Three Sheets to the Wind is a three-movement work for advanced high-school, pre-college and professional flute quartet, commissioned by Dan Parasky for the 2022–2023 Parasky Flute Studio’s Ab-So-Flutely Amazing Quartet: Nia Hanington, Lacey Pribanic, Anna Oin and AJ Schmidt.

It was an important piece for me compositionally: my first flute quartet, my first multi-movement work, and, at around 9 minutes, the longest piece I had written at that point.

The three movements are very different in character:

BOUNCE – cheeky, irreverent and rhythmically playful
SOAR – ethereal, ecstatic and yearning
RUN! – fast, unstable and slightly frantic

Although the writing is demanding, the quartet is not built around one solo voice with three accompanying parts. The musical material is constantly passed between the players, so everyone gets moments of activity, responsibility and character.

As with much of my ensemble writing, the principle is simple: every player should feel engaged and stretched, but nobody should feel overwhelmed.

Quick details

• Flute quartet in three movements

• Duration: approximately 9 minutes

• Overall level: Advanced High School / Pre-College and above

• Flutes 1 & 2 carry the more demanding material

• Flutes 3 & 4 are deliberately somewhat more accessible

• All four players have active, conversational roles

• Flute 4 may alternatively be played on Alto Flute

• Also available as a Flute Quintet version: 3 Flutes, Alto Flute & Bass Flute

• Extended techniques include Explosive Articulation, Tongue Pops and Residual Tone

• Premiered in Pittsburgh in April 2023

• European premiere in Katowice, Poland, November 2023

• Since performed internationally by student and professional ensembles

Instrumentation & player levels

Original Quartet Version

• Flute 1
  Advanced – Advanced High School / Pre-College

• Flute 2
  Advanced – Advanced High School / Pre-College

• Flute 3
  Upper Intermediate to Advanced – Strong High School / Pre-College

• Flute 4
  Upper Intermediate to Advanced – Strong High School / Pre-College
  May alternatively be played on Alto Flute (part can be downloaded below)

The first two parts generally carry the stronger technical demands, while Flutes 3 and 4 are somewhat more accessible.

But the distinction is not one of soloists versus accompaniment.

The quartet is written as a conversation. Musical ideas, rhythmic figures, melodies and effects continually move around the four players, so everyone has something meaningful to contribute rather than simply supporting Flute 1.

Quintet Version

A separate version is also available for:

• Flute 1

• Flute 2

• Flute 3

• Alto Flute

• Bass Flute

This expands the colour and range of the original quartet and gives the music a fuller low end while retaining the character of the original three movements.

Why Three Sheets to the Wind?

The title is really just a bit of wordplay.

It is a work in three movements, and while I was looking for a title I briefly considered Troika, another reference to a group of three.

But Three Sheets to the Wind made me laugh more.

There is no particular nautical narrative and nobody is required to perform it drunk(!!)

It is simply a playful English expression built around the number three, which seemed suitably irreverent for a piece whose first movement is called Bounce.

I. Bounce

Bouncy, playful, cheeky, irreverent, rude, boisterous and fun.

Bounce lives largely in 6/8 and has a very physical rhythmic energy.

One of its characteristic gestures is a series of huge crescendos compressed into the space of a single beat, creating sudden, slightly shocking bursts of sound.

There are also cascading passages passed rapidly around the quartet. They take some care to coordinate, but once they lock together they are enormously satisfying both to play and to hear.

Extended techniques include:

• Explosive Articulation

• Tongue Pops

The ending is one of my favourite details in the whole work.

Instead of arriving at a conventional final chord, the quartet enters an open repeat and gradually fades further and further into the distance, with little fragments of explosive articulation disappearing with it.

The idea came from hearing Emmanuel Pahud perform the D major Telemann Fantasy. Rather than allowing its ending simply to stop, he repeatedly played the final phrase more and more quietly until it seemed to vanish.

I loved the theatrical effect and stored the idea away.

In Bounce, that fade-out almost invariably gets a little laugh from the audience.

II. Soar

The second movement inhabits a completely different world.

Soar is ethereal, ghostly, ecstatic and deeply expressive.

Long, reaching melodic lines pass between the four players over a shifting, wave-like accompaniment built partly from Residual Tone.

The music continually seems to be reaching upwards: yearning, intensifying and trying to escape gravity.

When I first heard the movement performed, I was actually surprised by how effective it was. I hadn’t been able to attend the world premiere, so hearing the completed piece live for the first time was a rather wonderful moment.

If Bounce is about wit and physical energy, Soar is about space, colour, yearning and release.

III. Run!

Then we run!

The final movement is essentially a straight dash in 7/8.

The uneven metre creates a constant feeling of instability. The music is fast, energetic, slightly frantic and always pushing forward, as though everyone is chasing something that remains just out of reach.

The asymmetry of the 7/8 keeps the ensemble perpetually a little off balance, which is exactly the effect I wanted.

After the disappearing ending of Bounce and the suspended world of Soar, Run! does the opposite.

It drives relentlessly towards a big, emphatic finish.

ABSOLUTELY no fade-out this time!

A compositional challenge

Writing Three Sheets to the Wind was a significant challenge for me.

I love writing large, thick, colourful, jazzy harmony, and suddenly I had only four voices to work with.

Not only four voices, but essentially four treble voices, with the whole ensemble confined largely above middle C.

That limitation forced me to think differently about harmony, texture and the way musical information is distributed between players.

Instead of relying on the huge vertical sonorities available in a flute orchestra, the piece needed to create richness through voice-leading, rhythmic interaction, colour and conversation.

That restriction was frustrating at times, but ultimately became one of the most interesting things about writing the piece.

And the result feels, to me, considerably more substantial than simply three short quartet movements placed next to one another.

Performance history

Three Sheets to the Wind received its world premiere in Pittsburgh in April 2023, performed by the young musicians for whom it had been commissioned.

I wasn’t able to be there for that first performance.

I did, however, attend the European premiere in Katowice, Poland, in November 2023, which was the first time I heard the complete work performed live.

Since then it has travelled considerably further, with performances by student, university and professional ensembles around the world, including a performance in the Hong Kong Bay Area featuring Gareth Davies.

One of the pleasures of the piece has been seeing it work equally well in the hands of excellent young pre-college musicians and experienced professional players.

Extended techniques

Three Sheets to the Wind includes:

• Explosive Articulation

• Tongue Pops

• Residual Tone

The extended techniques are distributed according to the character of the movements rather than used continuously throughout the entire work.

Frequently asked questions

What level is Three Sheets to the Wind?
The piece was originally written for a very strong advanced high-school quartet and is best described as Advanced High School / Pre-College and above. It has also been performed successfully by professional ensembles.

Are all four parts equally difficult?
Not quite. Flutes 1 and 2 generally carry the more advanced technical demands, while Flutes 3 and 4 are somewhat more accessible. However, all four players remain musically active throughout the work.

Is Flute 1 the main melody throughout?
No. One of the important ideas in the quartet is that musical material is continually passed between the players. It is much more conversational than a traditional first-flute-plus-accompaniment texture.

Can Flute 4 be played on Alto Flute?
Yes. The original quartet allows Flute 4 to be played instead on Alto Flute, giving the ensemble a warmer and slightly deeper colour. The Alto part is available with the work.

Is there also a quintet version?
Yes. A separate quintet scoring is available for 3 Flutes, Alto Flute and Bass Flute.

What are the three movements?
Bounce is playful, cheeky and irreverent; Soar is ethereal and yearning; and Run! is a fast, unstable dash in 7/8.

Why does Bounce fade away at the end?
The quartet enters an open repeat and becomes progressively quieter until the music virtually disappears. The idea was inspired by hearing Emmanuel Pahud use a similar theatrical fade-out at the end of his performance of the Telemann D major Fantasy. I heard this in Verona when he played a concert there in 2022 - and immediately was completely enchanted!

Does the piece use extended techniques?
Yes. These include Explosive Articulation, Tongue Pops and Residual Tone.

How long is the complete work?
Approximately 9 minutes.

Do printed copies include complimentary PDF parts?
No. Unlike my larger flute-choir works, my trios, quartets and quintets are designed for one player per part, so complimentary duplicate PDF parts are not included with printed purchases.

Flute 4 can be alternatively played on Alto Flute - you can download the part to print out here: