Louis Karchin

Flute and Harp

Composer's Note:

In conceiving a work for a program celebrating Madame Helena Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical movement, and her link to the Dutch painter, Mondrian, I found myself focusing on the life and times of this courageous pioneering philosopher. In the 19th century, it must not have been so easy for a woman to start a philosophical movement, and a philosophical institute to go with it. I decided to focus Quest on the struggle for acceptance that must have inevitably occurred, and to that end, I gave the two instruments specific identities. The flute represents Madame Blavatsky, and the harp the "crowd of doubters' surrounding her. The two instruments make their "statements' in various ways, trying to convince the other, but in the end, the flute persuades and calms the harp, and they share a final, tranquil duet. Quest was written for a concert of the Plurimo Ensemble of Venice, Italy, at the invitation of the composer and pianist Letizia Michielon.