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I spent a day with Paul Edmund-Davies recently and gave him a copy of Supercharge Your Flute Technique. Once back in England he sent me an email saying:

‘I have taken a look at your book and it all looks incredibly well thought through and highly interesting. Congratulations.’

Thanks for the lovely feedback, Paul!

 

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A very sincere thank you to everyone who has made the launch of Supercharge Your Flute Technique so successful. Click the link on the home page of this site if you’d like to join the growing throng of people who are supercharging their flute technique. Have You Supercharged Your Flute Technique today?

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Looking forward to giving a workshop at Ballarat High School tomorrow. Topics include embouchure, posture, hand positions, technique and of course breathing, with a good dash of ensemble playing in the mix.

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The final set of program notes from Alicia McGorlick. Thanks Alicia!

Voice (1971)
Toru Takemitsu

Takemitsu is an internationally recognised composer who composed music with a distinct fusion of traditional Eastern styles, in this case Japanese style, and Western forms in his pieces.[1] His ‘avant-garde’ work ‘Voice’, dedicated to Aurèle Nicolet, revolves around the use of the voice, through humming, singing and speaking into the flute. Extended techniques from Bruno Bartolozzi construct the basis of the work. This includes Noh flute attacks (a breathy attack from a Noh kan flute used in the Japanese Noh Theatre), pitch bending, microtones, double tremolos, key clicks, multiphonics and whisper tones. The concept of ‘ma’ 間depicts a Japanese aspect of time and space and is used in this piece through the use of sound and silence coexisting with one another.[2] The poem spoken both off and on the flute is written by Shuzo Takiguchi from his “Handmade Proverbs”:

Qui va la? Qui que tu sois? Parle transparence!
Who goes there? Speak transparence! Whoever you are!

[1] Hwee Been Koh, East and West: The Aesthetics and Musical Time of Toru Takemitsu, Ph.D diss, Boston University, 1998, 1. (CHECK THEORY AND METHODS ASSIGNMENT IF YOU WISH TO REWORD A BIT)

[2] http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/jochenette/Takemitsu_essay_Chenette.pdf page 2

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Some more program notes from Alicia McGorlick.

 

Fantaisie (1913)
Georges Hue

The 1889 Paris Universal Exposition was a stage where groups from around the world displayed the best of their countries’ architecture, industry, culture and arts including music. It was here where the influence of Eastern music was first heard by many French composers such as Claude Debussy and quickly spread to other French flute composers such as Georges Hue.[1] Dedicated to Paul Taffanel, a flautist and professor at the Paris Conservatoire, Fantaisie displays Asian tones and the virtuosity of the modern Boehm flute. As a classic French Romantic piece, it includes long lyrical lines and impressive technical passages with playful chromatic melodies exchanged between the flute and piano.[2] The piece also requires a masterful use of extreme dynamics and tone, and as such, Hue’s Fantaisie was set as a competition piece for the end of the year exams at the Paris Conservatoire

[1] http://www.arthurchandler.com/paris-1889-exposition/

[2] https://www.gettysburg.edu/dotAsset/d013a2dd-1cce-442b-9723-7538f3cb846a.pdf page 5, check it’s your own wording

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Here are some more program notes. Reinecke’s Undine Sonata written by my student Alicia McGorlick for her recent honours recital. Might be of use to anyone learning or performing this piece. Notes for Hue Fantasie and Takemitsu Voice to follow shortly.

Undine Flute Sonata Opus 167
Carl Reinecke

Carl Reinecke’s Sonata in E minor is based on the German romantic tale by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque. The tale depicts Undine, a water spirit, who longs for an immortal soul which can only be obtained through true love with a mortal man.

The first movement portrays Undine in her underwater world with flute melodies that give off watery sounds.[1] She leaves the water kingdom in search of love with a mortal man and is discovered as a child by a fisherman and his wife who have recently lost their own daughter, who then decide to raise Undine as their own.[2]

The second movement paints a picture of Undine’s cheeky nature as she is growing up, which is depicted through the piano and flute melodic lines that chase each other. The piano’s proud folk-like solo section represents the knight Huldebrand who seeks shelter at the fisherman’s house from a raging storm.[3] He then falls in love with Undine.

The third movement represents the couples’ happy marriage.[4] They then both befriend Bertalda, who is revealed to be the true daughter of the fisherman and his wife. The peacefulness is interrupted when a fountain is uncovered and Undine’s uncle, a water spirit, rushes out and beckons to Undine not to continue this relationship with a mortal.[5] All is stilled suddenly by the dropping of a boulder over the fountain.[6]

In the fourth movement, all three good friends take a trip on the Danube, which rouses the anger of the water spirits.[7] Huldebrand states he wishes he never married Undine, for his life is constantly in danger from spirits. In shock, Undine falls overboard and sinks to the bottom.[8] Thinking she is dead, Huldebrand makes plans to marry Bertalda.[9] On the night of Huldebrand’s wedding Undine returns as a spirit and kills him with a kiss.[10]

[1] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[2] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[3] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[4] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[5] http://www.storynory.com/2013/06/06/undine/

[6] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[7] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[8] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[9] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473

[10] https://www.classicalconnect.com/Flute_Music/Reinecke/Flute_Sonata_Undine/1473