Varied and stimulating A new recital from Flute Force - reviewed by PATRIC STANDFORD '... a major performer and inspiration for composers ...'

I have always found something particularly soothing and erotic about music for an ensemble of flutes, and the new recital from Flute Force does not disappoint. The four players involved are Wendy Stern, Sheryl Henze, Gretchen Pusch and Rie Schmidt, between them playing everything from the smallest to the largest. The quartet gave its premier recital back in 1985 at Carnegie Hall and received Musical America's well deserved accolade 'four top-quality players in a perfectly balanced and expressive ensemble'. They still live up to it. What is more, they have produced a varied and stimulating programme for this Eyewitness CD which features the music of five very different composers, three of whom are themselves internationally known flautists.

The CD takes its title from the most exploratory piece in the recital, Robert Dick's 1990 two-movement work in which there seems to be nothing omitted that flutes can be made to do [listen -- track 11, 0:40-1:23]. It is a tour-de-force of multiphonics, whispertones, tongue stops of the Chinese tradition, multiple tremoli and the breathy evocative sounds inspired by the Hindu bansuri or vamsi from Rajasthan, northern India [listen -- track 11, 2:45-3:44].

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