Part 2, Peter’s Piccolo Party
DOUBLE STOP DUETS!
Frustrated that about all those LOVELY double stops in some of that wonderful violin music you’d love to play?
These duets are for you!
Passacaglia – J. Halvorsen
and
Sarabande con Variazione
– J. Halvorsen
They sound especially thrilling when played by two piccolos!
TONGUE TIP DANCE
Then there was a wonderful performance of a piece by Karlheinz Stockhausen, “Zungenspitzentanz”. One of those lovely squished together German words which means “Tongue Tip Dance”. It’s part of the opera “Licht” (Light). The performer, Karin De Fleyt, came swirling out of the background and continued to slowly dance around the stage, playing her piccolo by memory. To my surprise, I found the piece quite enchanting!
Later on, Karin gave a fascinating masterclass about the piece and some of Stockhausen’s music. She had worked and travelled with him for a decade or so. She said to give yourself a year or so to really learn it.
OBSESSION
I had a lovely conversation with the composer and soprano, Irma Bilboa who wrote a very arresting piece called “Obsession” for Piccolo. Peter Verhoyen will be publishing it in the near future, so keep your eyes open!
TAKEN VOICE
Chatting with Sarah Miller was another high point, especially when I discovered that she had not only helped edit Peter’s wonderful piccolo books, but that she had also commissioned and performed one of the most well received pieces at the National Flute Convention in Atlanta, Georgia last August,“Taken Voice” by Matt Smith.
This was a truly delightful piece, enchantingly narrated by Lucy Smith (Matt’s young daughter) about a bird who has it’s voice captured! The piece leads you down a “faery path,” with musical elements evoking mischievous piskies (pixies in Cornish?), traditional folk dances, and haunting melodies from the British Isles.
It was an enormous crowd-pleaser!
Here I am with Sarah at the Pub after the last concert:
FOR LEFTIES!
I had a very interesting conversation about Left Handed Instruments with Erika Uggowitzer who had just had a left handed piccolo made for her! She said that conventional instruments are designed for right-handed people which means that left-dominant musicians use a lot of extra energy to compensate. Check it out!
https://www.linksgespielt.de/en
A reminder
You don’t stop playing piccolo when you get old,
You get old when you stop playing piccolo!
Yours, overflowing with very high notes,
Nandin
P.S. If you know of anyone who would like to get my Newsletter, thanks for sharing!
Here’s the link:
Copyright (C) 2025 Nandin Music. All rights reserved.
