Peter Maxwell Davies

Strathclyde Concerto No. 6 for Flute and Orchestra

The solo flute here is kept in high profile by the absence from the orchestra not only of other flutes, but also of violins and oboes; in addition, the trumpets are used sparingly (they do not, for instance, play in the slow movement), so that for much of the time the flute is playing against a mellow ensemble of clarinets, horns, bassoons and low strings. If this is, nevertheless, one of Davies's most open-spirited pieces, that comes partly from the ready flights of the soloist, partly from its glockenspiel accompaniments in the outer movements (replaced by ticking claves in the Adagio), partly from the dancing character of so much of the music, and partly from the harmonic clarity, in a light region not far from C minor.