SKU: SU.97023310

Inspired by the French Romantic and Impressionist traditions, my romances for fute and piano, composed during late July and early August 1984, was carefully conceived for the marvelous lyrical and technical gifts of Robert Stallman and Richard Goode, to whom the work is warmly dedicated. All three Romances, although brief in duration, unfold with a sense of large gesture and design. The first Romance is in 3/4 time and flows generally in the manner of a lyrical waltz with occasional turbulent interruptions. The second Romance is in 4/4 time, unfolding in a stately Baroque-like manner, and the third Romance is in 2/4 time, melodically expansive and often tempestuous. All three Romances strive to honor the goals of traditional performance practice while, at the same time, they create an energy and drama of modernity and contemporary richness. And for these goals I am indebted to so many of the most outstanding performers and conductors of our time with whom I have worked and from whom I have learned much– those who have demonstrated the importance of preserving in addition to further developing those significant natural attributes of musical expression and traditional performance practice which are so often ignored in contemporary compositional values. — William Thomas McKinleyFlute & Piano Duration: 14' Composed: 1984 Published by: Notevole Music Publishing.

SKU: BT.MUSM570363650

English.

... Around And A Round... for Flute and Piano (2015) was originally a solo Piano piece entitled Nocturne 1 ..around and a round.. (from Lunae: Four Nocturnes, composed in 2012). It is a slow, midnight merry-go-round with a bass line that repeats with variations throughout the work. Marked gently expressive it is inspired by Song, a beautiful piece by contemporary pianist and composer John Law. The Flute and Piano version was premiered by Elizabeth Walker and Richard Shaw on 2 June 2015 as part of the Holbourne Museum Lunchtime Concert Series in Bath. Duration: c. 3 mins.

SKU: PR.114424240

ISBN 9781491137581. UPC: 680160691036.

THE BONES OF MR. FORTUNE (FREE AT LAST!) is an 11-minute concerto-like work for solo flute accompanied by symphonic winds and percussion – perfect to play with band or with orchestra, as well as with the composer’s own piano reduction. The work features lengthy cadenzas, and exhilarating dance-like sections with the ensemble. Hailstork describes the historical inspiration: Abused in life and death, an enslaved man (Mr. Fortune) was owned by a surgeon who preserved his skeleton to study anatomy. The bones remained with the doctor’s family for generations, and were given a proper burial making national news in 2013, 215 years after Mr. Fortune’s death.
Abused in life and death, an enslaved man known as Mr. Fortune was honored with an elaborate funeral more than 200 years after he died in Connecticut.Mr. Fortune was owned by Dr. Preserved Porter on a farm in Waterbury, Connecticut. When Fortune died in 1798, Porter, a bone surgeon, preserved his skeleton by having the bones boiled to study anatomy at a time when cadavers for medical study were disproportionately taken from slaves, servants and prisoners.One of Porter’s descendants gave the skeleton in 1933 to Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, where it was displayed from the 1940s until 1970. The descendant referred to the slave as “Larry” and his name was forgotten at the time.A study by forensic anthropologists at the Quinnipiac University School of Medicine concluded that Fortune was about 5 feet 5 inches tall and died at around 55 years old. He suffered a number of painful ailments, including a fracture in his left hand, a severe ankle sprain and lower back pain. “He was an individual who was in considerable distress,” a forensic professor, Richard Gonzalez said.I was taken by the bizarre story of Mr. Fortune and decided to use it as the stimulus for this work.

SKU: HL.50576168