Globally-renowned flutist Alexa Still and pianist Stephen Gosling presented a stunning world premiere performance of Joseph Schwantner’s Looking Back for flute and piano on August 15, 2009, at the 37th annual convention of the National Flute Association in New York City. Of the hundreds of events scheduled for the four-day convention attended by over 4,000 flutists, the premiere of Looking Back appeared on the prestigious headliner program reserved for ‘A List’ solo artists in performances of repertoire of the highest standard.

The premiere of a Schwantner score in the capable hands of Alexa Still is a risk-free programming decision for an audience anticipating a successful performance and rewarding listening experience with no prior acquaintance with the piece. A long term mutual respect between the composer and the performer enabled a collaborative relationship that Schwantner recalls fondly:

“While composing Looking Back, Alexa's sound was continually, ‘in my ear.’ Her commanding premiere performance was a joyous combination of precision and fidelity to the score, along with an energy and passion that leaves one breathless.” 1

Audiences and performers have responded enthusiastically to Schwantner’s compositions – solo, chamber, and large ensemble – for decades. Having won the Pulitzer Prize early in his career in 1979 for his orchestral work, Aftertones of Infinity, Schwantner steadily provides masterpieces that have instilled confidence in his identity as a top tier composer. Schwantner has been critically acclaimed as a “gifted orchestral colorist”, and while this characterization points to the scoring of his large scale orchestral works, his gift for color is quite apparent in his solo and chamber works. Schwantner’s Silver Halo, a flute quartet scored for piccolo, C flute, alto flute and bass flute, was performed by the professional flute quartet, Flute Force, on another concert at the flute convention in New York. Audience members in a hall packed with several thousand flutists, all familiar with the properties of the four instruments involved, commented on the unique quality in the blend of sound that Schwantner achieved with his scoring of the flute family. Silver Halo was commissioned for the 25th anniversary of Flute Force, and their brilliant performance at the convention was, of course, critical to this positive reaction to the score. As for the score, listeners familiar with the challenges of assembling the entire flute family into one cohesive ensemble were encouraged by Silver Halo, which seemed to elevate the potential of the flute quartet as a standard ensemble.

Schwantner admits to a special affinity for the flute. His reputation for writing flute parts that explore the attributes of the instrument to the fullest extent, as well as the skill set of the performer, inspired the consortium for what would become Looking Back to approach Joseph Schwantner for a new work for flute and piano. Students and colleagues of the late Sam Baron (1925 -1997) formed a consortium of high level flutists to commission a new piece in his memory.

Former Sam Baron student, Laura Barron, led the behemoth effort of contacting as many Baron students as could be found, and subsequently coordinated the entire effort. The outpouring of support was impressive, yielding a list of sixty-five contributors whose names appear in the opening pages of the published score. In addition to the artistic reward associated with placing a new Schwantner score into the flute repertoire, anyone in direct collaboration with Joseph Schwantner benefits from his inimitable kind and generous heart, an attribute of tremendous significance to the former Baron students who sought to commemorate similar traits of their beloved mentor. Alexa Still recalls her work with Schwnanter:

“When Mr. Schwantner first sent me a draft, I was both enthralled at the scope of it and very nervous about the responsibility of making suggestions to a composer of such eminence. So, with great trepidation, I wrote to Joseph who seemed to understand my questions. He immediately addressed all of my points, and also put me right at ease. You'd think he had been a flutist in a prior life. I imagine Mr. Baron has one of his magic smiles plastered across his face, and is very, very proud. I am sure he thinks Looking Back is perfect; a stunning work, challenging and exciting to play, but not beyond the capabilities of most serious flutists.”2

Alexa Still’s premiere performance of Looking Back inspired flutists worldwide to pursue the piece for their recitals in the 2009 -10 season, including Leonard Garrison (United States) in January, 2010, Mary Stolper (United States), fall 2010, Laura Barron (Canada) in April, 2010, and Aldo Baerten (Belgium), summer, 2010. Likewise, the introduction of Silver Halo to such a large audience of flutists has inspired subsequent performances of this relatively new score, premiered in 2008. Chicago flutist Mary Stolper has elected to program Silver Halo on her live broadcast recital on Chicago’s fine arts station, WFMT, on the “Live From Studio 1” series on March 8, 2010. This immediate embrace of two pieces whose ink is barely dry on the printed page is evidence of a rare and wonderful juxtaposition of good stewardship of new masterpieces.

(This review introduces Cynthia Folio's article interviewing Joe Schwantner and analysing the work - click here to read that article)

For more information about Joseph Schwantner, visit http://www.schwantner.net

References:

1The quotation regarding Alexa Still’s performance of Looking Back appeared in an email exchange between Joseph Schwantner and Sherry Kujala on September 29, 2009.

2The quotation regarding Alexa Still’s collaborative exchange with Joseph Schwatner appeared in an email exchange between Alexa Still and Sherry Kujala on October 12, 2009

Sherry Kujala is a flutist living in Evanston, Illinois, who holds a bachelor of arts in flute performance and music education, a master of music in flute performance, and a master of business administration. Sherry performs with a number of orchestras in Illinois and in neighboring states, and has appeared as a soloist in performances of concertos and solos by Mozart, Vivaldi, Reinecke, Charles T. Griffes, and Carl Nielsen. With her husband, Walfrid Kujala, she owns and manages a publishing firm devoted to pedagogy and solo materials for the flute http://www.walfridkujala.com