McDowall Crossing the Bridge for Flute Choir Score & Parts (BWP)

Instrument: 8 or 10 flutes (score and parts)

Grade: slightly difficult

The work is scored for piccolo, 4 flutes in C, 2 alto flutes and bass flute. The score includes optional parts for both the contra bass and contra alto flutes.

Crossing the Bridge is a work for flute choir in three movements which are all to do with different bridges: Mostar, London Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge. Each movement captures a different quality – Mostar, with its middle European folk feel and falling phrases; London Bridge, a playful, fragmented presentation of the well known, London bridge is falling down; and Brooklyn Bridge, an energetic, high octane work, bringing the whole work of 11 minutes to an upbeat finish. The title, Crossing the Bridge, comes from a Haiku by the Scottish poet Alan Spence:

Crossing the bridge –

the other side

is lost in mist.

The work was commissioned by the National Flute Orchestra with financial support from the Birmingham Flute Commission, the British Flute Society, the Birmingham Flute Choir and Phoenix Flutes (Didcot) and individual sponsors. The first performance was given by the National Flute Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Bell, on 27 February 2011 at the Birmingham Conservatoire, England. The work is dedicated to four of the leading flautists and teachers who had a great impact on British flute playing in the twentieth century – Geoffrey Gilbert, Gareth Morris, John Francis and Harold Clarke (Cecilia’s father).

… Mov 1 – Mostar • Mov 2 – London Bridge – Crossing to America • Mov 3 – Brooklyn Bridge