Small quartet movements

Originally, the pieces set for four flutes were 12 Minuteries or meticulous "clockworks" by Swiss flutist and composer Walter Feldmann were only intended for a 12-tone crash course at a grammar school, but are now also very popular in performances of flute quartets. The composer describes the pieces as "small clockworks that demand the greatest precision, but are also playful and humorous" and also notes in the preface that they are "simple ideas and contrasts that develop more and more into quite confused structures, ascending chromatically from piece to piece from the starting note B to Bb, whereby the epilogue, as the actual 13th minute, must start from B again".

The miniatures move through the ascending opening notes and are very different in character. They also vary in total length between 25 seconds and 2:30 minutes. Feldmann uses a large color palette of shades and expressive content: "Espressivo" begins the collection with the first minute series, which makes a beautiful beginning. The second one flits along nimbly in triplets and trills. In the third minute series, entitled "Bedächtig", elegiac timbres develop from the c-sharp unison, which fan out and return to the initial tone, whereas the fourth, "Sehr rasch", is very lively. In the fifth, the composer uses "aeolian" tones to great effect for the first time: only air without sound. Similar to the third, the long sixth minute unfolds from a recumbent note and is largely kept in the piano range. In contrast, the next "Scharf herausfahrenend" begins with accents. In the eighth, Feldmann effectively mixes voices with normal tones without vibrato and voices with an airy sound. Wandering triplets and selectively dabbed chords also provide variety in the last few minutes. The twelfth ends fluently and without vibrato.

The collection is very rich in nuances and it is also possible to play only individual movements, as these vary in difficulty from easy to very demanding. Thanks to their colorfulness and wit, the 12 Minuteries are a great enrichment to the quartet literature.

Walter Feldmann: 12 Minuteries for 4 flutes (2013), playing score CV 16.332, € 49.80, Carus, Stuttgart