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MUSIC FOR UNACCOMPANIED FLUTE

Contemporary Music for Solo Flute

This collection of contemporary unaccompanied flute music presents works written for performers seeking expressive, modern repertoire for concerts, competitions, and advanced study. These compositions explore the full range of the solo flute, from breath‑like intimacy and lyrical lines to bold contemporary colors, extended techniques, and virtuosic gestures. This page provides an overview of available works, including instrumentation details, program notes, and score information.

DUNES

for unaccompanied flute

Duration:

5 minutes
 

Instrumentation:   

flute
 

Year Composed:  

2005
 

Written For:            
Abigail Dolan
 

Premiere Performance:

20 November 2005
Berlin, Germany
Abigail Dolan, flute

MUSIC FOR UNACCOMPANIED FLUTE

THEMES:

Program Notes:

In my mind, I envisioned dunes that continuously shift in shape under the influence of the wind's direction. Sometimes, these changes occur rapidly, while at other times, amidst a serene breeze, the dunes remain motionless. Dunes is dedicated to flutist Abigail Dolan.

Score of Dunes for unaccompanied flute

About Unaccompanied Flute Music

The unaccompanied flute repertoire offers a uniquely intimate and expressive sound world, highlighting the instrument’s full range of colors, articulations, and extended techniques. Writing for solo flute allows for a wide spectrum of musical possibilities — from meditative, breath‑driven lines to virtuosic displays of agility, multiphonics, and contemporary timbral effects. These works contribute to the expanding contemporary repertoire for unaccompanied flute, providing performers with technically engaging and artistically rewarding pieces suitable for both recital and professional performance settings.

Unaccompanied Flute Repertoire List

Early to Mid 20th Century

  • Claude Debussy – Syrinx – 1913

  • Sigfrid Karg-Elert – Sonata Appassionata, Op. 140 – 1917

  • Paul Hindemith – Acht Stücke (Eight Pieces) – 1927

  • André Jolivet – Cinq Incantations – 1936

  • Edgard Varèse – Density 21.5 – 1936

  • Late 20th Century

  • Luciano Berio – Sequenza I – 1958

  • Kazuo Fukushima – Mei – 1962

  • Marilyn Bliss – Encounter – 1975

  • Robert Dick – Lookout – 1989

  • Elliott Carter – Scrivo in Vento – 1991

  • Gérard Pesson – Solo – 1991

  • Marilyn Bliss – Phantom Breeze – 1995

  • Toru Takemitsu – Air – 1995

  • Ian Clarke – Zoom Tube – 2000

21st Century

  • Reena Esmail – Chardonnay – 2001

  • Ian Clarke – The Great Train Race – 2001

  • Sophie Dufeutrelle – Asia – 2002

  • Lior Navok – Dunes – 2005

  • Valerie Coleman – Danza de la Mariposa – 2008

  • Gergely Ittzés – Totem – 2012

  • Robert Dick – Air is the Heaviest Metal – 2015

  • Eric Ewazen – A Night in New Orleans – 2015

  • Gary Schocker – Chiaroscuro – 2017

  • Tilmann Dehnhard – Yorishiro – 2018

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