(re)inventions for Flute and Cello [Playing score(s)]

I become quite excited when I find editions like this. There could always be more works for flute and cello available to play in concerts. This is the second printing of these collected arrangements by Mozart on which Eric Lamb (flute) and Martin Rummel (cello) have collaborated. Their desire is to make more music available, both historical and contemporary, in modern editions. This collection includes very early works for piano that are adaptable for flute and cello, having clear treble and bass lines. K1b, for example, contains some simple harmony in minuet style; the flute part becomes quite technical with nothing going above C3. The cello line keeps a simple pulse with some call and response gestures with the flute, and melody under quite long semiquaver passages. There is ample opportunity to work on ensemble playing, keeping pulse together and digital dexterity for the flute player. In fact, many of the arrangements from the keyboard pieces are great for making these beautiful, somewhat simple textures work musically. It’s a challenge for many musicians. K616 possibly looks ominous with the semiquavers, but it’s marked Andante, and offers a terrific chance to keep the pulse and play without losing time together. Tuning can also be an issue; it’s great practice to play this beautiful music together to fine tune the challenges of playing with good intonation.

Four pieces from The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) bookend the collection. I feel that these works show the progression of Mozart’s composition through his life (“…full circle…” as Lamb and Rummel wrote) and that it’s important to play music from his operas. These duos are very similar to the published flute duets that contain many arias and variations of melodies from this and other Mozart operas. It’s interesting to play them with cello instead. On one hand it helps with a development of colour to match and support the lower sounds in the flute; on the other, the soundworld created by the cello playing higher leaves me wanting more depth in sound of the cello rather than having the instrument playing in the realm of the flute. The pieces vary in length quite a bit. In general, the collection is a very pleasant one. It leaves me wondering who or what level this is aimed at: amateurs who like to play together of an evening or students who need to learn about ensemble playing … or professional groups in need of short, charming pieces for their programme. The print is clear, the pages are arranged so that there’s little worry for page turns, and the music lovely. This may lend itself to performing recognisable works of Mozart for pure pleasure.