Flauto Oscuro was originally composed as an alto saxophone piece (obviously under a different title). It was written while I was still a student to fulfill a commission from Rikk Stone for the American Saxophone Project.  Soon afterwards I revised the piece for flute (c-flute or alto flute) for the fabulous Marianne Gedigian. A number of years later the amazing New York flutist Margaret Lancaster scheduled multiple performances of Flauto Oscuro so I decided on a further revision of the work. I then set it aside for a number of years and only recently decided to make it available once more. While challenging in its upper register, this piece works wonderfully on alto flute! Try it.

The form of the piece is simple and clear: slow-fast. The opening slow section introduces the two main themes: the first expressive and haunting; the second warm and sensual. Both are fluid, interwoven melodies spun from short motives.

While composing the second, faster section I thought about Baroque solo music, which often is constructed using registral separation to create a sense of melody and accompaniment within a single-line. In Flauto Oscuro a continuous, trilling accompaniment figure articulates both the harmonic motion and the sense of pulse.  Meanwhile, the original two themes from the opening slow section return as distinct contrapuntal lines volleying above and below the trilled accompanimental figure. The result is a virtuosic “trio for a solo instrument” requiring control to clearly balance and articulate all of the parts with one single-line instrument.