Mozart had to invent a new genre while writing Don Giovanni: dramma giocoso; neither opera seria nor opera buffa, nor anything in between ‑ but something quite different.

This unpretentious flute piece can only hope to have anything more than the title in common with Mozart's masterpiece. The flute tells a story ‑ a dramma giocoso ‑ and plays all the characters itself. It is a seriocomic story that is neither real seria nor real buffa. Perhaps it is not a real story at all. Perhaps the role‑playing itself, the very interaction between the characters, is the whole point.

Consequently, the composition uses a sort of patchwork technique that allows the same few elements ‑ characters ‑ to repeat themselves constantly in new and changing combinations.

Dramma Giocoso is dedicated to András Adorjan.

 Klaus Ib Jørgensen