Contribution to understanding the repertoire of flute music written after 1950 through analysis under the main aspect of variations on Densitiy 21.5 by Edgard Varèse and Élégie pour flûte by Marc-André Dalbavie

Abstract

less structured than the preceding periods in music history. To research music of the 21st century, a bridge must be first built from the already known research results of repertoire written around the time of World War II to the not so well-known end of the 20th century. Two works for solo flute are used for this purpose: Densitiy 21.5 by Edgard VARÈSE written in 1936/1946 and Élégie pour flûte by Marc-André DALBAVIE written in 1990. The analysis, with a special consideration of the use of variation in these pieces, shows that the further development of the soundscape of the flute is contested in compositional terms through the extreme use of flute tones themselves (for example notes in the fourth octave) and variable elements found in the small elements like intervals or rhythmics. The detailed examination of the previously unexplored work Élegie pour flute by DALBAVIE shows that a further development of the sound aesthetics is not achieved primarily through variable elements in the composition itself, but through variable elements in the sound structure that are used on bigger elements like whole phrases: extended techniques on the flute. The comparison of the two works presents the soundscape transformation in the flute literature between 1946 and the end of the 20th century which clearly differs in the use of variation. It is a progression away from the use of purely note-related elements towards an aesthetic that has a tonal and effective expression through the sound design of the flute.