Jan Pieter Sweelinck

Echo Fantasia

In older churches there were often two or more organs in different locations around the church. Antiphonal choral music often made use of the different locations, as did the antiphonal brass music of the Gabrielis in Venice. This echo fantasia made use of the different locations of organs, along with the different voicings of the organs, to create the echo effect. In this setting for flute choir, this fantasia provides an excellent way to use the different voices of flutes and an antiphonal positioning to achieve the same effect. It utilizes two choirs, one including piccolo, C-flute and bass flute and the other one utilizing C-flute, alto and bass flute. The C-fluteparts have several divisi passages, requiring two players, but the other parts can be performed with only one on a part, or several can be used on each part to achieve a more choral effect.