Album release of Beaugeais’ Last Flight of Saint-Ex
New album for 2025 International Women’s Day
Charisma Ensemble: Ros Dunlop (Clarinet), Julia Ryder (Cello), David Miller (Piano)
Diamond Quills is a double CD album featuring Australian women composers.
Concert Program Note
Last Flight of Saint-Ex (2016) for clarinet, cello and piano is inspired by the famous French writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) also known as Saint-Ex – author of the international bestseller Le Petit Prince.
In 1944, his plane crashed in the South of France. Sixty years later, wreckage of the plane was discovered off the coast of Marseille. It had probably been shot down by an enemy fighter, though the cause of the crash may never be known.
A fast, pulsating, rhythmic style governs this work. A feeling of urgency and unrest is created by complex syncopated rhythms, irregular metres and erratic dynamic changes. In the slow middle section, a feeling of sadness, pathos and grief is conveyed by a haunting cello solo. The final section builds to a loud and dramatic climax with rapid motivic figures and thick rippling textural sound mass effects, showcasing the technical capabilities of all players.
© Updated December 2024
MORE INFO about this piece and other variations for oboe & string quartet and sax quartet/sax ensemble:
https://www.newmusicblock.com/last-flight-of-saint-ex-for-chamber-ensemble/
