It’s a well known fact of life that if you take up playing
one or other weird and wonderful musical instrument, sooner
or later you will encounter other people who play the same or
similar weird and wonderful instruments. I’ve been performing
on sub-contrabass flute #8 built by Dutch flute maker Jelle
Hogenhuis since 2001, and Peter Sheridan’s later model
of the same instrument is illustrated on the cover of this CD,
which is dedicated to ‘low flutes’ in all their
manifestations, including contrabass, bass, and alto flutes.
I had the good fortune to meet New York City native and current
Australian resident Peter Sheridan and had the privilege of
performing a spontaneous sub-contrabass duet with him in a concert
at the Badhuis in Amsterdam organised by another low flute specialist
Ned McGowan. Don’t be told that the sub-contrabass flute
is the biggest in the world however. The aforementioned concert
event occurred when Peter came over from Australia to take delivery
of an improbably large hyperbass flute also made by Jelle
Hogenhuis, which from what I’ve seen looks to be the equivalent
of playing a large chunk of the Pompidou Centre.
The title of this disc could have been ‘Bellows’,
such is the volume of air required to play the largest of flutes.
Whenever I do that health check thing to test lung capacity
through exhalation the nurse or doctor always give me a raised
eyebrow look over their spectacles, and probably make a note;
‘tuba player’ or ‘Wagnerian vocalist’.
To get an idea of the scale of these instruments, the contrabass
flute has the same range as a cello, the sub-contrabass
flute is the equivalent of a 5-string double-bass; the kind
which reach a bottom C, three octaves below middle C on a piano.
Strictly speaking, the whole flute family needs re-naming to
fit more accurately with the strings; the ‘normal’
bass flute being far more of a tenor instrument in comparison
to the true basses. I doubt this will happen any time soon though.
Weird and wonderful instruments do not necessarily have to lead
to strange and difficult sounds, and all of the works on this
recording show one or other expressive side to the flute. What
is unusual is how many of the pieces here are written specially
for the instruments on which they are performed. One of the
disadvantages of playing an instrument which has only been around
for a relatively few years is that most of what you end up playing
is arrangements, though thanks to pioneers like Peter Sheridan
this situation is gradually being remedied.
Gary Schocker is a renowned flautist as well as composer, and
his piece A Small Sonata for a Large Flute shows how
mellifluous and beautiful the bass flute can sound, presented
in a melodic and rather romantic three movement setting. American
composer and flautist Sheridon Stokes takes the sonorities of
the bass and contrabass flutes, adding in an Irish flute-piccolo
to enhance the folk-like nature of his piece Irish in the
Lowlands which is like a set of variations on a simple,
pastoral theme.
Arrangements and transcriptions do have their place on this
programme, and Peter Sheridan shows the virtuoso side of the
alto, bass and contrabass flutes in adapting a set of three
etudes. His technical chops are pretty remarkable, and making
an effective performance of these pieces, especially on the
bass and contrabass flutes is no mean feat. I think all of us
would be in agreement in drawing the line at attempting this
kind of material on the sub-contrabass instrument - the notes
are that less easy to define, and in my case at least the noise
of the keys also counts against success. The contrabass flute
does show its remarkable qualities in the study by Ernesto Kohler,
and the quality of the tone easily outweighs any occasional
mechanical noises. Another transcription is that of Philippe
Gaubert’s Madrigal, which is likely to be the only
piece known even to most flautists from this album. Here played
on the wide-ranging alto flute, the piece gains a softer quality
and a different kind of depth, but isn’t so very far from
the original.
Patrick Neher is a music academic and double-bass player, and
the logic of coupling the contrabass flute with the string bass
is a clear one for his piece City Vignettes. This three
movement work starts with a gently swinging jazz feel in a movement
called Corner Encounter. Hard-boiled street gives way
to slow lyricism in a movement called Lunacite, and the
piece concludes with a fun blast called Block Party.
This is a great work, partnering flute and bass both in complementary
and contrasting ways with the piano adding a touch of subtle
harmony and rhythmic colour.
Gary Schocker’s Adventures Under a Leaf is a set
of five duets played on the normal C flute by Lisa-Maree Amos,
and Peter Sheridan’s bass flute. These are finely crafted
pieces with a good deal of thematic logic to go along with the
“wonderfully quirky, lyrical and exciting” nature
of the music. Putting two flutes of different sizes together
isn’t as common as you might imagine, and the difference
in character between the instruments is expertly demonstrated
in a set of pieces which have plenty of technical content and
musical substance.
Australian composer Bruce Lawrence’s Elegy sets
the contrabass flute against a gentle piano accompaniment in
a moving piece which was originally written for cello and piano.
One of the only really ‘modern’ pieces on this disc,
There is a Difference Between Apples and Men is a movement
taken from a bigger work for contrabass and percussion. Sonority
and improvisatory exploration of both instruments results in
a piece with a good deal of mystery and atmosphere in a context
of ambiguous tonality. Peter Sheridan’s own piece for
subcontrabass flute, And the Giant began to Dance, is
described as a “spontaneous composition inspired by the
dancing pulsations of air emerging from the elephant-like pipe.”
The low resonances are well recorded, and give a good impression
of the sheer physical nature of playing and hearing this kind
of instrument in a piece which demonstrates some of the rhythmic
effects which come naturally when exploring its qualities.
Below by American composer Alex Shapiro is a stunning
electronic soundtrack based on undersea noises, including the
song of the Pacific humpback whale. This acts as a partner to
the contrabass flute, whose deep tones blend superbly with the
vastness of the sounds and effects. There is rhythm and energy
in this piece as well as a welcoming bath of resonant electronic
soundscapes, and the results are an appealing blend of sonic
anthropomorphism and attractive melodic contours.
This CD is a highly professional production, with fine recordings
and a marvelous set of performances by all concerned. The booklet
is nicely documented and illustrated if a little short on dates.
There is pretty much something for everyone here, and I can
imagine most people being pleasantly surprised by the variety
of timbre and breadth of expressive qualities which can be obtained
by blowing across a bit of old tube. You can find out more about
bits of this kind of tube on Peter Sheridan’s excellent
website.
Sheridan’s crusade for his impressive collection of huge
flutes continues apace, and we can expect more in the near future.
Dominy Clements
Peter Sheridan (flutes) 
