Two dances for flute and harp from Peter Maxwell Davies' ballet Caroline Mathilde.A new instrumentation restores this linked pair of dances from Davies's second full-length ballet Caroline Mathilde based on the story ofthe eighteenth-century British princess sent in marriage to Denmark to the eighteenth-century milieu of the work's setting and musical world. The period manners - a gavotte in the first dance a gigue at the start of the second -are typically overlaid with the composer's Scottishness. In general the harp has an accompanying role but it comes forward alone in the second movement which ends with bravura from both instruments.These two dances were firstperformed in September 1993 at the Northlands Festival by David Nicholson and Eluned Pierce.Score and flute part. Duration c. 5mins.Harp part edited by Elune Pierce.

A dreamlike and evocative work from Peter Maxwell Davies for flute and orchestra. The piece captures the wonder and sanctuary of the composer's home surrounded by seabirds and seals that fire the imagination in childlike ways evoking images of mermaids and angels. Descriptive and inventive orchestral colours support and illuminate the flute solo material that is both tranquil and highly virtuosic. The piece was first performed in May 1999 at theRoyal Concert Hall Dublin.

Piccolo and Piano Reduction. This work was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was first performed on 23 April 1997 by Stewart McIlwham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer. Thethree movements should be played without a break.The piccolo may have obvious limitations as a solo instrument but Davies is not one to shirk a challenge. What he does is to play with the stereotypical modes of the instrument so that the military ?pipe and drum? effect is hinted at near the beginning of the third movement while the jaunty manner is recalled at the close of the first but as through a veil. A potentially comic partnership with the bassclarinet is also dignified when the two instruments engage in meditative dialogue in the second movement.Duration c. 15 minutes.Study Score on sale. Conductor's score and orchestral parts are available on hire.