Dear Prudence, won’t you come out to play a new work by Ian Munro inspired by Mozart’s concerti and Australian folk tunes?

Work Flute Concerto
Composer Ian Munro
Scored for Flute and orchestra
Commissioned by Prudence Davis
Premiere November 17, 2016
Performers Prudence Davis, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Dale Barltrop


When I was asked by my dear friend Prudence Davis to write her a concerto to play with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, I immediately knew that it was something I had perhaps always wanted to do. Prue is both one of the loveliest flute players in the country and one of the loveliest people I know. The piece should, I knew, reflect her warmth and superb instrumental artistry, as well as attempt to embody ideas we both share and value.

My earliest memories of Prue’s playing are of Mozart’s glowing, transparently scored concerti, full of youthful invention and sheer melodic delight. They and their piano concerto companions provide a model for what a concerto might be, still, and I have written a work that seeks to learn from Mozart’s light interplay of ideas while looking to more contemporary, local sources for musical material.

That musical material has come largely from my...