Shanna Pranaitis - Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf: Flute Music (2020)

The flute has a special place in Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf's oeuvre. What attracts him is its particular virtuosity, agility and ease in crossing large sonic spaces. He was still a student when he composed the alto flute solo "coincidentia oppositorum" (1986) and the flute solo "succolarity" (1989). From the "Angelus Novus" cycle, "La terreur d'ange nouveau" (1997-99) turned out to be a significant, substantial flute work. Then Shanna Pranaitis began performing Mahnkopf's flute music. This led to a cooperation that spawned the three most recent pieces: the solo for piccolo "Kurtág-Cantus II" (2013), the duo "Finite Jest" (2014) with the soprano Frauke Aulbert, and the solo for bass flute "atsiminimas" (2016). Together, these six pieces cover the entire flute family.