Angel Who Bears a Flaming Sword for solo alto flute

The Angel Who Bears a Flaming Sword, Op94a for Alto Flute Solo by Karl Henning

Lento

Lo stesso tempo

Adagietto

Tempo primo

Poco piu mosso

Originally a piece for trumpet, The Angel Who Bears a Flaming Sword was adapted to alto flute for (and on the advice of) Peter H. Bloom, a highly versatile flutist noted for performing new music in the Boston area.  It was premiered by him in June 2009 at historic First Church in Woburn, Massachusetts.  The piece has elements of Ego vox clamantis in deserto (as John the Baptist explained himself in the Gospel). The sword of flame is in the hands of an Angel posted by the Most High to bar the return of errant man to paradise; and, in part, this piece meditates on that Angel’s sorrow.

Karl Henning (b.1960) is a composer and clarinetist in Boston, Massachusetts, where many noted ensembles and performers have commissioned his music, notably the virtuoso women’s vocal trio Tapestry (Castelo dos anjos) and the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble (Out in the Sun).