The Flute as a Landscape: Fish are Jumping at Glendale Shoals

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Robert Dick is known for his work mapping previously unexplored sonic possibilities of the modern flute, from multiphonics to vocalizations. His work for flute alone, “Fish are Jumping”, was titled based on lyrics from “Summertime” in George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. The title provides imagery of the piece's essence, written to mimic fish jumping in a summertime pond. Dick combines the virtuosity found in classical music and an affection for jazz and blues to create a well-rounded blend of sounds often unheard of in classical training. 

Rather than a physical place, Robert Dick uses the modern flute as a landscape. Below are his instructions for the techniques used in Fish are Jumping:




If we think of the flute as a landscape, then the mechanisms of the keys are a source of percussive rhythms and the breath becomes the current of a flowing stream of water. The score itself serves as a map. Unlike how Gershwin translates Charleston's landscape to music, Fish are Jumping realizes a jumping fish by harnessing the sonic possibilities of the flute.



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