20th century
Baroque
Classical
Romantic
20th century
21st century
Solo repertoire
Piccolo
Alto flute
Bass flute
Amram David
Aitken, Robert
Amirov, Fikret
Amlin, Martin
Amram, David
Andriessen, Jurriaan
Arnold, Malcolm
Arrieu, Claude
Auric, Georges
Babbit, Milton
Bacchus, Peter
Bacri, Nicolas
Baker, Michael Conway
Baksa, Robert
Barber, Samuel
Barrere, Georges
Bartók, Béla Viktor János
Baton, René-Emmanuel
Beaser, Robert
Bennet, Richard Rodney
Berg, Gunnar
Berio, Luciano
Bernofsky, Lauren
Bernstein, Leonard
Bloch, Ernest
Bolling, Claude
Bon, Maarten
Bonis, Mel
Boughton, Rutland
Boulanger, Marie-Juliette
Boulez, Pierre
Bourdin, Roger
Bournonville, Armand
Bowen, Edwin York
Bozza, Eugène Joseph
Bréville, Pierre
Brings, Allen
Brotons, Salvador
Brown, Elizabeth
Brun, Georges
Burkhard, Willy
Burton, Eldin
Büsser, Henri
Camus, Pierre
Carmichael, John
Carter, Elliott
Casella, Alfredo
Chaynes, Charles
Clarke, Ian
Colgrass, Michael
Colquhoun, Michael
Copland, Aaron
Corigliano, John
Cortese, Luigi
Currier, Sebastian
Dahl, Walter Ingolf Marcus
Damase, Jean-Michel
Davidovsky, Mario
De Lorenzo, Leonardo
Debussy, Claude
Del Tredici, David
DeLaney, Charles Oliver
Delerue, Georges
Denisov, Edison
Dèsbriere, Jacques
Dick, Robert
Dinicu, Grigoraș
Dodgson, Stephen
Dohnányi, Ernő
Dubois, Pierre Max
Dukas, Paul
Durey, Louis
Dutilleux, Henri
Enescu, George
Farkas, Ferenc
Feld, Jindřich
Ferroud, Pierre-Octave
Flothuis, Marius
Folio, Cynthia
Foote, Arthur
Foss, Lukas
Françaix, Jean
Fukushima, Kazuo
Gade, Jacob
Gál, Hans
Gaubert, Philippe
Genzmer, Harald
George, Thom Ritter
Ghidoni, Armando
Gieseking, Walter
Glass, Philip
Glière, Reinhold
Golovin, Andrei
Gordeli, Otar
Grier, Lita
Griffes, Charles Tomlinson
Grinblat, Romuald
Grovlez, Gabriel
Guarnieri, Mozart Camargo
Gubajdulina, Sofia
Hahn, Reynaldo
Hailstork, Adolphus
Halphen, Fernand
Hanson, Howard Harold
Harberg, Amanda
Harbison, John
Harsányi, Tibor
Harty, Hamilton
Heiss, John
Heith, David
Henze, Hans-Werner
Higdon, Jennifer
Hindemith, Paul
Holliger, Heinz
Holmboe, Vagn
Honegger, Arthur
Hoover, Katherine
Hosokawa, Toshio
Hovhaness, Alan
Hüe, Georges Adolphe
Hurel, Philippe
Ibert, Jacques
Ichiyanagi, Toshi
Ittzés, Gergely
Ives, Charles
Jacob, Gordon
James, Bob
Jemnitz, Sándor
Jirák, Karel Boleslav
Jóhannsson, Magnús Blöndal
Jolivet, André
Jongen, Joseph
Karg-Elert, Sigfrid
Kay, Ulysses
Kelterborn, Rudolf
Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis
Kennan, Kent Wheeler
Kennedy, Martin
Kernis, Aaron Jay
Khachaturian, Aram
Kocsár, Miklós
Kodaly, Zoltan
Koechlin, Charles
Kornauth, Egon
Kraft, Leo
Krzywicki, Jan
Kupferman, Meyer
La Montaine, John
Lauber, Joseph
Lavista, Mario
Lee, Eugene
Leeuwen, Ary van
Levinson, Gerald
Liebermann, Lowell
Loudova, Ivana
Mack, Dieter
Mahler, Gustav
Maresz, Yan
Martin, Frank
Martino, Donald
Martinů, Bohuslav
Meltzer, Harold
Messiaen, Olivier
Mihalovici, Marcel
Milhaud, Darius
Mouquet, Jules
Mower, Mike
Muczynski, Robert
Nielsen, Carl
Norby, Erik
Nordenstrom, Gladys
Offermans, Wil
Olsen, Carl Gustav Sparre
Paget, Daniel
Perle, George
Petrovics, Emil
Piazzolla, Astor
Piston, Walter
Poulenc, Francis
Prokofiev, Sergey
Rachmaninoff, Sergei
Ran, Shulamit
Raphael, Günter
Rautavaara, Einojuhani
Ravel, Maurice
Reynolds, Verne
Riegger, Wallingford
Rivier, Jean
Rodrigo, Joaquin
Rota, Nino
Rotaru, Doina
Rouse, Christopher
Roussel, Albert
Rutter, John
Saariaho, Kaija
Sancan, Pierre
Schmidt, Ole
Schocker, Gary
Schulhoff, Erwin
Schwantner, Joseph
Sciarrino, Salvatore
Shostakovich, Dmitri
Sibelius, Jean
Smit, Leo
Tailleferre, Germaine
Takemitsu, Tōru
Taktakishvili, Otar
Tansman, Alexandre
Tomasi, Henri
Tower, Joan
Uébayashi, Yuko
Varèse, Edgar
Vasks, Pēteris
Weigl, Vally
Weinberg, Mieczysław
Wilder, Alec
Williams, Ralph Vaughan
Yi, Chen
Yun, Isang
Zgraja, Krystof
"Zohar" for solo flute
"Zohar" for solo flute
David Amram: "Zohar" for solo flute was written in 1971 and dedicated to Samuel Baron, the legendary American flutist and founding member of the New York Woodwind Quintet. Baron was a frequent collaborator with Amram and a champion of his "Middle Eastern" inflected wind music. The piece was premiered by Samuel Baron in 1972 in New York City.
The title Zohar (Hebrew for "Splendor" or "Radiance") refers to the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought (Kabbalah). In 1971, Amram was exploring his Jewish heritage through a musical lens, seeking to translate the "ecstatic" and "incantatory" nature of ancient Hebrew prayer into the solo flute.
In 1971, Amram was deeply immersed in his role as the New York Philharmonic's first Composer-in-Residence (appointed by Leonard Bernstein in 1966). By 1971, he was traveling extensively, studying the musical traditions of Brazil, the Middle East, and Kenya. Zohar captures this "nomadic" spirit, blending Jewish liturgical cantillation with the improvisational freedom of jazz.
1971 was also a year of reflection on his collaboration with the Beat Generation (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg). The "free-verse" rhythmic style of Zohar is a direct descendant of the spoken-word-and-jazz sessions Amram pioneered in the late 1950s.
Karen McLaughlin Large (flute), 2019, 2001, Blue Griffin Recording / Orchard
Zohar
Amram David
David Amram (1930) is an American composer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist who pioneered the fusion of jazz, classical, and global folk traditions.
Born in Philadelphia, Amram was raised in a culturally vibrant environment that valued both academic rigor and artistic exploration. His father, a farmer and attorney, encouraged his early interest in the French horn and piano. He began his formal studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music but moved to George Washington University, where he earned a degree in European History. Following his service in the U.S. Army, he settled in New York City. There, he pursued his Master’s studies at the Manhattan School of Music, studying composition with Vittorio Giannini and Ludmila Ulehla.
Amram’s most significant "upbringing" occurred in the jazz clubs of Greenwich Village. He became a close collaborator of Jack Kerouac, participating in the first ever jazz-poetry readings in New York City. This improvisational background became the bedrock of his compositional voice. In 1966, Leonard Bernstein appointed Amram as the New York Philharmonic's first Composer-in-Residence. This landmark appointment solidified his standing as a bridge between the "uptown" academic world and the "downtown" jazz scene.
Amram’s style is characterized by a "limitless" inclusivity, his music is polyglot, seamlessly blending Middle Eastern modes, Celtic melodies, and Native American rhythms with Western symphonic structures. He is highly regarded for his cinematic scores, most notably for "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) and "Splendor in the Grass".