Finally... A Flute!

If you know me, you know that I just adore the flute. And that is why this article caught my attention! It's basically about this 103 year old composer, Elliot Carter, who out of all 14 of his works, never wrote one for the flute. He said that he felt "that the flute could not produce the sharp attacks [he] use[s] so frequently". Now, as a flute player, I must say that the flute definitely can produce sharp attacks. Especially when double tonguing. I listened to some of this piece on youtube and found it to be very interesting. And you must be a beast flute player to pull this off. I wish I could play with someone of that ability. I really like this concerto. And personally,  I can't believe that a man over 100 years old has still got it.

Anthony Tommasini must be some sort of music critic or expert because the way he describes this concerto is fantastic. I like how he first started off with a little about Elliot Carter and how old he was, then went back to the actual performance in New York. I am in love with his description. Lines like, "It opens with startling, crisp orchestral chords that prod the flute into scurrying figures, quickly taken up by other instruments" and "takes off and builds to a final flourish of every-which-way spiraling figures" are definitely well thought out. It lets the audience know exactly what was going on without having them hear it. I feel like this article was geared toward, but definitely not limited to, an audience with more of a musical background because they might better understand the description and terminology used.

Article: Very Late in His Career, a Composer Tries a Flute by Anthony Tommasini