Performances

• 2024 (Premiere)

  Expert Interpreter Recital

  Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music

  Carolin Ralser

While looking for materials for this solo flute work, I recalled two works by Debussy that featured the flute prominently – Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, and Syrinx. As such, I used the materials from these two pieces to create two contrasting characters in Duet. From Prélude, I simplified the melodic lines of the opening flute solo and exemplified its long and luscious phrasing. However, instead of focusing on the tritone relations, I worked with intervals smaller than semitones before expanding it over time. The second character is the inversion of the Syrinx motif that is made erratic through quick gestures and leaps. These two characters exchange conversations before each of them express their monologue that gradually evolve into a violent outburst. The piece then closes with these two characters coming together in harmony in a perceived polyphony with the use of voice as an extended technique.