Karel van Steenhoven

Head Wind

'Head Wind' is a story about movements of the air, wind, inhaling and exhaling and their relations to the sound of the flute. The work has been conceived as a duet with a fan: During the performance, the fan generates a flutter-tongue-like tremolo in the flute sound, scatters or hides sounds or even destroys them when they hit the labium of the flute. With his/her own movements on the stage, hand gestures or body postures, the player him-/herself can cause effects and perform the music theatrically. However, the music has been composed independently from the use of a fan so that it is a perfectly convincing solo piece, even without the latter.