Kling, Henri - Two Little Finches for Solo piccolos /Flute Ensemble Digital Download

Description

This piece is a light hearted dance like composition in the classical style that features a solo pair of piccolos. After some introductory fanfares and ‘horn call’ passages, the two soloists enter with a bird-song like cadenza passage featuring calls and responses between them. This then leads into the main section of the piece, a jovial polka with the two soloists in rhythmic unison on top of the texture. Various bird-song features are included, simple repeating melodies in thirds, rapid repeated articulations of the same note, and flowing arpeggios. A great piece to feature the piccolo!

Henri Kling was born in Paris in 1842, but was brought up in Carlsruhe, where he studied with the virtuoso horn player Jacob Dorn. He then spent most of his career in Geneva, where he was professor of horn at the Geneva Conservatory from 1865 until his death in 1918. As well as the horn, he had a strong interest in composition, probably best known is his Horn-schule, which is a progressive series of etudes and orchestral excerpts with his own commentary attached.

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Two Little Finches