Linda Dusman

for piccolo and alto flute

ca. 8'00"

An Unsubstantial Territory is dedicated to the inHale duo. Its color and texture reflect sunsets on Folly's Cove in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and the following passage from Virginia Woolf's The Waves: "But when we sit close together, ...we melt into each other with phrases. We are edged with mist. We make an unsubstantial territory." Composed for piccolo and alto flute, it is also conceived as a tuning etude for these two very difficult-to-tune members of the flute family.

The recording of this piece is by the inHale Duo (Lisa Cella, alto flute; Jane Rigler, piccolo), and can be heard when viewing the score.

Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.

Linda Dusman

for alto flute, bass clarinet, and marimba

ca. 9'00"

I composed magnificat 1, a set of continuous variations of a unison melodic line, to celebrate the founding of UMBC’s resident contemporary music ensemble Ruckus. One of the inspirations for the piece is the Virgin Mary’s opening phrase of her song to Elizabeth: “My soul doth magnify the Lord,” in which she recognizes her soul not as the essence of herself, but as a lens for something much greater. The events of September 11, 2001 also resonate in this work, as I had devoted that day to composing this piece. I sat in shock in front of the television that day reminded that terrorists also imagine their souls as lenses of God, with devastating results. As a result, magnificat 1 also incorporates the surreal state of the fall of 2001: a yearning for clarity amidst twists of distortion.

The recording of this piece is by the RUCKUS Ensemble (Lisa Cella, alto flute; E. Michael Richards, bass clarinet; Tom Goldstein, marimba), and can be heard when viewing the score.

Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.

Annea Lockwood

for baritone voice, khaen, and alto flute

The Angle of Repose is an evening song, commissioned by Thomas Buckner and scored for baritone, alto flute and khaen (a Thai mouth organ). It incorporates two texts. The first is an Ojibwa Indian text quoted by Peter Matthiessen in his book Nine-Headed Dragon River. The second is from a letter written in 1904 by Rainer Maria Rilke to his wife, the sculptor Clara Westhoff, while on holiday in Denmark. The angle of repose is the angle of inclination of a slope at which sliding earth and boulders come to rest.

Click here to view the score.

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Anna Rubin

for C flute and alto flute

Consulting the Oracle was originally composed in 2013 and was the winning work at the 2013 Competition hosted by the Women Composers Conference of Hartford. It was premiered there by the Dahlia Duo, Mary Matthews and Melissa Wertheimer. The work entails movement and the added twist of the performers wearing ankle bells.

A variety of flute timbres and extended techniques are using in this lyrical and whimsical work. I always held in mind the image of two women performing an alchemy of sound and magic to divine the future and their delight in making music together. Various scales are used in the piece with strong pitch centers anchoring the melody.

The piece has been performed several times including at the Broomfield Auditorium, Broomfield, CO, (2016), at the Mid Atlantic Flute Convention, Reston, VA (2016), Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, Boulder (2016).

Click here to view the score.

Click here to see a video excerpt.

Eleanor Hovda

for flute, B-flat clarinet, percussion, piano, and bass

Click here to view the score.