View source for Flute Concerto (Rorem)

The '''Flute Concerto''' is a composition for solo [[Western concert flute|flute]] and [[orchestra]] by the American composer [[Ned Rorem]].  The work was commissioned by the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] and was composed between August 2001 and May 2002.  Its world premiere was given by the flutist [[Jeffrey Khaner]] and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by [[Roberto Abbado]] at the [[Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts]] on December 4, 2003.<ref name="Score">{{Cite web |last=Rorem |first=Ned |authorlink=Ned Rorem |date=2002 |title=Flute Concerto |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |url=http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Ned-Rorem-Flute-Concerto/26651 |accessdate=October 28, 2016}}</ref>
==Composition==
===Structure===
The piece has a duration of roughly 25 minutes and is cast in six [[Movement (music)|movements]]:
#The Stone Tower
#Leaving – Traveling – Hoping
#Sirens
#Hymn
#False Waltz
#Résumé and Prayer
Rorem commented on the movement titles in the score program notes, writing, "I don't believe that non-vocal music can be proved to "mean" anything precise, like Love or Death or Fright, much less Yellow or Tuesday or Lake. But sometimes it's helpful and fun to ascribe (usually after the fact) names to separate movements."  He continued:{{quote|Thus the six subtitles are 1. "The Stone Tower," a studio at [[Yaddo]] where the music was written; 2. "Leaving–Traveling–Hoping," made up of two short tunes surrounding a long poem; 3. "Sirens," an ambling succession of melodies and ripples; 4. "Hymn," an interlude for just five instruments; 5. "False Waltz," a rollicking affair shaped like a pyramid (soft to loud to soft); 6. "Résumé and Prayer" is just that: a [[cadenza]] reviving briefly all the foregoing matter, and closing on a very quiet note.<ref name="Score" />}}
===Instrumentation===
The work is scored for a solo flute and an orchestra comprising two additional flutes, two [[oboe]]s, two [[clarinet]]s, two [[bassoon]]s, two [[French horn|horns]], two [[trumpet]]s, [[timpani]], [[piano]], [[Pedal harp|harp]], and [[String section|strings]].<ref name="Score" />
==Reception==
Reviewing a recording of the piece paired with Rorem's [[Violin Concerto (Rorem)|Violin Concerto]] and ''Pilgrims'', Peter Dickinson of ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' wrote, "This is relaxed and indulgent music, even if these works are not the best from this now grand old man of American music."<ref>{{cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Peter |title=Rorem Flute Concerto; Violin Concerto |work=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]] |date=August 2006 |url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/rorem-flute-concerto-violin-concerto |accessdate=October 28, 2016}}</ref>  John von Rhein of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' similarly described it as an "inventively quirky mosaic of instrumental songs without words."<ref>{{cite web |last=von Rhein |first=John |title=Rorem: Flute Concerto, Violin Concerto |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=June 30, 2006 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/06/30/rorem-flute-concerto-violin-concerto/ |access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Ned Rorem}}
[[Category:Concertos by Ned Rorem]]
[[Category:2002 compositions]]
[[Category:Flute concertos|Rorem, Ned]]
[[Category:Music commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra]]