August Idyll

August Idyll for Solo Flute by Daniel Dorff

Publisher: Theodore Presser
Duration: c. 4:00

In 2005, I was distracted by many simultaneous “real life” challenges; I went over a year without focus or momentum for composing, even with an impending deadline for a piano concerto to be premiered in Carnegie Hall.

That summer’s NFA convention was a great “reset,” and a few weeks afterward I visited a friend out in the country surrounded by woods, wild animals wandering in the yard, bluebirds, and hummingbirds. On the first morning, I closed my eyes and a theme came into my head that I particularly liked. There was no music paper handy so I started scribbling on scrap paper. This surprise kept progressing and developing, and within a few hours I had “received” this reawakening gift of a completed new solo flute piece. It felt like merely taking dictation rather than composing.

Since I was in an idyllic setting (and the opening sounds somewhat like Grieg), and it was August, August Idyll seemed like a natural title for the piece.