Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Sonata in A minor for flute alone

Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Sonata in A minor, Poco adagio

There are never enough hours in the day for me to do everything I want to do. This summer I am torn between composition, painting, and the flute. I have been devoting more time to flute lately, bringing my chops up to speed for upcoming auditions. I hope to connect with other musicians in New York and New Jersey this fall in chamber and orchestral settings.

Please click on the above link to hear my rendition of one of my favorite pieces in flute literature – Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonata in A minor for flute alone. This sonata inspired a poem I wrote last year entitled Beautiful is the Mention of Your Name which I am reprinting here.


Beautiful is the mention of your name
Lovely is the shape of its sounds
But were it not for the language
My lips would call upon it still
With velvety timbres of golden sunrises
And soft whispers of hisses and shimmers

With every breath the muse soars
On swirling currents of warm air
The fingers tremble and thirst
For a touch of the sacred mystery
A glimpse of your longing
That fills my breast
From beyond the grave
And springs up life and desire

Say not that you love me
For love is a torment of poets
But shelter me under the weeping arches
That you may weep through me
And wrap me in strings of pearl butterflies
That I might unravel your passion

Fill me to overflowing
Play me to overfilling
Beautiful is the mention of your name
Karl Philipp Emanuel

©2008 Dosia McKay

More of my flute performance excerpts can be found at http://www.dosiamckay.com/flute