COMPOSER : Alexandra Lehmann
Flute’s Extraordinary European Tour
The year 2020 will be infamously recorded as a time when musicians had to lead a solitary life, which is incompatible with musical activity.
Furthermore, I wanted to offer an experience of travelling in Europe through music.
There is a wealth of historical, and traditional European monophonic music.
Hence, the Tour is based around the 14th-15th centuries when
Flute encounters different musical cultures.
The Tour is dedicated to my father, mother, brother, and sister;
Jean-Pierre, Françoise, Fabrice, and Mahaut Lehmann;
with whom I was fortunate to travel in my youth.
CONTENTS
1. Ostentatious Overture
Flute is at the French palace of Versailles with all its
pomp, splendour, and magnificence.
2. Mystical Minnesänger
Flute has travelled to the Holy Roman Empire, where he is
performing an ode to a Germanic Knight.
3. Andalusian Nights
The Caliphate of Cordobá was a mixing-pot of Islamic
and Judaic music. What is fascinating is that many of the ideas around
performance; modes at certain times of the day, improvisation into metred,
faster sections; go back to the Indian subcontinent and even further
back into Ancient Greece. Flute is chanting for the
Caliphate on a warm summer’s evening.
4. Tarantella of the Tagliatelle
I don’t know if the Medici family ate tagliatelle,
but if they did, this joyful and lively tarantella is what Flute would have played.
5. Terrifying Tropak
A complete change of mood. Flute is playing for a swashbuckling
performance of Ukrainian Cossacks, with leaps, stamps, and twirls.
6. Sami Herding Song
In the Arctic Norwegian north, Flute is with the Sami calling their
herd of reindeers with vocalisations that echo in the icy distance.
7. Highland Fling
Flute is in Scotland taking part in the Highland Games.
Female dancers perform athletic jumps.
8. Royal Festive Fanfare
Flute finishes his European Tour at Windsor Castle, England.
Like the natural trumpet (played at the time), the lower range is based on the first notes of the harmonic scale and announce the entry of the royal family.
This is followed by a melodic flourish in the higher register.
