Hansel and Gretel – Flute | Harp

Hansel and Gretel – Flute and Harp.

PROGRAM NOTES: Hansel and Gretel a 5-movement suite based on Grimm’s, Hansel and Gretel for Flute and Harp

1. Larghetto – two children and an evil stepmother
2. Andante – The Plan to Abandon the Children
3. Moderato – Lost in the Woods and the House Made of Gingerbread
4. Adagio – Lure, Disguise, and Awful Intentions
5. Andante – Escape and Happily Ever After

Mvt 1- 2’19 Larghetto – Two Children and an Evil Stepmother Very little to eat, a wife and husband worry over the lack of food to feed themselves and their children

Mvt 2 – 2’45 Andante – The Plan to Abandon the Children The wife tells her husband of a plan – to take the children into the forest, make them a fire, give them each some bread, and abandon them.

Mvt 3 – 3;11 Moderato – Lost in the Woods and the House Made of Gingerbread And so they set off together to collect wood. They lie down by the fire to rest. When they awake their parents have gone so they decide to wait for the moon to easily find their way home. Instead, they follow a snowy white bird and discover a house roofed with cakes.

Mvt 4 – 2’54 Adagio – Lure, Disguise, and Awful Intentions An aged woman comes out of the cottage leaning on a cane and leads them into the house. Thinking of the feast she shall have she locks up Hansel in a stable and demands Gretel cook something to fatten him up. Each day she visits Hansel to determine how fat he is, yet each day Hansel remains thin. The witch has the oven heated while Gretel kneads dough to make bread. She leans into the oven to see if it is hot enough.

Mvt 5 3’14 Andante – Escape and Happily Ever After Gretel pushes the witch into the oven! Oh, how frightfully she howls! She runs straight to Hansel telling him, “We are free! The old witch is dead!” They rejoice. In every corner stood chests of pearls and precious stones. Hansel fills his pockets. They journey for many hours. A duck helps them over the water. They enter the wood, and the way grows more and more familiar. Then they see their father’s house. As they enter their father tells them that their stepmother has died. The gems make them rich, and they live happily ever after.