Thom Ritter George

LEGEND, CN 357 (2006)

PROGRAM NOTES

Legend is a rhapsodic score for flute and orchestra.  The title is derived from 19th Century character pieces and seeks to evoke bardic story telling of romance and events long ago.  In this, the solo flute acts as the narrator.

The score is played without pause but is in four major sections.  The first of these is slow, introduced by soft string harmonics and a motto theme in the woodwinds.  The solo flute then enters and narrates the main theme.

The second section is in a markedly faster tempo.  New, dance-like music is presented and developed.  The third section is even faster and more virtuosic.  Hints of the ideas from the first section are combined with the new material in the third.  Finally, the fourth section marks a return of themes from the first, again in the original slow, brooding tempo.

The flute itself is a fascinating instrument.  It produces its sound by very pure means - simply by the player blowing an air stream over an open hole at one end of the flute.  Different pitches are obtainable by player adjustments and by accessing various mechanical keys along the body of the instrument.  Since the flute plays much of its music above the range of the human voice, its character stands apart from both the voice and from
many other instruments of the orchestra.

Thom Ritter George has long been interested in exploring the various colors and sounds of the flute in his orchestra music and in works for solo flute.  Earlier scores include his Concerto for Flute, Six American Folk Songs, Pastorale for Flute and Organ, Six Canonic Sonatas, and the Cimarosa Suite.

Legend was written from March to August, 2006 in Pocatello, Idaho.  It is scored for solo flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings.

The first performance was given December 7, 2006 in Rexburg, Idaho by flutist Patricia George and the BYU-Idaho Symphony Orchestra; Kendell Nielsen, conductor.

(TRGcm: 2007.03.31)