This year’s National Flute Association Convention saw the premiere of Michael Torke’s Daffodils for flute and piano. Commissioned by Emily Skala for the occasion of Bonnie Boyd’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” Tribute Concert, it was premiered on August 12, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada as part of the NFA’s annual convention.
The title refers to Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Act IV, Scene 4:
“…daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.”
The band world constantly embraces new literature, but there is a surprising dearth of strong works for the earlier grades. To meet that demand, Michael Torke has created The Torque Series. Each work in this series is approximately 4 minutes long, at a grade 4 difficulty level, yet still filled with the color and vitality of Torke’s well-known and often performed orchestra works. The first works that are available are:
They can be played individually or together in any combination. Click here to see the instrumentation for each title.
The premiere performance of the Torque Series was given by the Midwest Young Artists Honors Wind Symphony, James Ripley, conductor, on May 5, 2013 at Bennett Gordon Concert Hall, Ravinia, in Highland Park, IL.
