Chrysanthemums (Crisantemi) by Giacomo Puccini
Arranged for Flute Quartet by Shaul Ben-Meir
Instrumentation: 2 c flutes, alto flute, bass flute
Score and parts
Puccini wrote ‘Crisantemi’, an elegy, in a single night in 1890 in response to the death of the Duke of Savoy. It is a single movement in ABA form. The first theme begins with the outer voices in contrary motion, effectively a slowly opening blossom, and while the second theme is somewhat faster, both themes are dark-toned and melancholy, and the musical motion evocative of sighs of the grieving. Originally a string quartet, it is more performed as in symphonic orchestration.
