Voyage (from L'Invitation au Voyage)

(

1971

)

Arranged by the composer for flute and string orchestra (1983)
Soloist(s) and orchestra

Details

Category

Soloist(s) and orchestra

instrumentation

for flute and string orchestra

duration

8 minutes

commissioned by

premiered

James Galway, flute, with the London Symphony Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung, conductor; London, UK (November 22, 1983)

Program note

Voyage for flute and string orchestra (1983) is an instrumental version of a 1971 a cappella choral work that was a setting of Richard Wilbur's translation of Baudelaire's famous L'Invitation au voyage. Wilbur's poignant setting pictures a world of obsessive imagination — a drugged version of heaven full of sensual imagery. The music echoes the quality of the repeated refrain found in this lush translation: "There, there is nothing else but grace and measure, richness, quietness and pleasure."

– John Corigliano

Recordings

Flute for Relaxation

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John Corigliano: Creations

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