Wind, Sand, and Stars
About the programme
This programme was inspired by the adventures and writings of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. On 30 December 1935, after flying for 19 and a half hours, Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic-navigator, André Prévot, crashed in the Sahara Desert during an attempt to break the speed record in a Paris-to-Saigon air race and win a prize of 150,000 francs. Both Saint-Exupéry and Prévot survived the crash, only to face rapid dehydration due to the harsh weather conditions. Their supplies consisted of some grapes, two oranges, a pint of coffee, and a half-pint of white wine. After a day without water, they both began to see mirages and experience auditory hallucinations, which were quickly followed by more vivid hallucinations. By the second and third days, they were dehydrated to the point that they stopped sweating. This near-death experience would feature prominently in Saint-Exupery’s memoir, Wind, Sand, and Stars and would go on to inspire Saint-Exupéry to write the timeless story of The Little Prince. The music chosen for this programme helps to represent different elements of the story, from the beauty of seeing the world from above - to the desperation of survival - and finally, the joyous return home.
Programme Notes
Birds was written by Dutch-American composer, Herman Beeftink for flute, alto flute, and piccolo. It opens with a motif that mimics a beckoning bird, who calls out to a sleepy, morning forest. The woods awaken; a second bird responds with its own short motif. When a third bird joins in, birdcalls develop into a birdsong. The three birds lively chirp from their branches, gradually developing a moving bel-canto melody, which leads into shadowy arpeggios and repeating patterns by the end of the movement. The birds fly, brewing adventure from thin air and excitement for their journey. This final movement opens with a harmony-establishing duet: the two birds reflect on the past, anticipating what change may come with their new destination. Arpeggios now grow in intensity and frequency; the birds are starting to flap their wings. The journey begins! The piccolo interjects with spontaneous, off-beat melodies and exclamations, adding even more thrill to the wonder they have undertaken. The movement ends with the same reflective and melancholic trio that began the action, as the long, tiring flight comes to an end.
NoaNoa was composed by Kaija Saariaho in 1992. She writes, “NoaNoa was born from the ideas I had for flute while writing my ballet music Maa. I wanted to write down, exaggerate, even abuse certain flute mannerisms that had been haunting me for some years, and thus force myself to move on to something new. I experimented with an idea for developing several elements simultaneously, first sequentially, then superimposed on each other. The title refers to a wood cut by Paul Gauguin called NoaNoa. It also refers to a travel diary of the same name, written by Gauguin during his visit to Tahiti. The fragments of phrases selected for the voice part in the piece come from this book. NoaNoa is also a team work. Many details in the flute part were worked out with Camilla Hoitenga. The electronic part was developed under the supervision of Jean-Baptiste Barrière and programmed by Xavier Chabot.”
Oasis (for tape) was made specifically for this project. I have always been fascinating by pieces that were composed to be used in a very specific context - not for a person in particular but instead for a specific event or concert. At this moment in the novel, Saint-Exupéry has been in the desert for several days now without water and is losing hope of survival. He is still having hallucinations but is slowly finding tranquility and peace as he approaches death. In Oasis, I wanted to make something not entirely concrete in order to ask the listener - is what he is seeing real…or is it all just a mirage?
Debussy wrote his Trio Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp in 1915 and represents one of his last completed works. Debussy had originally planned to compose a set of six sonatas for various instruments, but was only able to complete three (this Trio Sonata, one Cello Sonata, and one Violin Sonata) before passing away in 1918. The sonata’s second movement, cast in the form of a minuet, strongly evokes the “secret of gracefulness and emotion” that Debussy sought in the music of the past. Debussy marks the melody to be played piano, dolce, semplice (soft, sweet, and simple.) A faster middle section, in 4/4 time and marked Poco più animato (slightly more animated) suggests the Far Eastern influence on French art and culture in the early twentieth century. The character of this music is elusive: though it appears to be joyful, the ensemble’s gossamer timbre lends it a wistful air. Such passages bear witness to Debussy’s comment of the sonata’s character as “terribly melancholy—should one laugh or cry? Perhaps both at the same time.”
Ibert's brief but brilliant Entr'acte is one of his most well-recognized works and a direct product of his love for Spanish literature and music. In 1935 Ibert wrote incidental music for a French production of Pedro Calderon's El médico de su honra. The entr'acte of that music was published that same year for flute or violin and guitar or harp. It has been transcribed for and recorded with many other instruments since its original publication. It opens with a breathless, whirling dance with propulsive accompaniment, inspired by flamenco guitar music. The opening is then repeated after the briefest of pauses, the music vividly calling to mind a dancer as he or she improvises a variation on the theme. That image of an animated dancer, showing off his or her footwork, continues in the following serenade-like solo for the guitar. That, in turn, leads into a cadenza for both instruments and a final, brief statement of the theme, ending, so obviously, with the dancer's arms in the air and a final stamp of the feet.
Performers
Elizabeth Salerno is an American flutist and piccoloist currently dividing her time between Antwerp and Copenhagen. As an orchestral musician, Elizabeth substitutes in several orchestras including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DR Symfoniorkester), Royal Danish Orchestra (Det Kongelige Kapel), Copenhagen Philharmonic, Esbjerg Ensemble, Malmö Opera, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, and worked as acting second flute in the Malmö Symphony Orchestra during the 2022-2023 season. Elizabeth has been a student of Ulla Miilmann at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen since 2018 and currently studies piccolo with Peter Verhoyen at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. In 2022, Elizabeth helped to found Klima Klang (Climate Sounds) after experiencing the severe flooding effects climate change has had on her hometown. Through this project she hopes to inspire others and help build a better future for our planet.
Ángela Sanfélix Tarín was born in Valencia and began studying flute and percussion in the music school of her hometown. F0r her Bachelor of Flute, she studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música 'Salvador Seguí' de Castelló with Josefina Martínez and the Conservatorio statale di musica 'A. Corelli' with Stefano Parrino. During this time, she also finished her professional studies in percussion with Sergio Izquierdo. She went on to study her Master of Musical Research at the ‘Universitat Politècnica de València’ and later her Master of Flute at KASK & Conservatorium / School of Arts Gent with Myriam Graulus, Karin de Fleyt, and Dorine Schade. She has performed with several ensembles including Músicos sin Fronteras, Jove Orquestra Intercomarcal, Joven Banda Simfónica de la Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunitat Valenciana, and the Jove Orquestra Simfónica de la Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunitat Valenciana, where she was also part of the recording of four CD’s. As a piccoloist, she has also participated in the semifinals of the 2022 Severino Gazzelloni Competition and in 2023 won 3rd prize in the 8th Flauta Aurea Competition. Currently she is studying her Master of Piccolo at the Royal Conservatory Antwerp with Peter Verhoyen, Anke Lauwers, and Blaz Snoj.
Eva Vennekens was born in Herentals, Belgium and started to play the flute at the age of 8 years old with the Suzuki Flute method with Machteld Van Geenhoven. Her professional career started in Brussels in the flute studio of Professor Frank Hendrickx and went on through Germany where she studied under the guidance of Professor Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann, and then all the way to Pittsburgh (USA) where she studied with professor Jeanne Baxtresser. During her studies she received important influences from Henrik Wiese, Alberto Almarza and Lorna McGhee. Eva frequently plays in orchestras in Belgium and the Netherlands including Brussels Philharmonic, Het Residentie Orkest, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. At the moment Eva is finishing her Educational Master in Piccolo with Professor Peter Verhoyen in Antwerpen and she is sharing her passion as a music teacher and flute teacher at the Academie in Deurne.
Sarah Miller is a British flute and piccolo player based in Antwerp, Belgium. She has been the second flute with piccolo of the Brussels Philharmonic for two years, and has been newly appointed as the solo piccolo of the orchestra of La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels. Always on the lookout for projects, Sarah is currently assisting in the writing of a new piccolo method book series by Peter Verhoyen, has joined the team of the International Piccolo Flute Academy, and is preparing a new series of piccolo recordings. Her first album Taken Voice, for piccolo, piano and narrator, will be released in the summer of 2024, and the Paganini Piccolo Project is a creation of interviews and videos surrounding Paganini 24 Caprices. She also enjoys commissioning and performing new works for the piccolo, and is currently preparing new pieces by celebrated composers Matt Smith and Paul Goodey. For more information, see Sarah’s Youtube channel or website at sarahmillerpiccflute.com. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys drinking coffee, avoiding cooking wherever possible, and loves to travel.
Davide Paolillo is an Italian composer based in Bruxelles. He studied Jazz Piano with Franco D’andrea at Civica Scuola di Musica C.Abbado in Milan. Then he continued his studies at the Conservatorio di musica G.Verdi in Como where he began to study composition with Vittorio Zago and simultaneously obtained a degree in Electronic music. Between 2020 and 2021 he attended the advanced composition course held by Salvatore Sciarrino at the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena. In 2023 he graduated “magna cum laude” from the Master in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp where he studied under the mentorship of Wim Henderickx and Bram Van Camp. He’s currently enrolled in the one-year course at the Institute of Sonology of the Royale Conservatory of The Hague.
Davide attended masterclasses both as Jazz pianist and as composer with musicians such as Dave Liebman, Gerald Cannon, Caludio Fasoli and composers such as Ivan Fedele, Giovanni Verrando, Marcus Weiss, Clara Iannotta and Klaus Lang. Interested in sound’s physical aspect and on the composer-performer relationship, his compositional practice finds its base on the direct experimentation on the instruments through use of everyday object, preparations, deformation of the instrument’s physicality and use of electronics and amplification. His works include chamber music pieces from solo instrument to ensemble, multimedia installation and multichannel electronic works, as well as performing as electronic and sound artist.
Through his experience he had the opportunity to collaborate with different artists and art institutions such as Quartetto Prometo, Paolo Ravaglia, Matteo Cesari, HERMESensemble, BL!NDMAN collective, Ensemble XXI, S.A.E Institute of Paris, Centre Herni Pousseur (BE), HISK Institute (BE) and Musica Impuls Centrum (BE).
Jenna Vergeynst is a Belgian harpist and bio-engineer based in Ghent. She holds a Masters’ degree in harp at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, where she studied with Miriam Overlach, and a PhD in bio-engineering. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Covestro Symphoniker, Cordae Lysis, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Continuo, Jemoo, Camerata Con Corde and with several vocal ensembles. She is founding member of harp duo Vireo and of the cocreation collective Cusk, and plays violin in tango quintet Tanguera. Her main focus is contemporary music, including repertoire such as Schafer’s The Crown of Ariadne, Berio’s Sequenza II, Maierhof’s Splitting 9, Saariaho’s Fall and Aperghis’ Fidélité. In 2015, she was selected for the International Harp Contest in Israel and in 2019 for the USA International Harp Competition. In 2023, she won a first prize in the Collegium21 competition in Paris, as well as the prize Marius Constant and a special prize for the interpretation of Aperghis’ Fidélité.
