Tune of the Day: Andantino by Paul Merkus
Today we have a new contribution from our guest composer from the Netherlands, Paul Merkus. This piece for flute and piano was written back in 1985.
The Andantino is my first piece for flute and piano with a prelude. The flute starts off silent to give the piano the opportunity to place both consonances and dissonances in a dynamic spectrum in a series of chords, which come to rest by means of a pedal point. This is somewhat inspired by Chopin's Prelude Op. 45, which also begins with a prelude of mere chords. The prelude serves as an upbeat to the melodic entry of the flute, which is then taken over by the piano. After a relatively modest middle part in a major key, the flute follows with a reprise of the minor main theme, but then in a radiant high position.