Flute Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 8 (Flute and Piano)

Flute Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (Flute and Piano Reduction) Op. 8. by Otar Gordeli, Published by Progress Press.

The Flute Concerto by the Soviet Georgian composer, Otar Gordeli (b. 1928), is a delightful example of melodic virtuoso writing – one might be tempted to call it the modern Slavic counterpart to the Chaminade Concertino, with a touch of Gershwin. The Gordeli Concerto first became known in the United States through a recording by the Russian flutist’ Alexander Korneyev on Monitor (MC 2030), and has achieved great popularity. The concerto is in one continuous movement with contrasting slower Iyric sections somewhat reminiscent of Gershwin. The piano reduction is by Basii Kyriakou, and the duration is 13 minutes. The Gordeli Concerto has just been reissued on Monitor CD 72030 titled A Modern Russian Concerto Festival.

Georgian Composer Otar Gordeli (1928 – 1994) wrote this Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 8 in 1958 for Alexander Korneyev. This bright and sunny work reminds me of Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue meets Shostakovichs Festive Overture, with a jazzy harmonic language and a pointed rhythmic backbone. This is one of the more approachable pieces on this list of top 19 Flute Concertos, and one that uses 20th century language with recognizable melodic content and without overly thick harmonies.

This Piece made it onto our list of The 19 Best Flute Concertos Not by Mozart.