I. Callisto and Diana. Allegretto – Allegro

Beamish: Flute Concerto, 'Callisto'. Inspired by Ted Hughes reading his own translations of Ovid's 'Metarmorphoses'. The different colours of four members of the flute family tell the story of the nymph Callisto, and her transformation from hunter, to victim, to bear, to constellation. The brass are celestial beings - horn, trombone and trumpet representing Diana the huntress, the lascivious Jove, and Juno, his enraged wife. Recorded in the presence of the composer.