moonrise
(1998)
Solo flute
"Moonrise (1998), the earliest piece recorded here, is a haunting and beautiful work for solo flute that manages to be both melodic and percussive, sometimes at once, sometimes by turns. The music makes extensive use of key clicks on the flute, which bring to mind castanets or some non-western hand-held percussion instrument, effectively offsetting the langorous quartertone melodies. Sometimes the long melodic phrases cadence unexpectedly in noise (air sounds on the flute), which triggers further rhythmic punctuation from the key clicks. The effect is of a soloist essentially engaging in a dialogue with himself, as though in a dream state or in a nocturnal state of wakefulness. The music became linked in McGowan’s mind to a photograph by Ansel Adams which he had seen some time previously, feeling it captured exactly the same mood as the music; he had however forgotten the title of the photograph, which also turned out to express the atmosphere ideally and became the title of the piece. Moonrise is one of the rare solo pieces ever selected as a finalist in Amsterdam’s Gaudeamus competition for new music."
- Bob Gilmore
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Score available from Donemus Publishing
Finalist Gaudeamus Prize, 1999