Re:Pair For Two Baroque Flutes
Alex Shapiro
About this work:
Re:pair for Two Baroque Flutes was composed at the request of Tom Moore and Laura Ronai, two baroque flutists who enjoy the somewhat unusual mission of presenting audiences with contemporary music written for their instruments. The title is a triple entendre: fixing something that in some cases is... baroque (ouch), having to do with a duo, and then having that duo musically deconstruct and pair up again.
Although I wrote Re:pair specifically for baroque instruments, it sounds equally well on modern flutes, and I've adapted the piece not only for two metal flutes but for other woodwinds as well. These additional versions employ a few higher pitched notes in the flute part, for a brighter sound than what would traditionally be written for wooden flutes.
I designed this duet with a great deal of parallel motion in fourths and fifths and shifting meters, recalling early music and modality that suits recorder-like wooden flutes so well. The duo begins tranquil and paired in a modal opening theme and gradually journeys toward moments of isolation, urgency and bitonal conflict before once again pairing up and ending sweetly. Between the serene bookends of the beginning and end of the piece, the music tries to repair the musical syntax of lines that occasionally break down harmonically and rhythmically. In general, I had great fun breaking some rules and composing something that could be a pedagogical nightmare for anyone teaching first year harmony!
Year composed: 2000
Duration: 00:07:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 2 Flute
Instrumentation notes: Baroque or modern flute duet.