After Bach

c. 4 min

January 18, 2015
Philadelphia, PA
Mimi Stillman and Jeffrey Khaner, flutes

Written for Mimi Stillman and the 10th anniversary of her Dolce Suono Ensemble

2 flutes

This work was commissioned in celebration of Dolce Suono Ensemble’s 10 Year Anniversary. It is dedicated to my dear friend and consummate musician, Mimi Stillman, Artistic Director and Founder. The work was premiered by Mimi Stillman and Philadelphia Orchestra principal flutist, Jeffrey Khaner as a Tribute to Julius Baker in Philadelphia on January, 18, 2015 at the Trinity Center. The work had its NYC premiere at the New York Flute Club with Mimi Stillman and Bart Feller on October, 18, 2015.

The piece was inspired by my early years as an accompanist for the studio of Ms. Stillman’s outstanding teacher and performer, Julius Baker, who gave flute lessons in my Philadelphia apartment in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The work is built from motivic materials found in the Allegro movement from Bach’s Flute Sonate No. 4 in C Major, a work that Baker required all his students to play at the start of the lesson. Fragments of other Bach Flute Sonatas and keyboard Inventions are also woven into the counterpoint as a nod to Mr. Baker’s fondness for puns. The piece is a playful tour de force serving as a small tribute to J.S. Bach, this important lineage of flute playing and to Mimi’s vision for creating a chamber ensemble devoted to excellent performances of traditional repertoire and the music of our day. May the Dolce Suono Ensemble continue to flourish and touch audiences in Philadelphia and beyond for many more decades to come.

I am grateful to The Ucross Foundation and The Corporation of Yaddo for the time and space to create this work.

–Andrea Clearfield