Alone, conversations with oneself, for solo flute

Alone is the first work for solo instrument by composer José-Carlos Campos (b. 1957), written in 1982 while still studying at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima. With a declamatory style and a meditative atmosphere, the work is a result of motifs in continual transformation, portraying the transition of different characters in constant interaction, themes which the composer later resumes in his “Capriccio” for solo clarinet (1993).

With its prevailing ductile tempo, the work is presented as a dialogue between the soloist and his/her instrument. Each of the sections is associated with a specific expression and subjected to a series of tensions and distensions controlled by the interpretation and breath of the musician, making use of different modes of articulation.

While the piece is built on a melodic plan, the musical discourse suggests moments of diaphony, with the alternation of the voice of the soloist.

The work is structured into 5 main sections: an introduction which is undecided on the first axis-note (D), later confirmed on a wider range and then focused on the second axis-note (A flat) leading to a rhythmically open second section which contracts into a diatonicism returning to the initial axis-note. The third section, more recitative, is based on a climax of scale amplitude. The fourth section is the most demanding of virtuosity from the player for its variety of intervals; axis-notes are transposed a semitone higher, and the climax is reached with the intersection with the human voice as a fusion between soloist and instrument. The coda, more relaxed, presents a summary of the main elements and ends with the initial axis- note in a perdendosi with the breath of the performer.

Alone was premiered at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima in 1982, with soloist Petr Kotik (SEM Group New York).