Sonata in E minor
Op 167 Allegro Molto Agitato Ed Apassionato
by Carl Reinecke
Eileen Gilligan Flute Xinyu “Allie” Wang Piano – Undine Allegro molto asiato ed apassionato
Allegro molto asiato ed apassionato – Reinecke Sonata in Eminor Op.167
Empathy in interpretation and performance are a valuable tool for us as players and artists. Putting oneself in the shoes of the subject matter enables the player to call upon an important emotional connection which facilitates sensitive phrasing, interpretation and a wide range of tone colours.
With so much time spent in Tone Development Through Interpretation by Marcel Moyse, I realised this was the best part of what I took out of it and his message to us. We are always in someone’s shoes in this book as most of it is arias.
Those hours manifested itself in the Finale marked : Finale. Allegro molto asiato ed apassionato
The Finale of the Carl Reinecke Flute sonata in Eminor Op.167 has to be one of the most amazing musical moments that I have played. It has it all. Passion, fury, betrayal, heartache, the famous death kiss and a conclusion that is so heartbreaking demanding a tone colour that is beautiful but reflects the emotional emptiness Undine felt at the loss of of her love and having to kill him.
Tone, colour and the story are the essence to interpreting and performing this. Be prepared to produce dark foreboding colours with grit through to a passionate warm tone, also meld with the piano for a submerged colour and the empty conclusion colour which is best produced through empathy. Hopefully it will stretch the player musically to opposite ends of their colour range.
The album cover depicts my vision of Undine (little wave) which was important for me to have an understanding of her and her character in order for me to portray her musically. My vision of her is fiery, a little different from some pictures that represent her. This is what is so fabulous about music and interpretation. It doesn’t follow rules because music is all about feeling, expression and pictures.
The flute and piano have an intertwined musical partnership. The piano is the water and waves. The flute melds with it to depict Undine swirling in the water and at times rising out of the water in fury and heartache. There are phrases that if the player gets under them, result in an amazing feeling musically rising with them and pushing them to a climax with the piano. This is where it depicts Undine rising up in fury.
Opening: Tone here has to be warm, rich and Passionate
Conclusion Theme: Tone has to be beautiful but empty, reflecting loss.
Example of playing version Tone is submerges with piano to create an underwater sensation and then Undine rises up out of the water with fury. Also, example here of dark gritty colour and lead up to the death kiss.
These are my four top interpretation criteria.
- Always understanding the subject matter,
- Look for musical opportunity with every note and phrase.
- Do my absolute best to portray the composers wishes.
- Be true to myself, always play with feeling and expression.
Example of William Bennett introducing the whole sonata and live performance This recording will never be surpassed in my opinion, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Finale with William Bennett.
The link to the novel by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué "Undine"
A fabulous read and reference material.
Development Material For Undine
The link to a PDF of development material from Tone Development Through Interpretation by Marcel Moyse
Carl Reinecke Undine Sheet Music
Download a copy of the sheet music.
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