Three Songs Without Words

  • 6:00
  • 2010
  • Flute, Guitar
Published by Monica Houghton Music Company - Request performance materials.
      Three Songs Without Words - Mary Kay Ferguson, flute, Don Better, guitar performing.

Performances

Premiere: Mary Kay Ferguson, flute, and Don Better, guitar, Christ Episcopal Church, Shaker Heights, Ohio, February 20, 2011.

Martha Somach, flute, Don Better, guitar, for the Greater Cleveland Flute Society, Christ Episcopal Church, Shaker Heights, Ohio, May 1, 2011.

Mary Kay Robinson and Don Better, Harkness Chapel, Case Western Reserve University, April 29, 2012.

Panoramicos with guest artist Don Better, St. Bonaventure University, Allegany, New York, May 11, 2012.

Program Note

“Three Songs Without Words for Flute and Guitar” (2010) was inspired by three eponymous poems of the Chinese poet Tu Fu (712-770 A.D.) The titles are “New Moon,” “Spring Rain” and “Snow Storm.” “New Moon” started out to be a work for guitar and electric bass, but I found to my astonishment that with only a few alterations, the music worked equally well for the combination of guitar and flute! I then composed two companion pieces to make a balanced set of three contrasting musical statements.