Fantasia No 1 on a theme from “Keoghal”

Details

Year: 1984

Duration: 3'

Instrumentation: trec

Program Notes

John Buckley – Programme notes for solo recorder pieces

Fantasia No. 1 (1984) and Fantasia No. 2 (1987) for solo treble recorder were written for and are dedicated to Doris Keogh, who was my flute teacher at the Royal Irish Academy of Music between 1969 and 1974. Although three years separate their composition, they were conceived as a pair and are intended to be performed consecutively.

Fantasia No 1 takes as its starting point a theme from an earlier work, Keoghal for recorder quintet. The undulating and ornamented musical line is predominantly slow with the character of a lament.

Fantasia No. 2  is a rapidly moving arabesque, which freely develops the opening rhythmic motif. A slower middle section making  extensive use of flutter tonguing technique provides a contrast before a reprise of the opening idea.

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