Aria from the opera Bildbeschreibung for Bass Flute

This is an exciting tour de force for bass flute featuring a range of extended techniques, such as quarter tones, breath sounds, percussive articulations and various types of glissando and vibrato. Perhaps more unusual is the use of the voice, with the flute line interspersed by a narrated text in German by Heiner Müller. While the piece is challenging, the effort is worthwhile. Zubel's opera brings together focussed explorations of solo instruments, of which this is one, and the piece works very well as a standalone moment for solo bass flute. THere are other similar standalone pieces for a range of different instruments, taken from the work as a whole, including for contrabass flute, trumpet, cello and contrabass clarinet.

Through Zubel's writing we see the bass flute in several different guises - low and mysterious, airy and soft but also an instrument capable of impressive virtuosity and a uniqueley timbred high register, which is used sparingly but effectively. There is plenty of scope for a dramatic approach to this work, which could be highly effective within a recital context.

The piece was written in 2016 and first performed by Vera Fischer in 2018. Lasting aroudn 3 minutes (according to the composer's website, although some performances online take longer) it's an exciting addition to the repertoire which is well worth a look for advanced players.