Tune of the Day: Sarabande by Paul Merkus
Today's piece was kindly contributed to our collection by guest composer Paul Merkus.
This Sarabande is my very first opus number, originating in 1983, at a time when I often played flute duets. That is why the first appearance of this Sarabande was as a duet for two flutes.
Because it was difficult to do the harmony justice in a flute duet, I also made the present version for flute and piano. The key has been changed as the Sarabande has been transposed down to G major.
The beginning of the melody is based on the effect that repeating the same note builds tension. After four bars of “monotony”, the built-up tension is relieved by a scale figure, after which a typical sarabande melody follows. In the second part, a contemporary modulation transitions into the recapitulation, followed by a melancholy conclusion.