Day Ten: Instrumental focus on…The Flute
As we get to the tenth day of this blog, I have decided to introduce a third strand to the recommendations. In an attempt to use the thirty one days available in the most comprehensive way possible, I will shine the light on the solo repertoire of those instruments not normally considered in their solo context.
Like the violin family, the flute family has a rich and vast ancestry, with many different types of instrument all falling under one general term. Despite being a member of the “woodwind” family, the flute is an aerophone instrument, ie the sound is produced by the flow of air across an opening as opposed to the vibration of a reed, as is the case with the clarinet, oboe and bassoon, for example.
It made sense to start this journey, exploring the different members of the orchestra, with the flute because it is the oldest of all musical instruments we have been able to identify. There have been a number of flutes found from roughly 45,000 years ago in what is now present-day Germany, indicating that from the earliest period of human presence in Europe, there has been a musical tradition. Outside of Europe, flutes of various kinds have been found such as in China (one made from bone and dating almost 7000 BC) as well as Peru, an instrument there estimated to be 5000 years old.
Today, most of us are familiar with the Western transverse flute. This instrument dates from the middle ages, its predecessor being the Fife, an instrument used by the military.
For today’s recommended listening, I have chosen one of the masterpieces of the modern flute’s repertoire, the first movement of Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata for Flute and Piano op. 94. In this recording, the flautist is Emmanuel Pahud and the pianist Gérard Wyss.
Written in 1942, the sonata was a commission from Levon Atovmyan, a finance officer from the Union of Soviet Composers (the same union discussed in day one of this blog in relation to Shostakovich). As with the First Symphony, Prokofiev’s mastery of the neoclassical style is evident in his only work for the flute. The piece is highly virtuosic, exploring the extremes of the instrument’s range, tonal palette and chromatic capabilities. Despite this Prokofiev adheres to a conventional formal structure.
The first movement is in a sonata form, Prokofiev’s harmonic language rooted largely in diatonicism with dashes of chromaticism. As was typical of the neo-classical style, the harmonic scheme is very simple and easy to follow, cadence points are clear and modulations both easily identifiable and logical. The mastery, therefore, comes with the exception to the rules, Prokofiev employing modal inflections, non-harmonic tones and chromatic harmonies to give the music a distinctively modern feel over its classical form. Unlike the Janacek that we focused on a few days ago, Prokofiev rarely develops the themes and motifs he introduces. He certainly fragments them but seldom do we see them develop into new ideas, the composer preferring to treat his material in layers.
One of the most striking similarities between this sonata, in a neo-classical style, and a genuinely classical sonata is in the texture. When the flute is playing thematic material, the piano largely accompanies using figures we know from the past such as an alberti bass and basic “block chords”.
Frederick the Great
Adolph Menzel, Frederick the Great Playing the Flute at Sanssouci. An oil canvas from 1852 depicting Frederick the Great, King of Prussia playing the flute at an evening concert at Sanssouci and is now in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
One of the most interesting personalities to play this instrument was Frederick II, better known as Frederick the Great. Born in Berlin in 1712, Frederick would go on to have a huge impact on the history of the instrument. He began studying with the Johann Joachim Quantz in 1728, Quantz himself writing hundreds of flute sonatas, concertos and a very important treatise On Playing the Flute.
Frederick the Great employed a group of musicians at his various residencies all over Germany prior to him becoming King in 1740. When he eventually did ascend to the throne, the nucleus of musicians he had established joined the likes of C.P.E Bach and Quantz in a much larger affair. Musical life began to flourish as the result of daily evening concerts and the building of an opera house. Indeed, as well as being a fine performer, Frederick was an active composer with over 121 Sonatas for flute and cembalo to his name.
