Duration: c. 3½'
AVAILABLE from your favorite sheet music dealer or direct from Presser.
YOUTUBE by Chastine Hofmeister
PROGRAM NOTES
In February 2011, I had been stuck for months trying to start the last movement of Perennials. One afternoon I sat down at the piano only to unwind and stop trying so hard, and this unrelated piece seemed to dictate itself spontaneously, straight through to the end. I wasn't thinking about a specific instrument, it was just a solo line that started and continued. At some point, I decided it should be for solo flute, and maybe transposed for other instruments.
I needed a title for this little album leaf; it reminded me of some of Schumann's piano miniatures, so it became "Schumannesque Longing" for a minute and then got shortened to just "Schumannesque." The next morning, I still liked this little sketch so I sent the pencil draft to flutist Cindy Anne Broz. She loved the music but thought the title was way off because the music has nothing to do with Schumann, and everything to do with my slow movements which are often daydreamy and inspired by nature. Cindy combined those two thoughts and suggested WOODLAND REVERIE, which felt perfect.
The flute edition has a cover photo from where the Perkiomen Creek (near my home) runs parallel with my favorite bicycle trail.
My own woodwind playing gravitates to bass clarinet, and transcribing WOODLAND REVERIE down to the clarinet's F Major sweet spot gave me something to play myself that's ideal for working on expression, phrasing, and intonation. The bass clarinet edition has cover art photographed a few miles further up the Perkiomen Trail.
Please feel free to play this on any wind or string instrument.
REVIEWS (of Flute version)
"This gentle work sounds like a summer daydream, with its rising lines, legato passages, subtle embellishments of the main theme, interesting but not jarring contrasts, and generally meandering feel. It is not technically demanding but contains many delightful opportunities for expression."
– Flute Talk magazine (Diane Boyd Schultz), March 2012
"This short mood-setting piece would work well for
intermediate student-level sight-reading, for students learning to
discover their own internal pacing for expressive playing (perhaps as a
precursor to more sophisticated material like Syrinx), or simply
for any flutist searching for contemplative expressions of natural
landscapes."
– The Flutist Quarterly (Cynthia Stevens), Spring 2012
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