CD A0027: Invocation

Invocation by Kate Walsh

CD cover: Invocation by Kate WalshMainly unaccompanied repertoire, with the full spectrum from traditional folk tunes to settings of Japanese haiku (with voice) in a haunting contemporary idiom & two spiritual pieces – Requiem and Mei by Fukushima. Kokopeli by K Hoover as well as "A Minor Sonata" from C.P.E. Bach, and the C Major sonata by J.S. Bach and one of the twelve "Fantasias" by Telemann.  

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Audio Samples

Track Listings

01 HOOVER Reflections 8.01
02   Kokopeli 3.47
03-09 7 Haiku (JANE MONEY mezzo-soprano) 7.51
10-13 JS BACH Sonata in C 8.06
14 NIELSEN The children are playing 1.19
15   Faith and Hope are playing(ALICIA CHISLETT viola) 1.04
16 TELEMANN Fantasia in B flat 4.49
17 FUKUSHIMA Requiem 3.18
18   Mei 4.54
19-21 CPE BACH Sonata in A Minor 10.32
22 PEIRSON Contrasts (JANE MONEY mezzo-soprano) 2.53
23 ANON Danny Boy 2.29
24   Down by the Salley Gardens 2.05
Total Running Time 62.05

CD Notes & Credits

Sleeve Notes

The story so far - new readers join here!!

In 1992, Kate Walsh, a graduate of London College of Music and a student of Ann Cherry and James Dower, released her début recording "What Katie Did" of repertoire for solo flute and flute and piano. This revealed a world of piccolos called Monty, of teddy hears in evening dress, and a recording label called Tootling Ted. The CD text wonders what Katie may do next - Kate herself takes up the story.

“Since completing "What Katie Did” my flute family has more than doubled, I have spent a lot of time and effort developing my technique and style and I have had some real opportunities to develop my experience. Lydia, my instrument on this recording, is a silver “Vanguard” model, built by John Lunn to my specification. It comes with a 14 carat gold head. I have been seduced by the richer, slightly more mellow sound that gold can produce. I still have Silvester, but mainly use him as a spare at the moment. The flute family has grown with the addition of a bass flute, a flute in E Flat and a flute d’amore in A, a fine instrument for which I have major plans.”

“Those of you who have heard “What Katie Did” may be surprised at the difference in the flute sound. I had felt Instinctively that I needed to develop tny sound still further and so I went back to the drawing board. With the kind help of Colin Fleming and hours upon hours of the musical equivalent of square-bashing, I was able to knock myself into the shape you can hear on this recording.”

“I have had the chance to perform some of the major works of the repertoire with orchestra. The Mozart Andante in St John’s, Smith Square and the Chaminade Concertino stick in my mind. I have been involved in some fine opera performances and an association with two Flute Orchestras has led to tours to France and Germany. I have also been invited to play piccolo with the Mexican Flute Orchestra in Mexico City. Two unexpected gigs on cruise ships in the Caribbean and the Baltic, allowed me to play with light music and jazz groups which I very much enjoyed.”

Born in Portsmouth, Jane Money studied singing with Ronald Stear before taking up a Choral Scholarship at the Royal Holloway College, University of London. After an interval teaching, further awards enabled her to continue her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music and subsequently with Sylvia Jacobs. Jane has sung regularly for Glyndebourne, including a well-reviewed Madame Larina (Eugene Onegin) with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She has also performed with Kentish Opera and Dublin Grand Opera. She is also much in demand on the concert platform with solo engagements taking her over much of Britain and Europe.

Alicia Chislett studied at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Royal Conservatoire Brussels. A talented multi-instrumentalist, she has given recitals and broadcast extensively in England and abroad. Although her first study is the piano, (with a speciality of the Fortepiano), she has also for many years played and taught the viola and the cello.

On this disc I have attempted to mix well known flute “classics” with lesser known but equally good repertoire. I also decided to include repertoire for flute & viola and flute & voice to add some contrast to the solo flute sound. It was my intention to show the many different timbres that can be achieved on the flute, ranging from the limpid pan pipe sound in Kokopeli to the hard dramnatic sounds we are more used to in the Fukushima pieces. The flute is an instrument of many voices, a fact we should not lose sight of.

Programme Notes

1. Katherine Hoover: Reflections This set of variations was written when Katherine Hoover was performer in residence at Artpark near Niagara Falls. It was inspired by some ancient Norwegian Gregorian chant. She says in her text that she wrote and performed a different variation each day, from a pencilled draft. She then re-ordered the variations and added an ending to make the piece complete.

2. Katherine Hoover: Kokopeli Kokopeli was a hump-backed flute player who was believed to be a fertility god, a legendary hero of the Hopi. He is said to have led the migrations through the Southwest, the sound of his flute echoing through the great canyons and cliffs. The piece opens with what I perceive to be an invocation to urge the travellers on. This recurs throughout the piece. I have chosen to use a totally different type of sound to evoke the pan pipe Kokopeli played. The rest of the piece describes the migration, the heat and the human endeavour: urged on by the soulful flute.

3-9. Katherine Hoover: 7 Haiku (First Recording): Written in 1973, these are seven delightful settings for flute & voice. The style is modern but hidden behind the chromatic writing are themes linking the work. Each Haiku is set with a different mood in mind.
A Haiku is a short, very intense Japanese verse form.

7 Haiku
1 That white peony...
lover of the noon
trembling
now at twilight
5 For a lovely bowl
let us arrange
these fresh cut-flowers...
Since there is no rice
 

- Gyodai

 

-Basho

       
2

Swat softly, softly
at the sickroom
flies... because
I seek for steep

6 But if I held it...
could I touch
the lightness
of this flutter-butterfly?
 

-Shiki

 

-Buson

       
3 Now that eyes of Hawks
in dusky night
are darkened...
Chirping of the quails
7 I have known lovers
cherry bloom
the nightingale
I will sleep content.
 

-Basho

 

-Anonymous

       
4 The snake departed
but the little eyes
that glared...
Dew, shining in the grass
   
 

-Kyoshi

   

10-13. J S Bach: Solo Sonata in C major This piece ttiay be more familiar as Sonata No 4 in the set of six sonatas. However recent thinking now believes that the keyboard part was added later to what in fact was a solo sonata. Having played both versions I am persuaded to this way of thinking as the flute line feels so harmonically complete. Also the lack of rests could imply it was conceived as a solo piece. Robert Marshall believes that the piano part was added later by CPE Bach as an exercise.

14. Carl Nielsen: The Children are Playing Is taken from incidental music written for Helga Rodes play “The Mother”. This is a short fragment written for solo flute. When I play this I always visualise my niece Charlotte aged three playing in the back garden of her home, skitting from one attraction to the next.

15. Carl Nielsen: Faith & Hope are Playing This is also taken from the incidental mttsic written for “The Mother” and is a flute and viola duet. It is another short fragment where the flute represents Hope and the viola Faith.

16. Telemann Fantasia No 4 in B flat Telemann wrote the 12 unaccompanied Fantasias originally as a composition exercise to demonstrate various compositional techniques. The works are almost like written tint improvisations with a lot of the detail left to the player.

17. Kazuo Fukushima: Requiem This piece was written before Fukushima began his collaboration with Gazzelloni. Simon & I believe it is a piece about mourning. The beginning is calm and then suddenly a turbulent section betrays the underlying emotion. The mourner struggles to regain their calm only for the raw emotion to break through again. The ending of the work amplifies the deep sorrow just beneath the surface.

18. Kazuo Fukushima: Mei Was originally the 2nd movement of a piece for Flute, strings & percussion called Hi-Kyo. It was always intended for solo flute and takes its rhythm and sonority from traditional Japanese music. Many of the techniques used are employed when playing the Shakuhatchi and Fui (Japanese ethnic flutes). This work was composed after the collaboration with Severino Gazzelloni had begun. There are extended techniques such as quarter tones, flutter tonguing, key clicks, very wide ranging dynamics and note bending both using the lip and open hole glissandos.

19-21. CPE Bach: Solo sonata in A minor Together with the JS Bach unaccompanied A minor sonata, this sonata is considered to be one of the most important works for solo flute. It displays great sensitivity and an almost romantic expressiveness. The slow 1st movement ends with a cadenza added by the performer. In the third movement the last 2 lines can be interpreted as a written out cadenza as I have done in this performance.
(Cadenza Kate Walsh)

22. Richard Peirson: Contrasts - World Premiere This piece was commissioned specially for the recording. It is a setting for voice and flute of one of my poems from the collection Epithalamium, published by Minerva Press. Richard works with Scottish Opera as a repetiteur and also as a freelance accompanist, which is how we met. He has composed several works including a piece for strings and various anthems. He has recently written a piece for orchestra and string quartet as part of a lottery project, which is due to be published.

Contrasts by Kate Watsh

In the dark tight
Something glistens
A tiny shining star
Against the inky backdrop of nightfall

A cool cream moon
Hovers in the firmament
Casting ghostly rays
On the snoozing earth below

In another hemisphere
A bright sun streams down
Frotn a perfect azure sky
Warming the earth

Animals stretch lazily in the sunlight
People ptacidty siesta
Sparkling blue water
Soaks up the sun to refresh the fish below

Two total contrasts
Yet in absolute harmnony
Night turns into day
The earth keeps spinning
To keep us alive

23-24 Anon: Danny Boy & Down by the Salley Gardens (for Colin Fleming) Two wonderful melodies in the Irish style from this prolific composer! I have included these as they were pivotal pieces in my flute playing. I have spent many hours working on them for sound. I always think of the view out of Colin's teaching room onto the lush Irish countryside and the mountains of Mourne.

Credits

Recorded at St Silas the Martyr. 16 & 17 December 1997 and 30 January 1998
Engineered & Produced by Simon Weir, assisted by Kasia EIsner
Technical facilities by The Classical Recording Company
Cover painting: Pastoral for P.W. by John Craxton by kind permission of The Tale Gallery London
Session Photographs by Richard Walsh.
Design by Terry Shannon

Thanks to: Father Grahame Rowlands for lending us his church. Wissam Boustany Colin Fleming. Ann Cherry, Andy Thompson. Patrick Onn. Jon Dodd. Liisa Ruoho and finally to Richard Walsh for making this recording possible!

Album Information

Instruments: Solo Flute / Flute and Viola / Flute and Voice
Genre: Classical
Format: CD
Our Ref: A0027
MCPS: TT102-2
Label: Tootling Ted
Year: 1998
Origin: UK

Artist Information and Contact Details

Kate Walsh (Flute)

Photograph of Kate Walsh
Kate Walsh
Image of Tootling Ted
Tootling Ted
Photograph taken during recording
Kate & Jane Money recording in St Silas the Martyr, London

Kate  can  be called a 'compleat' flautist, able to satisfy almost any requirement relating to flute playing or teaching. Her range extends from playing the piccolo in a samba street band to  the most complex contemporary music theatre: one day she can be a soloist in a concerto and next an ordinary member of a show band. As a teacher she can stretch from Suzuki-style games for young children through to advanced diplomas for adults. She  pioneered the teaching of fifes for flute beginners when she worked in Ealing.   She is equally at home teaching children or adults. As a new departure, she has just taken over as conductor of the Bloomsbury Wind Ensemble which is a mixed group of adult wind players.

Kate Walsh originally studied flute at the London College of Muic with Ann Cherry .She subsequently pursued her studies with Colin Fleming of the Ulster Orchestra and in various masterclasses.  She has an M.A. from City University, London and an LGSMD from the Guildhall School of Music and is currently studying for a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE).

Her performing career has covered all types of music. She has played with a wide range of  local, national and regional ensembles and orchestras including the Northern Ballet Theatre and the Bournemouth Symphony. She plays regularly with the North London Philharmonia, and the and the  All Keyed Up flute ensemble.  She particularly enjoys working in pit bands and has performed in many operas, shows and musicals.

She lives in a small flat in the prestigious Barbican Estate in London with husband and at the last count more than 150 teddy bears.

Kate enjoys peforming in many different situations including solo and joint recitals and with chamber groups. She has had many years experience of solo recitals, both with and without piano. She is very flexible and likes to structure her programmes to suit the requirements of each organiser. She has a wide knowledge of standard and lesser-known flute repertoire ranging from J.S.Bach to Oliver Knussen. She also frequently performs light music, folk songs and jazz-influenced pieces.  In her recitals Kate is keen to show off the various members of the flute family .Her particular favourites are the piccolo, which she loves and the very rare flutes d’amore. She conducted a major research project into these instruments and their repertoire as part of her MA degree. SANKYO FLUTES have used an edited version of her findings on their web site Flauto d'amore for some time to give background information on their newly introduced Flute d’amore in A.

Kate and her friends in All Keyed Up would be very happy to put together an evening of varied flute ensemble music as a concert or as a background to your function.  Numerous audiences have been charmed by this unusual medium.

Kate studied singing as well as flute at Music College and this has translated into a lasting interest in working with voices. She has worked with the mezzo-soprano Jane Money and the pianist Richard Furstenheim: they can offer a real fun evening, mixing their solo and Chamber Music repertoires.

To discuss setting up a recital, please Email Kate or phone her on the numbers below and she will be happy to suggest a programme to suit your requirements.

If you are looking for an orchestral soloist, Kate has a wide range of classical and modern concertos in her repertoire.  In 2001, she performed Chaminade’s Concertino and the Reinecke Concerto in the same programme to gr acclaim. She would be particularly interested to perform some of the dedicated flute d’amore repertoire, which her research has uncovered. The first performance of  her edition of a Concerto in F for Flute d’amore and strings by J.A.Hasse(1699-1783) on  November 17th 2003 in London was a great success and it is hoped to post a short extract of it here in the near futureA full repertoire list for her other concertos is available on request. 

Kate is also not one to turn down a challenge, to do things which are slightly out of the ordinary for jobbing musicians.  Thus she has played for afternoon tea on a cruise ship, entertained (with others) the local Hells Angels in a German bus station, provided background music at a furniture convention and has also entertained passing shoppers and slightly bemused lorry drivers in Enniskillen High Street with a spirited rendition of the first movement of the Mozart D major concerto.

Kate has recently been doing a lot of work with younger children and, capitalising on her Suzuki training, has had a good deal of success promoting the instrument to primary school children in workshops and group teaching situations.  She has also led a number of adult workshops.She is very happy to lead workshops or masterclasses for all ages, followed by a recital if required.  Lecture recitals and associated activities relating to the Flute d’amore or the whole flute family are also available.

Booking Kate is represented by Portland Wallis Direct – 07957 872881 Details of her availability may be obtained from the Musicians Answering Service -  01306 500022
   
For all other enquiries please contact:
Address 80 Long Lane
Ickenham
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB10 8SX
   
E-mail Kate@tootlingted.co.uk
kateflute@btinternet.com
 
Web Site   www.tootlingted.co.uk

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