Song Book

Song Book (2001) – 45 minutes
for Flute and Wind Ensemble

Song Book for Flute and Wind Ensemble is a concerto in five movements. The title Song Book comes out of the intimate nature of the music, and the voice-like quality of the flute.

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Program Notes:

Song Book is a set of pieces that are songlike – that is, intimate and expressive, though not necessarily quiet. The solo flute feels like a voice to me, one which has a complex story to tell, in the form of musical dreams.

The 371 Four-Part Chorales by J.S. Bach have been a long-time focus for my study and meditation. These chorales are the models for melodic and harmonic movement used by every beginning music theory student. I had my first encounter with them as a college freshman in 1961. Ten years ago I returned to singing and playing them as a daily warm-up for my composing. In that time I have come to experience the chorales as touchstones for dream space. I have used many of them as jumping-off points for my own compositions. The feeling is one of opening an unmarked door and being suddenly thrust into a different world. The chorales are the doors.

I have used three chorale melodies in Song Book. The first movement, A Song of Coming Awake, is based on Christ ist Erstanden (Christ is Risen); the third, In Loving Memory, on Von gott will Ich nicht lassen (I never wish to part from God); the fifth A Song for the End of Time, on O Gott, du frommer Gott (O Good and Gentle God).

The title of the second movement, Solvitur Ambulando, is Latin for “it is solved by walking.” There is a centuries-old tradition that good ideas come while walking. It is a practice that I have used in my creative work for years. Intuition and intellect are engaged together by the alternating motion of the limbs. The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard wrote: “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being; I have walked myself into my best thoughts…If one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”

In the Crucible of Your Pain is a title that appeared in my mind as I was writing the fourth movement. I couldn’t explain it very well at the time of writing. Turmoil can be personal, but it can also come from the outside world. I am guessing in hindsight that this movement touches on the events of 9/11. The music embodies a deep sense of struggle and of unresolved pain.

The composition of Song Book was supported by a consortium of universities headed by Larry Gookin, Director of Bands, and Hal Ott, Professor of Flute at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA.