Inspired by upstate New York’s beautiful and notoriously haunted Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Dorff has created an atmospheric work for the rarely seen combination of two bass flutes and piano. Beginning with an expressive dialogue between the two flutes, the full range of the bass flute is explored in a gradual build into the third register through long and lyrical lines. The piano primarily acts to fill out the harmonies and provide chordal accompaniment to the various solo moments that pepper the piece. Sleepy Hollow is a fairly straight forward piece that allows effort to be put into creating varied tone colours in the bass flute which would really make the piece come to life. It is a welcome addition to the ever-expanding low flute repertoire.
Gavin Stewart
Inspired by a visit to upstate New York’s beautiful and notoriously haunted Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Dorff has created an atmospheric yet spooky work for the perfectly-suited scoring of two bass flutes and piano. Sleepy Hollow was commissioned by Wendy Stern and Peter Sheridan as a postscript to the composer’s Sonata (Spirit of the Hudson) (114-41890).
Performance duration (approx): 8'00
