Writing on the Wind Music for Solo Flute
Thomas May
In the Swabian Alps in Baden-Württemberg, paleolithic instruments with hand-holed bores have been found dating back more than 40,000 years—making the ancestral flute the oldest known musical instrument. Moving ahead a considerable stretch to one of the earliest surviving works of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh (dating from c. 1800 BCE) makes reference to a “flute” of the semiprecious stone carnelian, and the Biblical figure Jubal is sometimes described as the inventor of the flute. Claude Debussy drew on the flute’s associations with a timeless and pastoral antiquity at the beginning of Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune—which, at the same time, announced for Pierre Boulez the beginning of Modernism in music. For his recital program, Emmanuel Pahud explores the dramatic transformations in the image of the instrument from the Baroque to the present. But the revolution imagined by Modernist and contemporary composers involves not just abstract concepts but their realization by embodied performers playing physical instruments. Thus, another theme threaded through Pahud’s selection of works is the contribution made by masters of the instrument and their role as mentors. The entire program is framed by pieces inspired by the artistry of Aurèle Nicolet, a legendary modern flutist and Pahud’s own mentor.
15
