To A Crow for Flute and Quadraphonic Tape by Sophie Pope
Playing score
Duration: 8:00
Extended Techniques Used: Multiphonics; Bisbigliando; Flutte Tongue; Key Cliskc; Tongue Rams; Singing While Playing; Molto Vibrato; Tongue Slaps, Whistle Tones
There are many crows, they are black and go “argh! argh”. They hop around like gangsters and often look pretty bedraggled, with missing feathers and scrappy wings. I think they’re great. They are clever, mysterious, confident, sociable and do a lot more than just “argh! argh!”. They can learn words, much like a parrot, and are well known for their use of tools in order to get at food. I wanted to use the untypical sounds of the crow and the flute; historically composers have used the sweet sounding birdsong and the sweet sounding melodies on the flute. I thought it was about time some other birds were given a chance at music. This piece combines the sounds of the flute with those of the crows in order to portray the liveliness, hidden beauty and multifaceted nature of the crows. — Sophie Pope
Winner – NFA Newly Published Music Competition 2021 – Flute & Electronics Category
