Quintet for Flute and String Quartet

Abstract

Quintet is written for flute, 2 violins, viola, and cello, and it Is in three movements (Mvt 1 – c. 7.5 min., Mvt. 2 – c. 5.5 min., Mvt .3 – c. 7.5 min.). Prior to writing any notes, I sketched various graphs in order to better judge the shape, structure, and proportion of each movement. However, as is commonly the case, the final product does not entirely adhere to my initial designs. I considered and revised pitch centers, rhythmic activity, and instrumentation were affected as the process of composition unfolded. The particular instrumentation of this work, by its nature, gave me the ability to play between various instrumental combinations and relationships. For example, in some passages, I present all five as a unified group; in others I pit the flute against the string quartet in a concerto-like fashion. This interplay occurs regularly throughout the piece. The core of all three movements of Quintet is a chorale, and the chorale was the first music I composed. I then present and shape it differently within each movement. It is initially presented in the first movement between bars 68 - 92 and bars 129 – 148. The melody, harmony, and linear evolution of the chorale are all utilized in the development of each movement and affect the arc of the whole work. The first movement does not begin with the chorale, as might be expected. Rather, I place two contrasting sections before the Chorale appears in the middle of the movement. Likewise, the flute is absent at the outset of the movement but joins the quartet in the second section. I originally conceived the chorale for strings alone in a familiar four-voice texture. But then I added the flute, ornamenting the chorale by weaving in and around the strings. However, the chorale is interrupted and left incomplete while other material from the movement returns. The chorale is then finished at the close of the first movement. The second movement more clearly separates the flute and the string quartet. For the strings, the movement is demarcated by various textural and rhythmic changes. The chorale is obscured and never presented conventionally. Rather, the opening string accompaniment derives its harmonic development from the opening chords of the original chorale. The flute floats above the strings creating a fluid melodic through-line across the entire movement. The third and final movement is comprised of two textures divided across five sections creating a rondo-like movement. The first texture in the opening section is dense and fast, driven by the outer-voice duet between flute and cello. They are accompanied by the inner voices (violins and viola). As in the second movement, the third movement excludes the chorale in its conventional four voice texture, instead, I use the chorale’s harmonies to provide pitch material for these inner voices. The second texture of this movement is slower and more lyrical than the first, across all instruments. In general, the flute is prominent melodically while the strings accompany. In the final section of the movement, I finally bring back the original chorale in a more recognizable way. But even here, I avoid its original four-voice texture, in favor of an extended solo passage for the flute, imitating the cadenza of a concerto with occasional support from the string quartet.