International Up Close: Josh Batty and Lowell Liebermann

Since leaving his post as Principal Flute of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Josh Batty has set out to expand what the flute can do, commissioning new music from composers in Australia, the UK and North America.

Among them is a second flute sonata from American composer Lowell Liebermann, who accompanies him in the Primrose Potter Salon for this International Up Close performance. Liebermann’s first Flute Sonata, written in 1987, became one of the most frequently performed in the flute repertoire, and Batty counts it among the defining works of his life. Its sequel arrives nearly forty years later.

Alongside it come two centuries of music for the flute. Schubert’s variations on his own song ‘Dried Flowers’ ( Trockne Blumen ) turn a heartbroken lover’s lament into a showpiece. Schumann’s Three Romances were first written for the oboe, and Sibelius’s Scaramouche lifts a flute solo from a tragic pantomime. Together with Frank Martin’s Ballade, these works show just how expressive the flute can be.