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- Giles Swayne
Canto for flute, Op. 71 a (2000)
- Novello & Co Ltd (World)
Re-working for solo flute of Ophelia Drowning, Op 71
Programme Note
Canto for Flute is a redevelopment of a piece for flute and mixed choir which I wrote in 1996 called Ophelia Drowning, which set some of Gertrude’s lines in Hamlet Act IV scene 7, describing Ophelia’s suicide, and beginning "There is a willow grows aslant a brook…”. These are set as a strophic refrain which is heard three times – the first time in disjointed and muttered fragments, and more fully upon each subsequent repetition, as the terrible truth sets in.
In Ophelia Drowning, the flute provides a prologue, two linking ‘antistrophes’ between the refrains, and an Epilogue. This structure (borrowed from that used by ancient Greek dramatists for the choruses in tragedies) is also the form of Canto for Flute – Prologue, Strophe I, Antistrophe I, Strophe II, Antistrophe II, Strophe III, and Epilogue. The Epilogue will be instantly recognized, being a varied reprise of the Prologue; and in between these two there are recurring shapes which will, however vaguely, be heard as elements of a varied refrain. But since the choral interjections of Ophelia Drowning have been absorbed into the flute part and there is no physically obvious contrast between sections, the piece comes across as a continuous keening lament – starting hesitantly and in shock, and gaining energy and intensity as the narrative unfolds. The flute plays the double role of telling the story of Ophelia’s death and mourning it.
Ophelia Drowning lasted nine minutes; Canto for Flute lasts fifteen. The absorption of the choral element of the original into a piece for solo flute has created a work which makes enormous demands of the flautist, who has to demand a wide dramatic range and sustain an immense musical line without the benefit of physical rest or textural contrast. I wrote the Canto in 2000 and dedicated it to Philippa Davies, who is one of my closest musical friends.
In Ophelia Drowning, the flute provides a prologue, two linking ‘antistrophes’ between the refrains, and an Epilogue. This structure (borrowed from that used by ancient Greek dramatists for the choruses in tragedies) is also the form of Canto for Flute – Prologue, Strophe I, Antistrophe I, Strophe II, Antistrophe II, Strophe III, and Epilogue. The Epilogue will be instantly recognized, being a varied reprise of the Prologue; and in between these two there are recurring shapes which will, however vaguely, be heard as elements of a varied refrain. But since the choral interjections of Ophelia Drowning have been absorbed into the flute part and there is no physically obvious contrast between sections, the piece comes across as a continuous keening lament – starting hesitantly and in shock, and gaining energy and intensity as the narrative unfolds. The flute plays the double role of telling the story of Ophelia’s death and mourning it.
Ophelia Drowning lasted nine minutes; Canto for Flute lasts fifteen. The absorption of the choral element of the original into a piece for solo flute has created a work which makes enormous demands of the flautist, who has to demand a wide dramatic range and sustain an immense musical line without the benefit of physical rest or textural contrast. I wrote the Canto in 2000 and dedicated it to Philippa Davies, who is one of my closest musical friends.