Dr. Elizabeth McNutt
Monday, September 8, 2025, at 7:30 pm
Magale Recital Hall
Natchitoches, Louisiana
PROGRAM
Cassandra’s Dream Song (1970) ... Brian Ferneyhough (b. 1943)
Sintra (1969) ... Ursula Mamlok (1923-2016)
I. With Intensity
II. Very fast
III. Calmly
Vidimus Stellam (2020) ... Sungji Hong (b. 1973)
Enchanted Preludes (1988) ... Elliott Carter (1908-2012)
Nidi (1979) ... Franco Donatoni (1927-2000)
I.
II.
PROGRAM NOTES:
The score of Cassandra’s Dream Song is constructed of two sheets of music: the lines of the first are to be played in sequential order with the lines of the second inserted, in any order, between them. Thus, the choices of the performer are integral to the form of the piece. The notation of the score is extremely dense and difficult to realize, especially as Ferneyhough asks for a great variety of timbres (many of which occur simultaneously). Some of the instructions given are contradictory, which is intended to yield unpredictable results. According to Ferneyhough's notes to the score, a “beautiful" performance is not the goal: the difficulties of this music should not be concealed by compromises or inexactitudes. Instead, a successful performance is one that rigorously attempts to reproduce as many of the details as possible, maximizing the various levels of intensity. By trying to realize the score accurately, certain "divergencies and impurities" will occur which are essential to the work.
According to Ursula Mamlock's publisher,Sintra is a typical Mamlok work. In this three movement composition, slow-fast-slow, the alto flute has fast cadenza-like passages, while the cello writing alternates between arco, pizzicato and snap pizzicato, with both instruments sharing unusual trills and vibrati. The dynamics are extreme and constantly shift. This piece also demonstrates her interest in palindromes, which she shared with many serial composers.
Vidimus Stellam for solo flute was commissioned by the National Flute Association to be performed by the semi-finalists at the Young Artist Competition. The Latin title translates to "We have seen His star" and pertains to the Biblical account of the star hovering above the birthplace of Christ. I wanted to create a sound that imitates the effect of a rapidly flickering star in the night sky; the way the starlight intensifies and changes its brightness in complex patterns. I explored this natural phenomenon with everchanging musical gestures of soft microtonal glissandi and pitch bends, and also in dynamic sections with jet whistles, harmonic sweeps, and harmonic climbings. It is dedicated to Elizabeth McNutt, experimental flutist and friend, who has been an inspiration for the piece. -S.H.
Enchanted Preludes is a birthday present for Ann Santen, commissioned by her husband, Harry, and composed in gratitude for their enthusiastic and deeply caring support of American music. It is a duet for flute and cello in which the two instruments combine their different characters and musical materials into statements of varying moods. The title comes from a poem of Wallace Stevens: The Pure Good of Theory, “All the Preludes to Felicity,” stanza no.7:
Felicity, ah! Time is the hooded enemy,
The inimical music, the enchanted space
In which the enchanted preludes have their place. — E.C.
Nidi centers around the same three pitches, and is characterized by small notes, mordents, trills, excessively contrasted dynamics, and extreme registral writing. In the second movement, Donatoni also explores the timbral possibilities of piccolo by including multiphonics and unusual tremolos.
Dr. Elizabeth McNutt, flutist
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