About Sonitudes
Sonitudes, written in December 1970 by Robert G. Hughes (1933-2022), was commissioned by Gene Hambelton as a Christmas present for his wife Patrice, an accomplished flutist, and for his son Craig, a talented cellist. The first movement unfolds with a quasi-Japanese “kokko” rhythm and supine koto position of the cello played with a drumstick. The rhapsodic second movement features the cello; the third movement “Serenade,” the most complicated section, demands great care in the synchronization of the free-sounding cross rhythms. The final “Caprice” is a technical tour de force for the flutist. Due to the time required to master the flute part, the piece has the aspect of an “etude,” yet the extension of its sonorities by the cello make it a serious concert piece, a “sonorous etude,” and, hence its title, Sonitudes. The work will be performed by Stacey Pelinka on flute and Leighton Fong on cello. Sonitudes is paired with other works that extract maximum power from small forces.
Photo of the composer at Bellagio Center.
