Just Out!

Prepared as the closing piece for the 2023 National Flute Association Convention at the request of Ali Ryerson, Program Chair

At the turn of the twentieth century, several authors advocated the term Usona, or its nicer-sounding variant, Usonia, as a term for the United States. Derived from “United States of North America,” it avoided the ambiguity of the term America and possible confusion with the Union of South Africa. The name Usonia would be all but forgotten had it not been adopted by Frank Lloyd Wright, the most influential of American architects.

Wright’s Usonian houses expressed his vision for how man should live. They were ecologically-conscious efficient dwellings constructed largely of local materials whose designs and careful settings made them blend with the surroundings. The Usonian house, while modest and simple, was noble, artistic, individual, integral to the locale, one with nature, and strikingly compelling. It was in concert with its use, its place, its time, and itself. Wright not only designed such houses; he designed their furnishings, decoration, and lighting, their plantings, their yards, and even their towns and cities. The Wrightian design was harmonious at every scale. (Indeed, his “Broadacre City” took the concepts to the city level, though it was never realized.)

This piece began as a concert band fanfare for Montgomery Village, a planned community in Maryland, and was performed in that form by the Montgomery Village Community Band. It was then greatly expanded and scored for orchestra. At the same time, its meaning also expanded: Montgomery Village, like all planned communities, owes much to Frank Lloyd Wright’s picture of a town, and the architecture of Montgomery Village exhibits elements of his residential designs.

In its final form for flute orchestra, this piece is inspired by generalizations of Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision. It is meant to be uncomplicated, hopeful, and bold as it celebrates the ability to start afresh, the beauty of simplicity, the power of repeated and layered simple ideas to construct the most sublime, and the twin roles of individuality and community in all. It is, of course, very much an American piece.

Scored for piccolo, 4 C flutes, alto, bass, contrabass and optional percussion. Performance time: 6:15

Just Out!

Commissioned by Director Eileen Yarrison for the Flute Orchestra of Groton Hill in Celebration of their 40th Year

The ruins of Bancroft's Castle rest atop Gibbet Hill in the town of Groton, Massachusetts. When he began its construction in 1906, General William Bancroft had great plans, but his castle never got farther than a tower and a bungalow when his money ran out.

This piece imagines what fantasies General Bancroft might have entertained as he dreamt of his castle: the splendor, the majesty, the battles, the glory, the lost.

The Castle

High overhead, the weathered walls of the castle look down in condescension, their armament-pocked stones hold stories forgotten, stories of those who were born, thrived, suffered, and died within, their once-fearsome power no longer remembered. In the sharp wind, distant echoes of hoofbeats and drums.

The Losses

How many left for battle and never returned? How many ailments confounded the healers? How many dreams withered in these cheerless stone walls? Even the location, Gibbet Hill: Gallows Hill, speaks of loss. The walls may crumble, but the grief is immortal.

The Glory

Banners snap, sun glints from sword and armor, and the bonny pipes fill the lungs with anticipation and pride.

Scored for Piccolo, 4 C flutes, alto, bass, and contrabass (or second bass). Performance time: 7:30

Commissioned by DCflutes in Celebration of their Tenth Anniversary, Aaron Goldman and Sandra Ragusa, Conductors.

This piece describes the life of a river from inception to maturity. It begins with tenuous drops from melting ice, slowly forming into a brook that playfully dances around rocks and over bumps until it becomes a majestic and peaceful flow. The idyll is shattered by a raging waterfall, the erratic motion and anarchy and terror are gradually replaced by the exhilaration and then peace of motion and arrival. Finally, there is proud celebration in the power and accomplishment and future of the fully mature river.

The story of the river is a metaphor for all successful maturation journeys, of course—both those of people and those of institutions such as DCflutes, who find themselves at a point of reflection at this anniversary.

The composer was inspired to write this piece by his visit to Goðafoss, a waterfall of awe, beauty, power, and history, located near Akureyri, Iceland.

Scored for pic, 4 C flutes, alto, bass, and contrabass. Performance time: 7:20

Commissioned by Cassandra Eisenreich for the 2022 Slippery Rock University Honors Flute Ensemble

Shortly after Cassandra Eisenreich asked me to write a composition, I was invited to play in a jazz flute group, which was something of a departure for me. The group, which included a rhythm section in addition to the flutes, had a repertoire of bossa nova, samba, and jazz standards. I was immediately taken by the samba and bossa nova sounds and selections. Naturally, it inspired some writing, resulting in this piece, my flute choir foray into something approximating bossa nova.

Some adaptation was in order: one expects the chords and characteristic rhythm in bossa nova to come from a classical guitar or a piano; here it must be rendered by flutes. Can that work? And can flutes replace the seductive and mellow voices? You be the judge.

One cannot have such music without percussion, though the percussion instruments and rhythms I have chosen are not standard to the genre. I suggest bongos and shakers (or maracas or guiro) as accompaniment, and I offer simple patterns for each, though I encourage performers to go further, with relaxed improvisation.

Is this really bossa nova? Perhaps not, but it is bossa nova inspired, and is great fun.

Scored for piccolo, 4 flutes, alto, bass, and contra. The contra part is optional, but the piece benefits with coverage by a contra or another bass. Performance time: 3 minutes.

Commissioned by the West Michigan Flute Orchestra, Julie Sooy, Director.

We have all experienced a noisy vehicle going by rapidly and hearing a raised pitch as the vehicle approaches and a lowered pitch as it recedes. This Doppler shift manifests itself in light, as well: light from stars approaching us has its frequency raised, shifting it to the blue end of the spectrum; light from receding stars is shifted to the red. The title, then, refers to something passing quickly.

Blueshift Red is a happy jazz piece in a '50s style, with extended techniques used to give the sensation of things zooming by.

Scored for piccolo, 4 C flutes, alto, bass, and contrabass (and/or string bass), it is a little over 2 minutes of fun for performers and audience.

Land of Arctic Fire offers impressions of Iceland from the Metropolitan Flute Orchestra's concert tour there in July 2018. It entails 5 movements:

Just Below the Surface: Water, steam, lava all fulminate and explode through the thin crust.
Glacier: Vast, timeless, cold.
Cascade: Hundreds of thousands of tiny rivers cascade down hills and mountains into valleys and plains.
Valley Dawn: The green, riparian valleys are breathtaking.
Volcanics and Vikings: Grand, energetic, determined, old and new.

Forbidden Forest is a musical adventure story. Think of Indiana Jones. Our heroine must face many challenges: creepy, dangerous, fast moving, unknown. There are no accompanying words, so the event details are left to your musically-stimulated imagination.

"Beyond the Black Stump" is an Australian expression meaning "remote from civilization" or "in the Outback." This piece offers the composer's impressions of the Outback, attempting (in only a few minutes!) to convey the mystery, beauty, strangeness, and spirituality of this land that is the figurative and literal core of Australia. The Outback is a place of abiding expanse and sudden overwhelming storms, of silence and of avian cacophony. Accordingly, listen here for the atmosphere of ageless peace to be interrupted by the caroling of magpies, a violent thunderstorm foretold only seconds before by a few fat raindrops, and sounds of mystery and timelessness.

I May be Down, But the Jig is Up is a three-movement piece with a Celtic flavor:
The piece begins with Knox's Jig, a driving jig that passes the melody to every part, including piccolo and contrabass (simultaneously, at one point), keeping a strong pulse through to the fiery finish.

The middle movement is a wistful aire, She Walked This Valley, Once, with the full first theme expressed by a lonely piccolo echoing across a misty glen. The ensemble then takes up a second lamenting theme, then both are combined in a organ-like rendition, before ending with a quiet duet of piccolo and contrabass.

The piece ends with the upbeat jig, Here's Sunshine in Your Eye!, a light romp to send your audience out humming.

Is your concert an occasion for joy? Then open it with jubilant exuberance! Let Flute Joy! put everyone in the mood with giddy mixed meter euphoria.

This piece offers two unfettered vignettes from a morning ride in the Sierra mountains. The first, Descending Curves, revels in the freedom and adventure, exalts in the rush of wind and adrenaline, of the rapid winding road, away from all things manmade. The second movement, Peregrine, describes the grandeur and speed of the peregrine falcon's enthralling flight, its call echoing off canyon walls.

"Cohen does a fantastic job capturing this sentiment with a driving (contra)bass line of irregularly accented eighth notes, sparkling runs in the piccolo, and a playfully offbeat melody in the flute parts. ... Sierra Morning Freedom reminds me of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite in miniature (and flute-centric) form." - Nicole Riner, Flutist Quarterly, Spring 2018

"...Cohen uses driving rhythms, syncopation, mixed meter, soaring melodies and colorful harmonies to evoke the sights and sounds of the High Sierras." - C.B., Flute Talk, March 2018

NEW!

Legend of Llyn Llech Owain (Lake of Owen's Stone) is inspired by Sir Lewis Morris's poem Llyn Owain: A Legend of the Vale of Towy and the many other stories of the lake known as Llyn Llech Owain in Wales.

In the space of a few tentative heartbeats, longing rockets into the ecstatic effervescence of a new love, caroming from each gesture, whisper, reaction, then slowly calming in reveries only to ascend again.

Honorable Mention in the NFA 2017 Newly-Published Music Competition

"Cohen ... writes well for each instrument.... His writing is evocative, graceful, and interesting...." - Jessica Dunnavant, The Flutist Quarterly, Spring, 2017

Commissioned by Darrin Thaves and the Pacific Flute Ensemble for premiere at the 2016 NFA Convention.

Here are three vignettes from the outdoors: A Boy and His Tiger describes the childhood joy and freedom of a sunny Saturday morning spent looking for adventure and fun in the woods with a friend. Snow Falling on the Hawlings River describes a peaceful moment as I hiked along the Hawlings river in Maryland and watched big flakes of snow settling silently into the winding water. The Pine Squirrel Tarantella was inspired by the tiny pine squirrels found in the high country of The Rockies. While squirrels can dance as the group with great gusto and quick motions, the result is not necessarily in synchrony.

Finalist in the NFA 2016 Newly-Published Music Competition

Here are adrenaline-filled impressions of new love: incandescent glances, scintillating touches, crushing miscues, soaring daydreams. The piece begins with the exhilarated She Smiled At Me - Twice!, an exuberant celebration shouting joy to the whole world presented in alternating meter. But joy is stopped cold by to the dark blue Oh, She Has a Boyfriend..., in which the flutters of rapture turn to the buzzings of despair. But all is made right with the final movement, She Loves Me!, a rollicking jig happily interrupted by warm daydreams.

"This whimsical and charming composition would be an excellent addition to a flute choir program and is likely to elicit smiles from all involved." - D.B.S., Flute Talk, April 2016

Bomb down the open highway in your shades, playing jazz with some tight chords. Flute 66 takes your audience on a classy road trip where cool jazz meets the big band sound. All parts are interesting, important, fun, and just a little challenging. Play it straight off the paper and it swings.

Far out in space, the only indication of man's existence is the occasional passage of long-forgotten signals, the dit-dit-dit dah-dah-dah dit-dit-dit of an SOS. But space is not empty. The dance of the unknown and unknowable would be both rhythmic and cacophonous if we could but hear it. Play Deep Space Heat Wave and gambol in the cosmic whirl.

"It is exciting, mysterious. There is suspense and anticipation.... I can see the old mansions, the various spirits reassembling in their elegant but tattered diaphanous garments, gliding from room to room, preparing themselves for their grand masked macabre ball that is to come... followed by their dancing and their ultimate dispersal and sudden flight as they disappear into the ether." - Serge Paul-Emile

Inspired by the many spirits of New Orleans and premiered at the New Orleans NFA Convention.

This piece expresses the joy, energy, and darting interest that exude from young children. From the beginning, the music happily careens between exuberant speed and flowing exaltation, eventually accelerating as it crashes into an all-to-brief naptime before plunging again into breathless abandon. Feel the joy!

"The music itself bubbles with Cohen's delightful wit and colorful instrumentation. A nice characteristic of his music is the fact that the third and fourth flutes do not have to feel like neglected children. There are also sections that feature the low instruments. This is a jolly engaging work, fun to put together and sure to interest the audience." - A.B.R., Flute Talk, October 2013