She Looked Becalmed by Malcolm Smith


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She Looked Becalmed for flute and piano (1997) 3'33"

The title is a phrase from chapter 9 of Stafford Beer's wonderful novel Chronicles Of Wizard Prang. I liked the image of being adrift on a vast ocean, although the music's many arpeggios perhaps conjure up more swirling seas with bubbling undercurrents.

It was written for Heaven Lens from April 1996 until 1997 and inspired by a wonderful winter walk I took in the snowy parklands of Hatfield House while fasting, my delicate state emphasising and delighting in the beauty of the vast open spaces. Not surprisingly, it is an unashamedly Romantic piece showcasing the flute's lyrical qualities floating over a sea of polyrhythmic piano arpeggios, and features jazzy upbeats and African 2:3:4:6 rhythms to keep the players on their toes and the audience tapping theirs. A notable feature of the flute part's final joyous melody is that the first four notes can be played by just moving the little finger, although perhaps alternate fingerings sound clearer.

I subsequently wrote a variation for piano alone called "She Looked Again", which is one of my Night Studies.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 LicenceThis work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 LicenceThis work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 LicencePlay/Download "She Looked Becalmed" (1'46" excerpt) [2MB .ogg file]

Tags: Romantic

[Recorded 2000-08-16 18:00 in Seminar Room 1 at Dartington using AKG C1000S mics into Tascam DA-P1 portable DAT recorder]
{Flute - Laura Hemsley; Steinway upright piano - Malcolm Smith}

This recording is OK but not ideal since I'm playing an upright piano (albeit a good Steinway one, thankfully in tune). Sadly I had to fade out this take just before my piano playing totally fell apart. We only did two further takes, the second dying again and the third had so many piano errors that I'm too embarrassed to post it here! This is a shame since the ending is the best bit, but hopefully it will be an incentive for me to find a flautist and re-record it.

[Scores (and maybe one day more recordings) will eventually be available]

Your feedback is appreciated (but no need to bother asking "Where are the MP3's?")


This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike v3.0 Licence © The right to copy is left with the user copyleft Malcolm Smith 2004-12-17 - last updated 2011-04-26