Mark the Date (2016)

Composer note
Mark the Date, for flute and piano, was commissioned privately by Asadour Santourian for the wedding anniversary of two of his close friends. The score bears the inscription "to dear Marina and Andreas with much admiration and affection." This short encore piece originates in my shared feeling for Marina Piccinini and Andreas Haefliger, two remarkable artists. It is an intimate and spontaneous six minutes. When a flute and a piano play a duo, I always feel that the flute should lead the dialogue. I started with this simple outline: the flute plays an introduction, there is a good flute melody at the end, and in between, no hurry, even a little stasis, an unhurried hanging out together.

Something that might be repeated on the next anniversary.

— John Harbison