La Flute de Pan - Jules Mouquet

Jules Mouquet, a French composer, studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Theodore Dubois and Xavier Lecroux and became Professor of Harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1913. His works were mostly influenced by the late Romantic and Impressionist composers. La Flute de Pan for flute and piano or flute and orchestra is his most notable work.

La Flute de Pan is an excellent example of a neoclassical work directly influenced by Greek mythology. Pan is the legendary god of the shepherds with the body of a goat a human. In one story, Pan chased a nymph named Syrinx because she ran away before he could give her any compliments. He chased her to a riverbank, where she transformed into reeds. All Pan could do was take some of the reeds and make an instrument out of it, which is why he is commonly associated with the flute. In the 1st movement of the sonata, “Pan et les bergers” (“Pan and the Shepherds”), there is an energetic but pastoral quality where flourishes of notes evoke images of a shepherd’s busy day in the mountains. The 2nd movement, titled “Pan et les oiseaux” (“Pan and the Birds”), depicts a solemn setting with the occasional bird call ringing through the air. Finally, in the 3rd movement, “Pan et les nymphes” (“Pan and the Nymphs”), an upbeat dance breaks out with a balance of technical and lyrical passages, painting a scene where the mythological spirits of nature folic and dance in the woods.

I dedicate Jules Mouquet’s La Flute de Pan to my many friends, mentors, and teachers, who I will attempt to list: 

Brad Allen, John Benzer, David Bertman, Dr. Steven Bryant, Kelsey Garagnon, Eddie Green, Joe and Cathy Grzybowski, Dr. Julie Kastner, Franz Anton Krager, Lindsey Langford, Mr. John Mackey, Noe Marmolejo, Robert Mayes, Cory Meals, Dr. Seth Morris, Kevin McNulty Jr., the Neugent family, Dr. Howard Pollack, the Puckett family, Sara Raviotta, Melissa Suhr, Dean Surface, Dr. Betsy Weber, Marion West, and Carrie Young.

Thank you for your everlasting support, determination, hard work, and love throughout my high school and college careers. You have been my sole reason and inspiration for pursuing music and music education. You have taught me so much more than just notes on a page or how to play my flute. You’ve taught me what music really stands for and how to communicate that with others. You’ve given me the tools I need to be successful in not just my future career, but for life in general. And for that, I am eternally grateful to every single one of you and will always consider you my dearest friends, mentors, and role models. Thank you so much for investing so much of your time, effort, friendship, and support for me and I hope that, one day, I can make you proud. 

La Flute de Pan- Mouquet III. Pan Et Les Nymphes

La Flute de Pan- Mouquet II. Pan Et Les Oiseaux

La Flute de Pan - Jules Mouquet

Jules Mouquet, a French composer, studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Theodore Dubois and Xavier Lecroux and became Professor of Harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1913. His works were mostly influenced by the late Romantic and Impressionist composers. La Flute de Pan for flute and piano or flute and orchestra is his most notable work.

La Flute de Pan is an excellent example of a neoclassical work directly influenced by Greek mythology. Pan is the legendary god of the shepherds with the body of a goat a human. In one story, Pan chased a nymph named Syrinx because she ran away before he could give her any compliments. He chased her to a riverbank, where she transformed into reeds. All Pan could do was take some of the reeds and make an instrument out of it, which is why he is commonly associated with the flute. In the 1st movement of the sonata, “Pan et les bergers” (“Pan and the Shepherds”), there is an energetic but pastoral quality where flourishes of notes evoke images of a shepherd’s busy day in the mountains. The 2nd movement, titled “Pan et les oiseaux” (“Pan and the Birds”), depicts a solemn setting with the occasional bird call ringing through the air. Finally, in the 3rd movement, “Pan et les nymphes” (“Pan and the Nymphs”), an upbeat dance breaks out with a balance of technical and lyrical passages, painting a scene where the mythological spirits of nature folic and dance in the woods.

I dedicate Jules Mouquet’s La Flute de Pan to my many friends, mentors, and teachers, who I will attempt to list: 

Brad Allen, John Benzer, David Bertman, Dr. Steven Bryant, Kelsey Garagnon, Eddie Green, Joe and Cathy Grzybowski, Dr. Julie Kastner, Franz Anton Krager, Lindsey Langford, Mr. John Mackey, Noe Marmolejo, Robert Mayes, Cory Meals, Dr. Seth Morris, Kevin McNulty Jr., the Neugent family, Dr. Howard Pollack, the Puckett family, Sara Raviotta, Melissa Suhr, Dean Surface, Dr. Betsy Weber, Marion West, and Carrie Young.

Thank you for your everlasting support, determination, hard work, and love throughout my high school and college careers. You have been my sole reason and inspiration for pursuing music and music education. You have taught me so much more than just notes on a page or how to play my flute. You’ve taught me what music really stands for and how to communicate that with others. You’ve given me the tools I need to be successful in not just my future career, but for life in general. And for that, I am eternally grateful to every single one of you and will always consider you my dearest friends, mentors, and role models. Thank you so much for investing so much of your time, effort, friendship, and support for me and I hope that, one day, I can make you proud. 


La Flute de Pan- Mouquet I. Pan et Les Bergers

Serenade No. 10 - Vincent Persichetti

An American composer, educator, and pianist, Vincent Persichetti was most known for his integration of new compositional ideas into his own works and teaching and training many notable composers at the Juilliard School, including Philip Glass, Robert Witt, and Lowell Liebermann. During his height as a composer, the nation was split between two musical styles: the traditional Common Practice and the new rising experimental music, which is represented in his music from simple diatonicism to complex atonality.

His Serenade No. 10 for flute and harp is comprised of 8 movements, each evoking styles from other times. The 1st movement is very grim and Copland-like. The 2nd is reminiscent of a Baroque dance with percussive strums from the harp. The 3rd movement is a kind of canon with a flowing melody. The 4th is a simply-stated aria, and the melody in the 6th movement is accompanied by typical harp runs normally used for orchestral color.

Serenade No. 10- Persichetti IV. Andante cantabile

Serenade No. 10- Persichetti VI. Scherzando

Serenade No. 10 - Persichetti III. Andante grazioso

Serenade No. 10- Persichetti II. Allegro comodo

Serenade No. 10 - Vincent Persichetti

An American composer, educator, and pianist, Vincent Persichetti was most known for his integration of new compositional ideas into his own works and teaching and training many notable composers at the Juilliard School, including Philip Glass, Robert Witt, and Lowell Liebermann. During his height as a composer, the nation was split between two musical styles: the traditional Common Practice and the new rising experimental music, which is represented in his music from simple diatonicism to complex atonality.

His Serenade No. 10 for flute and harp is comprised of 8 movements, each evoking styles from other times. The 1st movement is very grim and Copland-like. The 2nd is reminiscent of a Baroque dance with percussive strums from the harp. The 3rd movement is a kind of canon with a flowing melody. The 4th is a simply-stated aria, and the melody in the 6th movement is accompanied by typical harp runs normally used for orchestral color.


Serenade No. 10- Persichetti I. Larghetto

The Seal Lullaby - Eric Whitacre, arr. Victoria Hitz

Eric Whitacre, Grammy-winning American composer and conductor, is one of today’s most popular and frequently-performed composers. In London, United Kingdom, his current residence, he is Composer-in-Residence at Sidney Sussex College, made his first iTunes Festival with the Eric Whitacre Singers, and has recorded many albums, including Water Night and Light & Gold, the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Choral Recording. He has also collaborated with Hans Zimmer on the Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides film score.

In the Spring of 2004, Whitacre was recommended by legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell) to write music for a Disney animated feature. The creative executives wanted to make an animated film based on Kipling’s “The White Seal,” a beautiful story where, in the beginning, the mother seal sings softly to her young pup (the opening poem is called The Seal Lullaby). Unfortunately, production fell through as the executives decided to make “Kung Fu Panda” instead. Originally scored for SATBB and piano, I arranged this piece for flute choir with great ease; the instrumentation nearly lining up perfectly with the voice parts. The words appear in the original poem by Kipling as follows:
	
“Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us,
At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow,
Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas!”

I dedicate this performance of Eric Whitacre’s The Seal Lullaby to my #1 supporters: my family. I don’t know how I can thank you for all that you have done for me. You have only ever wanted the best for me and from me, and without your constant support, encouragement, and love, I would never have been able to do the things that I have been able to do. All I can say is thank you for choosing me almost 22 years ago to be your daughter and sister and giving me a chance of a lifetime. 사랑해. Je t’aime. Ich liebe dich. Meow. I love you.


The Seal Lullaby - Whitacre arr. Hitz

Vocalise - Sergei Rachmaninoff, arr. Quinto Maganini

As one of the leading late Romantic composers in music history, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s wide variety of works are some of the most performed selections to date. With influences of Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, his personal style was most noted for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness, and his use of rich orchestral colors. As a virtuosic pianist himself, his works featured the piano and explored the expressive elements of the instrument.

Composed and published in 1915, Vocalise is the last of his “Fourteen Songs,” Op. 34. It was originally written for high voice (soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment and dedicated to soprano Antonina Nezhdanova. There are no words for the vocalist, so it is sung on a single vowel to the vocalist’s choosing. Since its publication, there have been many arrangements of this piece done, including arrangements by Rachmaninoff himself.


Vocalise - Rachmaninoff, arr. Maganini

Romanze - Max Bruch, arr. Mark Sparks

Max Bruch, a German conductor and composer, wrote his first piece at the age of 9, a song for his mother’s birthday. From then on, music became his passion, writing nearly 200 works, including 3 violin concertos that have since become staples in violin repertoire.

Originally written for viola and orchestra, Bruch’s Romanze is well known in the viola repertoire. This piece was written for Maurice Vieux, the principal viola player at the Paris Opera and Conservatoire orchestra and, apparently, Bruch loved writing for instruments in the similar range as the viola: clarinet, cello, French horn, etc. As its name suggests, it expresses a romantic mood and can be used to describe both vocal and instrumental works, creating a lyrical mood and character.

I dedicate this performance of Max Bruch’s Romanze to my Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi, my Little Sisters: Shanda and Ireland, and my Little Brother: Jessica. My dearest Brothers: words cannot express how thankful I am to have you all in my life. I would most definitely not be the person I am proud of today if it had not been for each and every one of you. We’ve had our times, the good and the bad, but I would never trade any of the memories I have made with my Brothers for anything in the world. I love you all and forever AEA. To my Littles, I am so proud of the young women you have become and I am, and always will be, honored to be called your Big Brother. I will always love you with all of my heart.


Romanze - Bruch, arr. Sparks

Victoria Hitz is in her third year of teaching, as well as her third year as Associate Director of Bands at T.A. Howard Middle School. In the past two years, Ms. Hitz’s ensembles have received consistent “Sweepstakes” ratings at UIL, and Superior ratings and “Best in Class” at the Sound Waves Music Festival in New Braunfels, TX. Most recently, the Howard Symphonic Band received 3rd Runner Up (4th place overall) at the 2018 Beach Within Reach Music Festival in Haltom City, TX.

Ms. Hitz received her Bachelor of Music Education at the University of Houston and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2015. During her time in Houston, she studied flute with Houston Ballet and Opera Orchestra flutist, Melissa Suhr, and was a member of the internationally-recognized Moores School of Music Wind Ensemble, where she performed with the ensemble at the 2012 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, IL.

Ms. Hitz is a native of Keller, TX, where she was a flute section leader, Drum Major, President of the Keller Central High School Marching Band, and principal flute of the Keller Central High School Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Kevin McNulty. She is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Women Band Directors International, Phi Kappa Phi, the Golden Key International Honour Society, and Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity.

Victoria Hitz

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