Urlicht-Irrlicht? for solo flute (Viktor Kaminsky) PRINTED

This is an 8.5 minute work for at an Early Advanced level that introduces the extended technique of frullato.

The title of the work translate to “will o’ the wisp” and refers to the ghostly lights seen over marches that represent a lost soul. It is famously referenced in Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise. The work opens with ”Andante, sempre espresivo e liberamente” consisting of a haunting minor melody using long note values, soft dynamics with swells to set a mysterious character for the piece. As it progresses, the melody becomes more active and meanders around with chromaticism entering into the line. The work then explodes into moments of lines of cascading sixteenths to contrast with a livelier character. As it progresses sextuplets are introduced to create an even more virtuosic display. The next section “Presto” features a motif of eighth notes in an upper neighbour and arpeggiated motion in a frantic character. As the line developes it strings together a longer passage of eighth notes that become more disjunct. Eventually, this is interrupted with longer note values using frullato to bring back the earlier mysterious character almost as a reminder like the lost soul trying to find its way back before a return to the frantic eighth notes. The second time, it is interrupted with trills instead. Finally, it finds a way back to sixteenth notes to set up a return to the opening section’s material with some slight variations such as the use of frullato for timbre and rhythmically triplet eighth notes to bring in elements from the middle section like a lost soul bringing along all of its experiences during the course of its life.

More information can be found here: https://www.ukrainianchambermusic.com/#/piece/KAMINSKY%2C%20Viktor/Urlicht-Irrlicht%3F

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL_HTb4y0Vk