Deuce: For Flute and Organ

Hey guys

Im considering submitting this for my end-of-semester composition, some thoughts on it would be awesome! Still needs a lot of fine tuning. Draws on the music of Babbit/Stockhausen/Bartok... All that funn stuff.

Thanks lads! ;)

-P

Deuce: For Flute and Organ

One thing which immediately comes to mind when I looked at this piece is the rather unusual choice of instrumentation, which presents several issues. Firstly, there is the relative power of the two instruments, and obviously an organ is capable of much greater volume than a flute. You need to be very careful that one does not overpower the other, particularly as you do write very loud dynamics for the organ. In b.97 you write a low D fortissimo for the flute, something which it cannot really produce, and pit it against forte in the organ, which will not result in good balance. The other issue is than organists tend to sit up in a loft a long way from the concert platform or main area of a church. Given that you piece requires very accurate counting and communication between the two players, I would question the wisdom of writing it for two players who will most likely be sitting far apart and in a very resonant space. I would seriously consider re-writing the organ part for a smaller keyboard instrument to solve these problems.

Musically there are some issues too. The piece has a very similar texture all the way through and although you vary dynamics and do include some variety it wasn't quite enough to keep the music fresh and interesting. I'm also a little unsure of what your materials are - I can't see any obvious tone row or any important structural points or development of material. It would be helpful if you could explain a little more about your motivations behind this piece and what techniques you have used to write it.