Henri Dutilleux - Sonatine for Flute and Piano(1943)(with full score)

Mov.1: Allegretto 00:05 Mov.2: Andante 04:00 Mov.3: Animé 05:19 Fl. Emmanuel Pahud Pf. Eric Le Sage Predating his official Opus 1 (the Piano Sonata) by five years, Henri Dutilleux’s Flute Sonatina hardly reflects the composer’s distinctive mature style; it’s in a more generic, sometimes saucy French manner. The Paris Conservatory commissioned it as a test piece for the graduating flutists of 1942. Lasting barely ten minutes, the sonatina falls into three sections played without pause. It begins with a mysterious, tonally ambiguous flute theme played over an angular, rising and falling piano motif that strongly recalls the style of Dmitry Kabalevsky. The flute offers some brighter material as a bridge to a restatement of the opening piano melody, now appropriated fully by the flute and sounding gradually more playful. A fast, tense, and questioning flute cadenza leads to an expressive, lyrical andante reminiscent of Poulenc in his most serious instrumental mode. Excitement eventually builds until the piano takes over with a jubilant, if initially frantic, melody. This burbling material soon becomes the flute’s property, and the remainder of the section tests the flutist’s articulation, breath control, and agility in music that grows increasingly lighthearted. Near the end, a challenging cadenza alludes to motifs from all three sections of the sonatina, with the piano joining for an accelerando through the final, bright measures.