#honegger

Something short, something very special for today’s post in our Random Contemporary Music series. I really like the effects of the flute and I consider this work as a piece with a lot of emotions and moods (like these times...).

Today on Musica in Extenso:

Arthur Honegger

Danse de la Chevre for Solo Flute, H. 39

So about a month ago, I completed my Bachelor of Music! Although I don’t get the expensive piece of paper until next year….. It has been a crazy three years that have gone by incredibly quickly. But I have learnt a lot from my time at university and can’t wait to go onto Honours next year. 

To those of you considering studying music at a tertiary level, know this: It will be hard. You will undoubtedly have times when you end up doubting your resolve and commitment to music, questioning your love of your craft and just wondering why you put yourself through all the hours of practice and boring rehearsals for a career in something that hardly pays and is extremely competitive…. But at the same time, it’s all worth it in the end. The camaraderie between musicians, your friends who battle through the journey with you. The joy of chamber music rehearsals where you end up goofing off and making up a stupid story about ferrets and numerous wells to go along with the Taffanel Wind Quintet. The thrill of an orchestral performance, being part of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, coming together to celebrate the music of the great composers of the past. Not to mention the entertaining agony and fun of working with student composers…. 

Studying music full time was a challenge, but I not only learnt a lot and grew as a musician, but also as a person (as cliched as it may sound).

The video was filmed during my final exam/recital of my degree, the piece Honegger’s Danse de la Chevre. I first learnt this piece back in the middle of high school, but required it again for an audition this year. It was very interesting coming back to it after such a long time… Not only had my technique improved, but also my musical approach and phrasing had changed drastically. It was quite an interesting exercise in reflecting upon my progress in a positive light and remaining optimistic for the future. Perhaps in a few years I will revisit and record the piece again to hear what has changed in my approach to the flute and music in general….

But enough of my ramblings!

Welcome to a week of random contemporary music here at Musica in Extenso! A week like this always feels like we’re returning to the roots of this “station” as it was a love for 20th century music hat drew us all together. Of course, the deeper we get into the 21st century, the less “contemporary” these works become, but I hope you can forgive me for starting the week off in the 1920s.

I’m aware that Les Six is a well I draw from pretty frequently, but as I gaze out my window at a landscape of snow and sun, it was the first movement of this, Arthur Honegger’s Concerto for cello and orchestra (1929), that sprang immediately to mind. Though the piece ultimately gives way to some underlying chaos in later movements, it seems to begin exactly where I am right now.