The Flautist Blog
Stephen Preston on Baroque Performance
The Baroque period of performance can be quite challenging for a Boehm system player. Our flute offers so much beauty tone wise but can make things more difficult for us ornamentation wise. I have wanted to do a blog on performance in Baroque music for a long time,...
Conversation in music performance.
There is so much that goes into interpreting a composer’s wishes. One aspect which is intertwined with storytelling is the conversations between musical parts. The Mel Bonis sonata for flute first movement is a beautiful example of the importance of being aware of the...
Story Telling in a Flute Performance
There are a few different ways and aspects to storytelling as a performer. Firstly , the player should endeavour to understand the composer, his life and any information about the piece they are playing. Secondly, use a backtrack or recording to understand the piano...
Learning from Baroque
Listening to artists and recordings that make one think as a player and musician. Baroque period performance and its challenges for a Boehm system player. I like to continually question and open my mind and musicality to new thoughts and possible directions. It really...
Pieces
Here are a some of the flute pieces.
Hope you enjoy them
Claude Debussy – Petite Suite En Bateau
Petite Suite En Bateau by Claude DebussyPetite Suite: En Bateau by Claude Debussy 1685 - 1759One third of the art songs Debussy composed were settings of the poems of Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). The first movements of the Petite suite are drawn from two poems of...
George Frideric Handel – HWV374 Sonata in A Minor
Sonata in A Minor HWV374 by George Frideric HandelSonata in A Minor HWV 374 1st Movement Adagio Sonata in A Minor HWV 374 2nd Movement Allegro Sonanta in A Minor HWV 374 3rd Movement AdagioSonanta in A Minor HWV 374 4th Movement AllegroSonata in A Minor by George...
Gary Schocker – Regrets and Resolutions
Regrets & Resolutions by Gary SchockerRegrets and Resolutions by Gary SchockerGary Schocker American flute player is also a pianist, harpist, prolific composer and a talented teacher.Born into a musical family in Easton, Pennsylvania, Schocker began his musical...
Concerto de Aranjuez Adagio Theme by Joaquin Rodrigo
Concerto de Aranjuez: Adagio Theme by Joaquin RodrigoConcerto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo 1901-1999Joaquin Rodrigo was born on November 22, 1901 in Sagunto, Valencia, Spain. At the age of three, Rodrigo contracted Diphtheria, due to which he almost lost his...
Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy
Clair de Lune by Claude DebussyClair de lune by claude debussy Claude Debussy was born as Achille-Claude Debussy. He is one of the most notable and influential French musical composers that has ever lived. At the turn of the 20th century he was one of the most...
Schindler’s List by John Williams
Schindler's List by John WilliamsB ackground In a career that spans five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of...
Romance Op 23 by Amy Beach
Romance Op 23 by Amy BeachBackground Known as the first female composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra (her “Gaelic” Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896), she was also one of the first U.S. composers to have her music be...
Flute Sonata Andantino Con Moto by Mel Bonis
Flute Sonata Andantino Con Moto by Mel BonisBackground Mel Bonis started to compose at the age of 16 and at this age she was also introduced to César Franck who gave her piano lessons and showed a great interest in her first compositions. At 17 she attended the...
Fantasie Op 79 by Gabriel Faure
Fantasie Op 79 by Gabriel FaureBackground The Fantasie was commissioned by and dedicated to Paul Taffanel in 1898 for the "Concours de flute", a flute competition held by the Conservatoire de Paris. Taffanel, who took over a flute class in 1893, regularly commissioned...
Pavane Op 50 by Gabriel Faure
Pavane Op 50 by Gabriel FaureBackground The work was written for orchestra, but Faure went on to pen an arrangement that included a choir, although only the original version remains in regular performance today. It’s thought that Fauré probably added the chorus at the...
Guides
Here are a number of guides for flute pieces. Some are restricted to subscription members.
Taffanel & Gaubert Complete Method for the Flute
Complete MEthod for Flute Volume 2 by Taffanel & GaubertFrom two prolific flautists of all time, Claude-Paul Taffanel and Philippe Gaubert 's Complete Method of the Flute provides an essential and well-informed aid to Flute studies. With notes in French,...
Example Guide The Serious Doll by Edward Elgar
the serious doll by Edward Elgar 1857-1934the serious doll by edward elgar 1857-1934 Why Choose The Serious DollI have chosen to play from the piano version of this Suite. I have taken the right-hand melodic line. The reason I have chosen this melody apart, from the...
Pieces Guide: Claude Debussy – Syrinx
Pieces Guide:Syrinx by Claude Debussy 1862-1918Syrinx by Claude Debussy 1862-1918Why Choose Syrinx by Claude Debussy?“Music is the expression of the movement of the waters, the play of curves described by changing breezes.” Although the solo flute can create a wide...
Pieces Guide Yumi Matsutoya – Haru yo koi Come Spring
Pieces Guide:Haru yo koi: Come Spring by Yumi MatsutoyaPiece: Haru yo koi: Come Spring by Yumi Matsutoya 1954- Why Choose Come SpringHaru Yo Koi or Come Spring is a wonderful melody to play and again can be used as a vocalisation. This wasn't chosen for any particular...
Tone Development Through Interpretation Page 78 No E1
Tone Development Through InterpretationMarcel Moyse Page 78 No E1 Purpose of These ExercisesThe Tone development Through Interpretation by Marcel Moyse is a series of extracts that study expression, vibrato, colour and suppleness by exploring operatic arias and string...
Tone Development Through Interpretation Page 78 D1
Tone Development Through InterpretationMarcel Moyse Page 78 D1 & D2 Purpose of These ExercisesThe Tone development Through Interpretation by Marcel Moyse is a series of extracts that study expression, vibrato, colour and suppleness by exploring operatic arias and...
Tone Development Through Interpretation No 09
Tone Development Through InterpretationMarcel Moyse No 9 Extract from Oberon by Carl Maria von WeberPurpose of These StudiesThe Tone development Through Interpretation by Marcel Moyse is a series of extracts that study expression, vibrato, colour and suppleness by...
Tone Development Through Interpretation Page 74 No 20G
Tone Development Through InterpretationMarcel Moyse Page 74 No 20G Purpose of These ExercisesThe Tone development Through Interpretation by Marcel Moyse is a series of extracts that study expression, vibrato, colour and suppleness by exploring operatic arias and...
Example Guide Claude Debussy – Syrinx
Pieces Guide:Syrinx by Claude Debussy 1862-1918Syrinx by Claude Debussy 1862-1918Why Choose Syrinx by Claude Debussy?“Music is the expression of the movement of the waters, the play of curves described by changing breezes.” Although the solo flute can create a wide...
Foundation Tools Vocalisations
Foundation Tools: VocalisationsBy Eileen Gilligan These are the Harmonics tools for the foundation of flute playing. We will add to them over time but start with the following: The links at the bottom of the page take you to additional pages focused on the Core...