Rain Songs

"Rain Songs" has been named “one of the truly great works for flute and harp” by the Jefferson Duo, for whom the work was commissioned. Its title and mood is inspired by the sound of the Andean rain stick, which is performed by the harpist at the outset and end of the work. The movements follow the Baroque sonata tradition of slow-fast-slow-fast, the first two mysterious and the last two lyrical. In the opening movement, the quiet rain stick accompanies a slowly unwinding alto flute melody, dark and rich evoking the sound of Bolivian panpipes. A harp transition leads to a scherzo, marked Allegro misterioso, as the unwinding flute melody takes off into the upper register. The moodturns from mysterious to lyrical in the floating third movement, and the last Rain Song is to be played “in the manner of a primitive dance,” before reaching a climax that spirals down to the opening sounds and slowly dies away.