Whitwell, Craig: The Inverness Collection, for unaccompanied flugelhorn

A very long-time and dear friend, Stephen Ruppenthal, asked me about something for flugelhorn. So we fashioned this collection of five pieces from pieces originally found in the Poetics for trombone. The title came about due to our personal relationships with that wee town on the coast of northern California, Inverness. I have liked the flugelhorn for a long time, and I’m glad to have found the opportunity to make something for it. These pieces are, for me, personal. They are concentrated and have what I like to think of as “internal assonance”. Musically, they should be approached with an appropriate elasticity of tempo.

These pieces may be played individually, together as a set, or mixed and matched at the performer’s discretion.

Craig Whitwell, born 1948, Santa Rosa, California. Began playing professionally in high school. BA, San Jose State University, studying trombone with Bob Szabo. MA, University of Pennsylvania, studying composition with George Crumb and Richard Wernick. Developed a long career in software engineering and didn’t compose during that time. Recently retired and began writing music again, picking up where he left off, for unaccompanied trombone, but branching out a bit here.