Nyman Flugelhorn & Piano

This piece was commissioned in 1991 by Graham Ashton for his album ‘The Contemporary Trumpet’. Quoting Graham Ashton: Michael Nyman wrote Flugel and Piano for me during a period when I felt his approach to the writing and recording of his music was changing quite considerably. I had given him very few guidelines as I did not want to restrict his writing. I knew the result would be a difficult piece, as Michael had often said he likes to hear the performer ‘fighting’ the instrument. Flugel and Piano is a fight for a couple of reasons: firstly, the flugel does not like being played in the key of D sharp minor, especially with a Trombone ‘bucket mute’ – unfortunately, this was all that I could find to fit over the larger Flugel bell; secondly, the Flugel enjoys being flat at the top register, making top Cs and Ds a nightmare! Michael’s reaction on hearing the recording was that he found the piece surprisingly emotional.