Similar to the piano piece Für Anna Maria, the solo flute miniature Estländler was also ‘commissioned’ by a young girl who was studying flute at the time. It was completed for the birthday of a girl called Frauke, an elementary school classmate of the composer’s older son Immanuel. The piece found its final and more developed form in 2006, for a sheet music collection for solo flute titled Flute Project and published by Universal Edition in 2007. The collection was initiated by four flutists from four prestigious orchestras (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra). In cooperation with Universal Edition, solo flute compositions were commissioned from five different compose…
Similar to the piano piece Für Anna Maria, the solo flute miniature Estländler was also ‘commissioned’ by a young girl who was studying flute at the time. It was completed for the birthday of a girl called Frauke, an elementary school classmate of the composer’s older son Immanuel. The piece found its final and more developed form in 2006, for a sheet music collection for solo flute titled Flute Project and published by Universal Edition in 2007. The collection was initiated by four flutists from four prestigious orchestras (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra). In cooperation with Universal Edition, solo flute compositions were commissioned from five different composers. A new version of the piece, for solo violin, dates from 2009 and was published by Universal Edition’s similar collection for solo violin.
The work has received its title and dance-like character in ¾ meter from the Austrian folk dance, Ländler, but with the play on words – Est and Länd(l)er – the composer makes a reference to his homeland Estonia (or Estland, in German).
