Intermezzo for flute and piano (2014)

Prelude | Nocturne | Capriccio

The Intermezzo for flute and piano was written specially for flutist Rebecca Jeffreys. The Prelude begins with the piano playing alone. Once the flute enters, the waltz-like qualities of the music emerge more clearly. The movement ends in a celebratory mood. Like Chopin's works, the Nocturne is peaceful, dreamy, and nostalgic, alternating between warmth and icy drafts. In the eerie middle section of that movement, one could picture a setting akin to that of March Chagall's 1913 painting "The Fiddler" which depicts a snowy Belorussian village. Finally, with its jazzy melody, funk-like bass line, and erratic rhythm, the last movement, Capriccio, is over in a minute, but it is a workout for both flutist and pianist!

Intermezzo was first performed by Rebecca Jeffreys (flute) and Francis Kayali (piano) on February 3, 2015 at the Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center, on the campus of Saint Anselm College, in Manchester, NH. Subsequent performances include the Back Cove Festival in Portland, ME on April 11, 2015 and the Society of Composers, Inc. Region I Conference at the University of Maine at Orono, on October 23, 2015. Intermezzo will be performed at Spectrum in New York City as part of the North/South Consonance Concert Series, with Lisa Hansen on flute and Max Lifchitz at the piano, on February 28, 2016.