Concerto for Flute and Orchestra

The Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, was completed early in February, 1983. The work is in one movement with a variety of sections. It begins with the use of light percussion setting the mood by utilizing fragments of several of the major musical ideas that are later expanded and developed. The opening entrance of the flute, after a few bars of preparation by the percussion, introduces two of the major musical ideas of the Concerto. After some expansion, the orchestra enters with a highly contrasting and darkly-hued musical idea that returns later in many different forms. Although the Concerto is largely atonal, D Minor is present in a recurring motif. The work contains Mennin's typical gestures, such as  melancholic reflection and virtuosic solo passagework that alternates with the orchestra. Mennin employs a cadenza of improvisatory questioning in the flute part, and the work comes to an end in a straightforward way, as Mennin here avoids his customary final coda.