Pavillons
for solo flute
I chose the title Pavillons for this short fantasia for solo flute because several meanings of the word remind me of the piece. The phrase pavillons en l'air is an exhortation to wind players to play with their bells pointed upward. A pavilion at a state fair is a temporary shelter--light, open, often festively decorated. A pavillon could also be the slanting surface of a "brilliant-cut" gem, a summer house, or an annex. These meanings share a reference to triangular shape (like the wing of a butterfly, from which the word is derived). The piece reflects a similar geometry: most of the sections fan out or slant away from or toward an interval which serves as an apex. Each of the eleven intervals from minor second to major seventh plays such a role, and each is associated with a particular register of the flute. The minor third for example is heard as a very low tremolo, while at the climax the minor second is featured in the upper part of the flute's range.

First performance: 12 November 1991, Greenwich House, New York, NY; Friends & Enemies of New Music; Marilyn Bliss.

6:30  1991