Pictures of Miró

Tessa Brinkman & East-West Continuo

Paintings by the playful Catalan modernist Joan Miró (1893-1993), previously the inspiration for Bobby Previte’s greatest work to date, are also the muse behind Mark Fish’s more intimate 2004 Pictures of Miró scored for flute and string trio whose 11 movements total less than 20 minutes. In the fourth movement, “Girl Practicing Gymnastics,” the flute convincingly imitates a slide whistle before the trio launches a groove reminiscent of a Viennese waltz over which the flute cheekily intones a hook-filled melody.

In addition to being a highlight of Portland, Oregon-based flutist Tessa Brinkman’s exciting collection of recent music for flute and strings (with the widest interpretation here, there’s a track featuring a koto), Fish’s Miró pictures are also a great excuse to feature Geoffrey Fairburn’s gorgeous Miró-esque painting Eclipse II 1984 on the cover although I wish the CD booklet could have also reproduced the 11 Miró paintings that triggered Fish’s music. Since they didn’t, here’s a link to the Miró painting Girl Practicing Gymnastics.

—FJO