Barry's comments: I have a special interest in Northumbria in northern England because many of my ancestors lived there. Through the ages, this region has been repeatedly ravaged by foreign raiders. Since these invaders often stayed to settle down, people of Northumbrian heritage have a bloodline with a generous mix of other cultures. Two of the most notorious aggressors were the industrious Romans who built their colossal stone walls stretching from coast to coast, and the bipolar Vikings who vacillated between bloodthirsty pillaging and bucolic farming. The title of this piece is inspired by the names of two settlements of these cultures: "Vindolanda," the northernmost outpost of the Roman Empire in the first century A.D., and the Norse "Vinland," the earliest known European colony in North America, established at the turn of the first millennium.

The overtone flute is an ancient design popular in Scandinavian cultures. Having no finger holes, its pitch is regulated only by breath pressure and by covering the end of the tube with a finger.

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