11 March 1986
Paul Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City
Su Lian Tan, flute / Elena Ruehr, piano

flute and piano

21'

In three movements, the first is in a traditional sonata allegro form with the first theme a jazzy, scampering riff in 7/8 time and second a poetic one created, as the composer writes, 'as a little homage to the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata, which I was then accompanying for the first time.' The second movement, marked 'lento moderato,' is an arch form, with a broadly expressive introduction and coda framing a strophic melody in the flute supported by a pulsing, neo-baroque keyboard part. The final movement, a rondo, is marked presto / adagio and alternates a skittering, virtuosic first theme with a lyrical theme — marked 'con gran espressione'.

Composed in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City during the winter of 1985 (and completed on 19 December 1985) while the composer was still a student at Juilliard, it remains one of his most popular chamber works. It is dedicated to Su Lian Tan and was premiered by Ms. Tan, accompanied by the composer Elena Ruehr, at the Paul Recital Hall of Lincoln Center in New York City on 11 March 1986.