John Harbison's "The Flute of Interior Time," for baritone and piano, was written for baritone and AIDS sufferer William Parker for his AIDS Quilt Songbook project. This project was designed to create a literature of songs written in response to AIDS, and to generate money to research a cure. Harbison's song features a text by the Middle Eastern poet Kabir, translated by Robert Bly. Kabir's text discusses music, and his words are flowery and heady (the poem ends with the words "Where else have you heard a sound like this?"), so Harbison sets them in a fairly restrained manner. The baritone sings a broad melody, with unison support from the piano. During interludes from the singing, the piano occasionally imitates our popular conception of Middle Eastern music with parallel fourths and such. The effect is not overstated, but a simple eloquence. Compact and undemonstrative, Harbison's song is sincere and quietly moving.

© Andrew Lindemann Malone, All Music Guide