Montreal Courtyard 2

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

courtyard-2Hilary Taggart, Sundown

There is a short delay for the flute to come in for a second recording that I made in this charming courtyard in Old Montreal. You can use the 20+ seconds to listen to the quiet hush of the place, subdued city sounds in the distance, and perhaps imagine yourself tucked in to this enclosure, in behind the shops and a gallery where a reception is underway. Listen carefully and you might hear the gentle cooing of pigeons as well, bearing in mind that these would be Montreal pigeons, not boring old Toronto pigeons!

As it was getting late in the day with the temperature and grey light beginning to fade, Sundown by Hilary Taggart seemed fitting. It can be a tricky piece to find just the right tempo, and as I listened for the gentle resonance of the courtyard, I started out a little on the slow side. Mid-way through the piece a shop owner off to my right caught my eye through a rear window of his store, and we exchanged a friendly wave as I played on valiantly. Just as I finished playing, a couple chanced into the courtyard and a short discussion in French ensued. It is the gentle reverberation of human voices - with me holding up my end of the conversation, I might add - that defines this wonderful acoustic space as much as the sound of my flute.

This piece is wonderfully Coplandesque, don’t you think?

Note:  I happened to have Hilary Taggart’s studies with me as part of a collection of Etudes being considered for the new RCM Flute Syllabus that I am currently working on with colleague Dianne Aitken. Taggart’s extensive output for flute players of all levels offers writing that is fresh-sounding and descriptive, full of wonderful imagery that cover a broad musical range – they are a natural fit for an expanded syllabus, and this study is currently listed for Grade 5.

The new RCM Flute Syllabus is due out in August, 2010.