The Three Nocturnes are the most recent works on this recording. Highly impressionistic in nature, they depict three progressing times of night: dusk, midnight and dawn. The first movement contains a harp-like piano accompaniment over which the flute sings – generally light and free. Near the end, as midnight approaches, the music grows darker in character. The second movement has a concentrated, quiet intensity -- more whisper than scream. It is primitive and trance-like. The flute plays without vibrato – sounding almost like an ancient wooden flute. The third and final movement depicts dawn as the sun bursts upon the horizon, shining on the flowers and trees which had been hidden by darkness of night. It is a joyful and dancing movement, with a capricious middle section suggesting children chasing fireflies through a dense forest which the sun has not yet penetrated. Both the first and third Nocturnes make extensive use of the highest register of the flute.
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