Pan Penseroso

Commissioned by the NFA, Bresnick's flute concerto was written for master flutist Robert Dick, who also had some editorial input. The symbiosis between composer and performer is furthered by Bresnick's use of contemporary techniques, as discussed in Dick's writings. Bresnick later created a version of Pan Penseroso for two flutes and orchestra, and both flute solo and flute duo versions are also available with piano reduction. Dur.: 20'

"Pan Penseroso" and the titles of its three movements are taken from John Milton's great poem "Il Penseroso" (The Contemplative Man). The music aligns itself with this response to the poet's earlier "L'Allegro" (the Cheerful Man). In my concerto the flutist Pan, like the mature Milton, casts a reflective musical eye on the world, renouncing all "vain deluding joyes", so as to better hear the "Sweet Bird that shunn'st the noise of folly?" Written for the master flutist Robert Dick, Pan Penseroso includes a number of procedures explored in his pioneering book "The Other Flute: A performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques."

Commissioned by the NFA, Bresnick's flute concerto was written for master flutist Robert Dick, who also had some editorial input. The symbiosis between composer and performer is furthered by Bresnick's use of contemporary techniques, as discussed in Dick's writings. Bresnick later created a version of Pan Penseroso for two flutes and orchestra, and both flute solo and flute duo versions are also available with piano reduction. Dur.: 20'

Commissioned by the NFA, Bresnick's flute concerto was written for master flutist Robert Dick, who also had some editorial input. The symbiosis between composer and performer is furthered by Bresnick's use of contemporary techniques, as discussed in Dick's writings. Bresnick later created a version of Pan Penseroso for two flutes and orchestra, and both flute solo and flute duo versions are also available with piano reduction. Dur.: 20'