Music for Flute →[More:]Tiny little bit of program notes:

1. The Reicha quintet comes from around 1825. There's very little good music for flute from the classical period, which makes this a particular gem, and for a large work the sound of strings and flute is easier on my ears than the woodwind quintets that Reicha is best known for. The first movement is typical of Reicha's loose and generous approach to form, full of ideas but moving lightly; it reaches the length of a big Beethoven first movement allegro, but without the enormous weight and drama.

2. The Undine sonata (1883) is pure romanticism. Of course, there's a story to go with it.

3. The Aho concerto is quite recent, from 2002. The first movement is marked mysterioso and the instrumentation, the wide open spaces, and the frequent quarter-step inflections of the soloist all contribute to the atmosphere. It's balanced against the second movement presto, and Aho really knows how to write music that gives the impression of momentum as well as speed - the flute scurries and flutters around, but the orchestra comes out moving like a freight train at times. It becomes a bit more fragmented toward the end, then the epilogue returns to an air of mystery; I think of it like a crystal ball returning to swirling fog after clearing long enough for a frightening vision.