"The Seas Between Us (2024) - Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
$ 125.00
Performance Parts are Rental Only – they may be rented separately or as a set: Please email info@nathanartsmusic.com for a price quote, giving the name of your ensemble and performance date[s]
Instrumentation
Concerto for Solo Flute and Orchestra
[2(picc.)22(B. Cl.)2(C. Bn.) | 4221 | Timp | 3 perc | Hp | Strings]
Commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting for world premieres in 2024-25 by:
Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Scott Yoo, Music Director
Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua, Ivan del Prado, Music Director
Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, José Areán, Artistic Director
Orquesta Filharmónica de Boca del Río, Veracruz
New England Philharmonic (Boston), Tianhui Ng, Music Director
Dedicated to Ajeandro Escuer
Available for programming in 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons
Duration: 23 minutes
In Three Movements:
I. At Sea II. To Dance III. Beyond Waves
About the Work:
The Seas Between Us contemplates the vastness of the ocean, pondering its inherent dualities. The sea brings both destruction and new life as well as an uncertainty of the unknown paired with the rhythmic certainty of the tide that can be even more anticipated than one’s next breath. It separates societies from each other and connects them. It is a home and the path to new beginnings. It encapsulates such strength, gracefulness, madness and beauty.
In this concerto the solo flute serves as a protagonist in a drama, a bird-like character with equal measures of innocence and wisdom, emblematic of a hope that perches within. Over the course of the work, the solo flute brings the orchestra together and then leads it forward. The flutist comforts, mourns, yearns, pleads and dances.
The concerto is structured in three movements. The first, At Sea, begins with us cast away in a vast expanse. The second, To Dance, unites disparate elements, beginning with a festive sense of the macabre and ending with the energy of a big-band jazz march. Close in mind may be the numerous world traditions that mourn death by celebrating life through dance.
The final movement, Beyond Waves, begins far removed from the second. The conductor’s sweeping gestures send waves of breathing sound rippling across the stage. There is a processional quality to the music, with music of both violence and intimacy. By the end we find ourselves skyward bound, gently swaying in the quiet.
