Pierre-Octave Ferroud wrote "Jade"- a tropical work for solo flute in July of 1921. There are two musical features in this Asian-styled French piece that give it its distinctly far eastern flavor. The first is the pentatonic scale-- the five pitches are tied to five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The second feature is a rhythmic one --the ever present dotted rhythms give the piece a bubbling dance quality. This is imaginative music so close your eyes and travel to a tropical beach with waterfalls, ancient canopied banyan trees, fluttering butterflies and the glittering jade colored sea...
Georg Philip Telemann, Fantaisie No. 12
Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Bergère Captive
Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Jade
All flute pieces performed by Karen Kevra
photo credit: Karen Kevra