there is a piano intro. This should help the flautist get a good idea of the tempo.  “Reflections” has a rather particular alternation of bars in four and three; in this case I have given two full bars of click in four, plus the downbeat of the bar where the flute enters. (So you get;  One –  two – One two three four – One…) Please forgive the rather manic finale to Oakleigh Park – once you get it it’s quite fun!
These backing tracks are available for purchase from this page. Add them to your basket using the ‘Accompaniment’ option from the ‘Select an option’ drop down menu.
Geoff Warren, Montesilvano, Italy, 2025.