Rautavaara: Flute Concerto - "Dances with the Winds"

Description

World première: Stockholm, May 4, 1974

"The flute concerto ‘Dances with the Winds' was composed in 1974 for the Swedish flutist Gunilla von Bohr, a specialist in all members of the flute family. The ordinary flute thus alternates with a bass flute at the beginning and end of the four-movement concerto, the second movement is assigned to the shrill piccolo and the third to the sensuous alto flute. The last movement is a summary of all the musical events in the concerto. At the end the bass flute soars to the top of its register, the note D acting as the pivot to many of the symmetries in the work, against a resigned in B-flat Minor chord on the orchestra." (Einojuhani Rautavaara)