James D’Arcy: In the autumn heat for solo flute (Download)

In the autumn heat was written as part of my composition course at the University of Sydney and is dedicated to Catherine Fluke who has been a good friend of mine for many years. Catherine was also the 'rst performer at a concert in, I think, 1999. The piece then languished in my cupboard for some time before I began composing again in 2020, just after COVID-19 caused widespread lockdown. It was then that I had time to begin composing again and I began by reviewing previously completed compositions. The work is in three sections: slow (Lento Freely), fast (Allegro Scherzo), and then a repeat of the initial slow tempo. It has no time signatures allowing the performer to move freely through the phrases without over emphasising speci'c beats in a bar. The quick changes between upper and lower registers of the ute, combined with accompanying dynamic changes, make this work quite challenging for the autist.

The title comes from a T. S. Eliot poem "Burnt Norton", No. 1 of his 'Four Quartets'. Upon reviewing my work I thought perhaps that the title was a little pretentious; but on reflection I can understand my earlier reasoning as the work does have some poetic relationship to the poem - at least in the third stanza. The reader follows a bird through a gate, then shrubs and flower with the surface of a pool "glittered out of heart and light" - there are many images in the poem worth considering as you perform In the autumn heat. I hope you enjoy performing this work.