I'm a die hard classical music fan and my favourite opera is Mozart's The Magic Flute. Being 12 I dont exactly have many people aside from my Granda, Mum and Dad who likes classical music. I am a huge fan of The Magic Flute, I love it because of the fantasy, Egyptian theme. The music in it is elegant and emotional. Does anyone else feel this way??
This happened a while ago. I was working at a musical instrument store when feng shui was getting popular, and internet shopping wasnβt really a thing yet. One day I got a call from a lady asking for a wooden fluteβNOT a recorder, a flute. I asked how long sheβd been playing, and she said she didnβt. Hereβs the convo to the best of my recollection:
ME: Oh, OK. Well, wooden flutes are very expensive and are difficult to play, so I wouldnβt recommend that for a beginner. Weβve got some nice starter flutes I could show you in the store.
CB: No, Iβm not going to play it. I need it for my toilet. The feng shui in my bathroom is all wrong so I need to hang a wooden flute over my toilet.
ME: OK...I mean, I can order you a wooden flute. The cheapest model we sell is $2,500.
CB: WHAT?!? I canβt afford that. You said you had starter flutes? How much are they?
ME: They start at $150 but...
CB: Can I just pay that for a wooden flute? You can take all the keys and everything off for parts, I donβt need them.
ME: No, thatβs not how it works...
CB: If you canβt help then youβre missing out on the one time you would have my business, do you understand that?
ME: right, but Iβm sure you understand that we canβt take a $2,000 loss on a single sale...
CB: Well start with your commission then and see what you can do.
ME: ...yeah. Feel free to call up {competitor an hour away}, theyβre the only other ones around here who deal in professional-grade flutes. (Hangup)
Never did hear back from her.
Hello! I'm looking for flute solos (i.e. no accompaniment) that are written by non-White composers. I'm happy to learn (or at least listen) to any era/ time period.
Backstory rant (not as important): I'm East Asian, but I've become really tired playing and listening to "oriental" pieces that all sound the same (maybe because they were all written by White people). I've begun a new piece, and something about it just rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't place my finger on it until I realized that I felt like that it was taking stereotypical "oriental" themes. I don't know if it's for real or not, although I do know that she wrote a piece based on Native American music? And it's not like... a necessarily BAD thing to be influenced by other cultures. I think I just want to listen to a different perspective on non-Western culture from a non-Westerner. I don't know, I'm sort of rambling, I'm sorry if this makes no sense lol.
