Julie Johnson, Flute & Rena Kraut, Clarinet

Recorded live by Eric Struve in Sundin Music Hall, St. Paul, MN

I first became interested in these traditional Irish tunes in my late teens and early twenties. The theme of young love unsurprisingly appealed to me; this unstoppable force, with its intense highs and lows, was a nearly constant source of both amusement and agony in my life and the lives of everyone around me. I loved the way the melodies held nothing back when expressing extreme emotions. I arranged them into a suite for flute and clarinet that I played with my sister in a recital at Augsburg University in Minneapolis in 1998 or ’99. My memory tells me that we performed in vintage floral dresses and bare feet.

I came back to my compositions more than twenty years later. When looking over my handwritten scores, I was struck by what my younger self both did and didn’t know about composing—and life. I was excited to add some new depth and insight to this age-old theme. In its new form, some of the suite’s tunes are very close to their original versions while others are completely revamped. I wrote two versions, one for flute and clarinet and the other for two flutes. The difficulty level varies from tune to tune. My hope is that intermediate and intermediate-advanced players (middle school/ high school) can pick and choose which ones they’d like to master, and that higher-level players will enjoy embarking on the full—sometimes thorny, sometimes blissfully simple—journey that love takes us on.

Sheet music available for download here: https://julieflute.net/product/873995

Julie Johnson is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

I first became interested in these traditional Irish tunes in my late teens and early twenties. The theme of young love unsurprisingly appealed to me; this unstoppable force, with its intense highs and lows, was a nearly constant source of both amusement and agony in my life and the lives of everyone around me. I loved the way the melodies held nothing back when expressing extreme emotions. I arranged them into a suite for flute and clarinet that I played with my sister in a recital at Augsburg University in Minneapolis in 1998 or ’99. My memory tells me that we performed in vintage floral dresses and bare feet.

I came back to my compositions more than twenty years later. When looking over my handwritten scores, I was struck by what my younger self both did and didn’t know about composing—and life. I was excited to add some new depth and insight to this age-old theme. In its new form, some of the suite’s tunes are very close to their original versions while others are completely revamped. I wrote two versions, one for flute and clarinet and the other for two flutes. The difficulty level varies from tune to tune. My hope is that intermediate and intermediate-advanced players (middle school/ high school) can pick and choose which ones they’d like to master, and that higher-level players will enjoy embarking on the full—sometimes thorny, sometimes blissfully simple—journey that love takes us on.

Sheet music available for download here: https://julieflute.net/product/874007

Julie Johnson is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.