Four Dragons in Flight

Abstract

<p>'Four Dragons in Flight' is a five-minute work for recorder quartet. This piece extends the practice and presence of the recorder quartet in Australia and Internationally and asks: How can four recorder voices relate to one another evoking a sense of flight and fantasy? This work expands the modes and forms of recorder composition by blending Baroque triadic sonorities with contemporary contrapuntal techniques that layer the four recorder voices. The quartet line-up uses an innovative blend of lower recorder voices moving away from dominant quartet voicings that showcase the treble recorder. The work offers an expansion of the recorder quartet by drawing on multi-modal harmonies which connect with a resurgence of public interest in fantasy themes. The work encourages the four players to consider solo and ensemble gestures and in particular the challenging technique of blending low register sounds in the recorder which create a breathy, wide timbre. This is a technique rarely utilised in the recorder quartet.</p>