Faye-Ellen Silverman

Speaking Alone

Year: 1986

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo instrument other than piano, solo woodwind instrument

Instruments: any woodwind, flute

Publisher: Subito Music Corporation

Description: Speaking Alone” is a short, one movement work for flute, although it has also been performed on the bass flute. The entire work is soft (I often refer to it as my “Feldman work”, after meeting Morty Feldman), only rising to medium loudness in a few places. Andrew Bolotowsky introduced me to many of the flute techniques used in this piece. Much of the piece calls for flute harmonics. These are exploited not only as a challenge to the performer (this simple-sounding work is extremely difficult to play), but also for their forlorn, far-away quality. Pitches wind sounds (“whistle tones”) are also used, creating a distant, scarcely audible timbre.