California Guitar Archives

The Essay for Flute and Guitar was composed by Theodore Norman (1912–1997) in 1957 for Dutch guitarist Pieter van der Staak. It is a single-movement twelve-tone work in the form of a nocturne and requires advanced skills from both players. There are many changes of meter and mood throughout the brief work. Norman had studied composition with Adolph Weiss, one of the only US musicians who had studied twelve-tone writing with Schoenberg, and had performed in concert with renowned flutist Arthur Gleghorn.