Price
    I like to use the analogy of buying a car. Let’s say that you have about $20,000 to spend on a car. Desired features include air conditioning, a great sound system, and leather seats. There will be several makes and models that have these options in that price range, new or used, or you can buy a top-of-the-line luxury car with the same options for a little over twice the price. The difference in price range might reflect the amount of hand finishing work that has been done and the attention to detail.
    The prices of professional piccolos reflect the same kind of attention to detail and hand finishing as luxury cars, so they carry a much higher price tag than student models. However, you should be able to find a piccolo with options you might want (such as a split-E key or a wing-style mouthpiece) no matter what your price range happens to be. There are many manufacturers that cater to every budget size in today’s marketplace, and if you consider pre-owned piccolos, your choices expand even further.

Materials
    Piccolos are made out of three basic materials: Resin, (or composite/plastic), metal (solid silver or silver plate), and wood, (grenadilla being the most common). Resin instruments are a good choice for marching band as are metal piccolos because they are not weather sensitive. Grenadilla wood (or one of the other hardwoods) is the preferred choice of many professionals who feel that wooden instruments have a sweeter quality that blends equally well with strings and woodwinds.
    If you plan to play in a situation other than a marching band, try to purchase the best quality wooden piccolo that you can afford. You will be rewarded with tonal colors not possible from piccolos made from other materials. 

Headjoint Style
    It is possible to find piccolos with metal headjoints on composite or wooden bodies. Some professional manufactures even offer gold headjoints. Many novice piccolo players prefer metal headjoints because their lip plates feel familiar to blow across. It takes a little practice to be able to blow across the piccolo’s more ‘naked’ embouchure hole. The popular wave-style lip plates can also help players feel more secure. They are a great option in a step up piccolo.

Bores
    There are two types of bores: conical and cylindrical. Bore shape refers to the shape of the tube inside the piccolo and applies to both the headjoint and the body. It is possible to have an instrument with a conical (think cone shaped or tapered) body with a cylindrical (straight or cylindrical) headjoint, or a cylindrical body with a conical head. A cylindrical bore allows an easier response, especially in the third octave, but the lower octaves can have a much thinner tone.
    A conical bore piccolo has a uniform, even response throughout the registers and is more practical all the way around. Most professional model wood piccolos have conical bores.
It is important to find an instrument that works for you. Try more than one headjoint in any one style just as you would if shopping for a flute. The head is the heart of the instrument and responsible for about 90% of the quality of the sound and response. The head joint needs to fit snugly into the body and the embouchure hole should be smooth and free from any sharp or rough edges.
    The piccolo’s key mechanisms should be light and smooth: I prefer very light spring tensions as I do not use much finger pressure on the keys.
    Make sure that the pads are flat and almost flush with the key cups: they should never hang down into the tone holes. When they do, pitch, tone quality, and response will all be compromised. My trill keys have cork pads so they are less likely to fill with water. This is necessary because those keys are at the top of the tube. Cork pads are a great option if you have problems with too many bubbles of water in these tiny keys.
    If you are new to the piccolo, you may want to bring along a more experienced colleague or your teacher to help you try out instruments. I like to play short excerpts in each register, legato (all slurred) as well as articulated passage, so I can learn about the colors and response of a given instrument. It helps to have a tuner handy as well so you are able to assess the scale of a given instrument. I prefer piccolos pitched to A=442.
    These tips should help you work through the myriad of choices as you piccolo shop; your goal is to find an instrument you will enjoy for years to come. 

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Three Part Lessons
    Generally, each lesson, whether  30, 45, or 60 minutes long, is divided into three parts:

1. Fundamental work
2. Etudes
3. Flute literature

    Fundamental work includes a basic warm-up, tone development, scales, thirds, arpeggios, and seventh chords. A variety of articulation patterns and counted vibrato cycle exercises are integrated throughout this section of the lesson. Materials for the fundamentals section of a lesson are based on Taffanel & Gaubert’s 17 Big Daily Exercises (Leduc), The Flute Scale Book: A Path to Artistry by George & Louke (Presser), or Walfrid Kujala’s Vademecum (Progress Press).
    The second part of the lesson devoted to etudes is what led both the young flutist and university student to express their feelings. The young flutist stated his aloud, while the university student just did not practice the material. The third part of the lesson dedicated to flute literature includes solos, chamber music (playing duets), and orchestral excerpts.

Long-Term Retention and Transfer
    Many educators say the purpose of education is for students to accurately recall, at a later date, something they have learned previously and use that information in another context. In educational terms this is called transfer. According to Halpern & Hakel “The single most important variable in promoting long-term retention and transfer is practice at retrieval.” (“Applying the Science of Learning,” Change, July/August 2003, p. 38-41)
   
The Purpose of Etudes
    Exercise study continues the objectives set out in the first part of the lesson – fundamentals of flute playing and theoretical study. Exercises are written in all keys with a variety of rhythms and technical challenges. In the fundamental portion of the lesson, students played scales and explored various ways to play them. Nancy Toff writes: “Having covered scales and intervals and combined them into daily technical exercises, it is time to go a step further. Etudes or studies are longer, more musical versions of technical exercises. They combine a number of technical challenges while setting them in a musical context. Some etudes are designed primarily to attack one technical problem; others concentrate on several areas.” (The Flute Book, Scribner’s Sons, New York 1985) In other words, exercise study takes everything learned from the first part of the lesson and repackages it into etudes. Through etude study we are teaching practice at retrieval.
    Practicing retrieval through etudes does not work, however, if there is little to retrieve or if the etude is based on something that has never been presented. For example, our two flutists probably do not know the material from the first part of the lesson very well. This means that the teacher should slow down and teach enrichment activities rather than advancing so quickly. This can be a challenge to make interesting and not repetitive.

The Scale
    Most of us would never assign a child all 12 major scales in one week. What if we designed a program for learning a scale that encompassed several weeks rather than the old one-scale-a-week-and-in-24-weeks-you-will-know-them-all concept? The first objective would be to continue in the chosen key until saturation is achieved.

Saturation in F Major
    How many ways can you think of to play an F Major scale? Here are some suggestions to get you started. (For a downloadable copy of a routine appropriate for high school flutists, see Patricia George’s Extras on the Flute Talk website.)

•    Play each pitch 4 times, using T, K, TK, HAH, and HAH slurred

•    Play each pitch 3 times, using T, K, TK, HAH, and HAH slurred

•    Play each pitch 2 times, using T, K, TK, HAH, and HAH slurred

•    Play each note with T, K, TK, HAH

•    Play the first note with T and divide the second note into 2s, TK

•    Divide the first note into 2s, TK and the second note with T

•    Play each note with 2, 3, 4, and 5 vibrato cycles

•    Play with the following articulation patterns:

•    Slur by 2s

•    Slur 2, tongue 2

•    Tongue 2, slur 2

•    Slur 3, tongue 1

•    Tongue 1, slur 3

•    Play in dotted rhythms (long, short, and short long)

•    Play each note T, K, TK, HAH or slurred up and down the scale

•    Play in the rhythms found in etudes and solo literature

    Basically, organize as many ways as you can to play the scale. Jot them down in a notebook or make a handout that explains the process for your students. Encourage students to compile their own list of practice strategies. Because over 95% of music is comprised of scales and arpeggios, repeated arpeggio study is also necessary.

Change In Curriculum
    To teach the concept of practicing retrieval, the final two-thirds of a lesson should be designed to stay in the  same key and meter (simple or compound) chosen in the Fundamentals section of the lesson. This is a very different concept from the pedagogical methods of the past. Most of us have chosen an etude book and taught the etudes in succession page after page. Some books are better for this type of instruction than others. The problem is that many etude books move from key to key around the circle of fifths (Andersen for example). They move students to the next exercise before they are totally familiar with the key at hand. I believe it is better to stay in the same key for several weeks before moving on. Key and rhythm saturation should be the goal to develop a strong foundation in young players. Then they have something to retrieve.
    In order to gather enough exercises in F major, students may be playing from several etudes books at any given time. The piano curriculum has done this for years. Every piano series has several books at each level. Because many of the best flute etude books are now in public domain, you may prefer to make an exercise packet containing exercises at the appropriate level and in the same key. Packets may also be assembled to focus on certain concepts, such as removing the left index finger on middle octave D and E flat.

Big Plan – Making A Lesson Packet
    For this concept to work, start by choosing a solo piece that is appropriate for the student’s level and note the key that it is in. Allow at least four lessons to perfect the solo. If it is in a major key, write down the tonic and dominant keys. If it is in a minor key, write down the tonic and dominant keys plus the relative major key. These are the keys to drill for four weeks in the fundamentals part of the lesson. Remember to drill scales, scales in thirds, arpeggios, and seventh chords.
    Next, select four or more etudes in these keys. If the solo has any unusual rhythmic concepts, find etudes that drill these rhythmic challenges. The student should feel that everything he works on in the first two parts of his lesson is leading to performing his solo well.

My Favorite Exercises
40 Studies, Op. 101 & 75 by Luigi Hugues
26 Selected Studies by Henri Altes
18 Exercises by Berbiguier
24 Exercises, Op. 33, 30, 63, 15 by Joachim Andersen
30 Caprices by Sigfrid Karg-Elert
26 Exercises, Op. 107 by Anton Bernhard Furstenau
12 Etudes by Casterede
12 Etudes by Bitsch
Etudes Modernes by Paul Jeanjean
24 Caprices by Nicolai Paganini
Complete Method by Soussman
Complete Method by Gariboldi
24 Exercises, Op. 15, 26, 37 by Theobald Boehm
Op, 33, 66, 75 by Ernesto Kohler
24 Studies based on the Works of J. S. Bach
Rotation of such works as Seven Daily Exercises by Marquarre and similar works by Wummer, Reichert, Wood, Barrere

How To Practice
    During the fundamental and solo parts of the lesson, I teach practice strategies. The etude part of the lesson is when I want students to apply what they have learned about practicing effectively. I ask them to keep a list of all the ways they have practiced the etude. When they return to perform the etude at their next lesson, I can see how well they understand the practice techniques and how well they are progressing in learning which technique to use where.
    I encourage students to prepare etudes as well as they can – as if they were going to play them in Carnegie Hall. Sometimes I offer students the chance to turn an etude performance into a recording project. Each week they bring their etudes on a CD or send them to me via email. This recording project forces them to listen critically. I had one student report she recorded a Karg-Elert caprice 37 times before she was satisfied. Her playing improved that week!

Poor Reading and Counting
    Occasionally a student is not successful in his etude preparation. If this is the case, analyze what the problem is. Perhaps the student is a slow or poor reader. If so, develop enrichment exercises to improve reading skills.
    I use the chunking technique with beginners. Chunking is a practice technique in which students play a small unit and then insert a rest before playing the next unit or chunk. During the rest they say the name of the next note. No chunk is ever too small or performed too slowly. Chunking by beat is a good place to start.
    Another exercise is to name the notes aloud with a metronome. Start with the metronome set very slowly and increase the speed on repetitions. At first omit rhythmic values of the notes; for example, treat all notes as quarter notes. Eventually say the note names in the printed rhythm.
    On subsequent repetitions have the student finger the notes as he names the notes to the metronome’s tick. If the student has rhythmic problems, ask him to clap the rhythms on his lap using both hands alternating. Another possibility is for the teacher to count one beat, and the student counts the next. Whatever games you can create will make the tedious process of learning to read and count more enjoyable.

Final Objective
    The final objective is to develop flutists who play well and are musical. This will occur when they are able to achieve accurate transfer. Remember,  transfer is the ability to accurately recall, at a later date, something that has been learned previously and be able to use this information in another context. To achieve this goal, we need to develop curriculum that is logical, concise, and useful so that retrieval will occur in every lesson. 

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Given the relative values of the art of music, it may well be that absolutely perfect intonation is an impossibility. But that a goal is unattainable is no excuse for not giving one’s utmost in the attempt to reach it, or at least to approach it as nearly as possible. That is art.

    So what are the implications for us as flute players? First, itʼs important to understand that there are certain acoustical and physical laws that make it impossible to build a flute (or any other instrument, for that matter) that is in tune. Accordingly, a good player must have sufficient control to adjust the pitch up or down as needed.
    This adjustment can come from accommodating the tuning tendencies of other instruments with which we are playing. It may have to do with dynamic levels; pitch rises with an increase in volume and drops as it get softer. This can be a particular problem when playing with the clarinet, which has the exact opposite tendency.
Frequently adjustments are necessary due to intonation deficiencies of the flute itself. Of particular concern is the third octave. Everything from E flat through A flat tends to be sharp, often very sharp. The high A and B flat are not generally a problem in that regard, but the high B and C are both extremely sharp.
    One option, of course, is just to play out of tune and wish it were better – not what any good flutists would want to do. Another is to lip down. This can be accomplished by opening the aural cavity and directing the air more downward. If the degree of correction is too much however, it can impair the tone quality, which can make that option far from optimal.
A third choice in some instances is a fingering alteration. There was a time when the mere thought of doing such a thing was abhorrent to me. I must have thought flute fingerings were brought down from a mountain, inscribed on a stone tablet, and to depart from them in any way was to put oneʼs eternal salvation in severe jeopardy.
    Finally the day came when I took a more rational look at the situation and realized that, much as I love my instrument, it is just a hunk of metal with holes in it. What I really want is the best pitch and the best sound possible. If that means closing or opening a vent somewhere, so be it. Iʼm better off, and the listener most certainly is as well.

A Few Basics
    First, manufacturers build flutes with some tuning latitude so that players can tune higher than the standard A=440 when necessary. The headjoint, therefore, should not be pushed in all the way except in extreme circumstances. I might add that I donʼt ever remember an occasion when I or any of my students found it necessary to do so.
    At the same time, pulling out too far distorts the flute’s overall scale, sometimes grossly so. A good indicator is to check the three Ds. If you donʼt have good octaves, especially between the top two, you can be sure the headjoint is pulled out too far. This invariably results from placing the embou­chure plate too high on the lip, causing the air to go too far across the hole.
    Band directors often tune young flutists by eyeing a tuner and instructing them to pull out until the tuner looks right. That works, but only if they play nothing but the tuning note and the student and director can live with a breathy, airy sound, completely lacking in focus. This is treating a symptom (the player is sharp) and ignoring the disease (the embouchure plate is too high). I’m sorry to report I’ve found this to be true of the great majority of young players I see.
    Another factor affecting intonation is a misalignment of the headjoint. When sighting the embouchure hole from the footjoint, the hole should be in line with, or perhaps slightly to the left of, the key closest to the headjoint. It is surprising how many students are off, sometimes severely so.
    I should also add a word about the end plug or cork that is in the closed end of the headjoint. Julius Baker, my teacher at The Juilliard School, taught me that if the cork is moved just a smidgen towards the crown, the lower register comes up and the upper register comes down. It also opens up the sound and makes any flute more responsive. Do not move it up more than a 32nd of an inch, however, or you will destroy the intonation and turn your prized expensive flute into a intonation nightmare!
     Incorrect fingerings can be a cause of poor intonation. It is appalling how often fingering charts, especially in beginning band method books, show high Bb with the left-hand first finger down. This creates a flat pitch, a poor sound, and a less responsive note.
    I would add what Iʼm sure you all know, but too many young players donʼt: The pinky should not be down on the top B flat, B, or C. There are occasional exceptions, however, for the B flat and B. If you are going rapidly from A to B flat or B and back to A, itʼs perfectly acceptable to leave the pinky down.

Third Octave Fingering Alterations¹
    • For a sharp high E, remove the right-hand pinky to lower the pitch and provide increased stability.
    • Add the right-hand ring finger to high F to lower the pitch.
    • Substitute the right-hand middle finger for the ring finger on high F# to bring the pitch down.2
    • Add the right-hand middle and ring fingers to the traditional high A flat fingering to bring the pitch down. This incidentally is a very common practice among top players the world over. If the high A flat needs to be lowered still further, remove the pinky.
    • Add the right-hand middle finger to high B to lower the pitch. A better fingering, though awkward in some contexts, is Th, 1    3/    6 and both trill keys.
    • High C is the most problematic of the bunch. The easiest correction, though not usually sufficient, is to finger it traditionally and add the middle finger of the right hand by closing the ring but not covering the hole (referred to as half-holing). Adding the thumb makes the response more difficult, but lowers the pitch quite a bit. A third possibility is to use the regular high-B fingering, but without the thumb. Neither the response nor the quality is ideal, but it can be a lifesaver in some situations, i.e. at the end of a fast chromatic scale that ends on C, such as in the Duttilleux Sonatine and Martin Ballade).
    For those with a low-B footjoint, add the gizmo to the regular fingering and all the other altered fingerings above except the last one. It improves pitch (slightly), quality, and response.
    • High E flat and high G are both ordinarily quite sharp. Unfortunately, there are no fingering alterations for those notes that yield truly satisfactory tone. I can only make a couple of if-all-else-fails suggestions (and I may indeed be placing my eternal salvation in jeopardy here).
    For high E flat, remove the pinky. It results in a rather harmonic-sounding quality, but the pitch is lower. The G is even less satisfactory, but if you find yourself in octaves with the clarinet or oboe, for example, and their pitch is on the flat side, say a little Father, forgive me, and finger high F# without the thumb.
    One last word about fingering. Most flute players know that C# in the staff is sharp, and they often add one or more right-hand fingers to compensate (my personal favorite is left-hand 3, right-hand 5, 6). I should hasten to add, however, that it is not always sharp, but usually so.
    Many flutists, however, incorrectly assume that the C# above the staff is also sharp. This is not true; in fact, it is most often flat. Adding fingers will only make a bad situation worse.
Finally, there are three things that determine the pitch on the flute: 1. speed of the air (faster = higher, slower = lower), 2. angle of the air (lower air stream, lower pitch and vice-versa), and 3. the distance from the orifice to the strike edge. The shorter the distance, the lower the pitch. You can test this by simply playing a note – 3rd-space C would be a good choice – and pushing in the headjoint with the right hand.
Iʼll conclude by stating the obvious. In the final analysis, the only criterion for success is: does it sound good?

¹ Numbers 1, 2, 3 represent left-hand fingers;   4, 5, 6 represent right-hand fingers.
² The tone quality is quite acceptable; the same is not true for the first two octaves, although finger 5 may sometimes be used as a technical expedient.

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I. Over distant murmuring waves
II. Under serene moonlight
III. All earthly cares entwining
IV. Shall fade away in dreams

With these sentiments in mind, here are some ideas on how to present the music.

Tempo
    Tempo might be the most important first decision when learning a new piece of music. A look at the first movement shows only the words Allegro leggiero. Without a metronome marking, the next step is to look at all aspects of the printed page. The orchestral part (piano reduction) starts with eighth note motion, and the piccolo melody is half notes and quarters.

    Leggiero means light, swift, and delicate. The title, Over distant murmuring waves, and eighth-note movement in the accompaniment create the image of gentle waves of water, and the piccolo’s triplets drive the movement forward. Even though written in 3/4, the music reminded me of a Barcarolle, which is generally in 6/8. This tempo feels like one big beat per bar and two-bar phrases, as in a  6/8  meter. At this tempo the triplet becomes fairly quick, but if played in a leggiero manner, it has a pleasant “murmuring” effect.

    There is a trap beginning at bar 22 that consists of a triplet eighth rest and the five triplet notes that follow. Inevitably, performers will start the figure late at some point.

To avoid this tendency, take a large breath at 22 and try to take only one other breath before measure 33. Make sure that the quarter note at the end of each measure has a good solid vibrato and is sustained for the entire beat as written. The rest is not as important as a clear pickup to the triplets.

Dynamics
    Dynamics give shapes and shadows to the music. In this movement they need to be subtle. Never let a diminuendo become so soft that the piccolo sound is lost. Remember, at all times the piccolo is the soloist. One measure before 33, play the quarter notes with lots of vibrato and not too loud. Avoid a crescendo to the high F. It will be too loud and disrupt the mood. At three before 44 however, use a good fat forte, and crescendo at 44 to the G. Be careful not to accent the starting note of the triplet figures and make sure that the F# at the fortissimo is not sharp.

   
    Throughout the movement be vigilant and keep the tempo moving. The tendency is to slow down. When practicing, check the metronome often. At measure 253 you will want to let loose with your sound, but resist the temptation and look to 266.

That is the finish of the phrase and the tag ending of the movement. Let the orchestra make the crescendo. You might get lost in the orchestra’s sound here, but that is okay. It is the end.
    As Ewazen wrote the piece, I received the movements from him one at a time. I became convinced that tempo choices and their relationship to the tempos of the previous movement were very important. Even though he probably didn’t think of it consciously, it is quite clear in the music. It is a perfect case of the creative spirit moving in mysterious ways.

II. Andante teneramente
    The second movement also has no metronome marking, and I am hesitant to set one for fear that it will become gospel. However, and just for clarity, the quarter note of the first movement equals the quarter note of the second movement, which is about m. 126. This movement is expected to be serene, and its form seems to be much more romantic than the first movement. It should have some rubato, not much, and be subtle at all times, but definitely not static.
    The first gesture at measure 8 should have a small tenuto on the first note. The following B flat should have lots of vibrato and move forward to the next note. This gesture can be accomplished with a slight crescendo to the A in measure 10, but don’t make too much of the diminuendo to the C.

The pickup to measure 11, the same music as before, should be a little different, so here I make the tenuto on the last 16th note. Then with a beautiful sound complimented by vibrato, lead to the B flat in measure 12 and continue the line with full sound through the A. The eighth-note G starts developing the motive, so carefully use your dynamic range to end in measure 18 with a full sound at the end of the phrase. To keep interest in the melody and let the audience know where we are headed is the most difficult part of this movement.
    The music changes at measure 24 and becomes rhythmically reminiscent of the first movement.

Here I take a new tempo, a little faster and once again use tasteful tenutos. Too many times I have heard students, and sometimes professionals, put tenutos on each beat. This is a false phrasing and should be avoided at all cost. The tenuto is a wonderful device to show balance, outline a note, and let the listener hear the inner melodies. Overuse it and it becomes meaningless, showing a lack of musical phrasing and creative ideas.
    I also feel these measures in two, even though the tempo is slow, which gives the pulse of this section’s accents on one and three. Once again, don’t be afraid to move ahead and slow down when needed. Make it musical and in good taste.
    Measure 76 restates the musical material from the beginning. Some of the triplets are articulated this time, and the articulations must be audible. Make a space between the notes. There is also a single slur from 79 to the fourth beat of 83, although the corresponding music at 12 had a break.

Now the phrase is even longer and more problematic. Breathe before the pickups in measure 78 and play all the way through 81 without a breath. To take a breath on the fourth beat of 81, release the tied note a bit early. Make it an eighth note, and use a tenuto on the pickup F for a seamless phrase.
    The end is difficult because you will probably be out of breath, tired, and emotionally spent. Tempo is the key to the music from 90-100. Don’t slow down. The audience is also looking to sigh and relax. The melody will be emotional for them as well. Keep moving and crescendo to measure 99. If you are out of air or the D becomes flat, just diminuendo and let the orchestra make the niente ending.

III. Allegro energico
    After the angst and emotional turbulence of the first two movements, the third movement becomes the centerpiece of the concerto. Once again it is tempo that will make the statement, and the emphasis must be on the energico. The quarter note of the second movement becomes the dotted quarter of the third movement. The orchestra starts with a series of equal 16ths, and the piccolo enters with a hemiola. That three against two figure will sound faster than the tempo, so avoid slowing down in measure 5. If anything, push the tempo without rushing. This will keep the tension up and show all the changes to come.

    Articulation is extremely important in this movement. The speed will blur notes if the articulations don’t have spaces between them. The quarters in the third measure should only be sustained the length of an eighth note, and each 16th-note G should have just enough of an accent to kick the next rhythm. Measure 5 requires very specific tonguing: an accented 8th note followed by two-quarter notes with tenutos. These quarters should have space between them to bring out the syncopated rhythm. Hold the sustained dotted-quarter C in measure 6 full value. This type of articulation is complicated and should be one of the exercises you practice. It is tricky at times, but the listener does hear the difference. Without these details, the passage is bland and musically flat.
    Measures 33-39 are fraught with danger. Do not let the orchestra (or band or piano) slow down. They will want to wait. Practice the rhythm with a metronome by playing an eighth in place of the eighth rest in each figure.

When you feel you have conquered the tempo, leave out the added note, and “play” the eighth-rest. Make sure you stay in tune on the sforzandos during the crescendo. There is a siciliana rhythm pattern at 56; avoid slowing down there. Make it sprightly, unlike the slow pedantic form of the 16th-century dance you often hear.
    The Allegro furioso section that begins at 85 must have a minimum tempo marking of quarter =144 and stay at that tempo; you can even push a little to propel this section. Be sure the articulation is clear in measure 94 and similar places. The rhythmic pattern in 101-102 and the subsequent music that follows is unexpected and therefore tricky. Both soloist and ensemble must count and play on top of the beat. Use a very short staccato so each voice is heard. At that speed, anticipation is a virtue.

   
    The Lento at 145 is slower, but make it organic and part of the flow of the previous music. It should change tempo gradually to arrive at the L’istesso tempo of measure 147. The accelerando that follows becomes fast and furious. The last measure comes as a relief, and you will want to explode on the E3 trill. Don’t! Always keep control of the sound and don’t allow the E3 to go sharp. Place the last note by making a space between the trill and the C. That will make the end sound clear.

IV. “Shall Fade Away in Dreams”
    This is by far the easiest movement to play technically, but one of the hardest to play musically. The beginning must be pp, as soft as can be heard, and have a beautiful, singing voice about it. Remember my admonition: Always use vibrato. Just because it is soft doesn’t mean to squeeze the sound. Open up the air passage, use less air and more vibrato; the sound should shimmer underneath the ethereal tremolos. The crescendos are really a reminder to be musical, so let the sound rise naturally all the way through measure 16. Crescendo to the C3 but make a slight teardrop to end the solo.

    This entire movement is a variation on “The Wings of Song,” so the tempo of this movement should be a half note equals the quarter note of the first movement. Keep the feeling of two beats per bar to number 16. At 24, Andante con moto, the meter changes to 3/4, and the previous half note now equals a full measure or a dotted-half note.
    Maintain a lilt to the music, which should never be rushed but always move as water underneath a gondola. Avoid the tendency to slow down in quarter-note melodies. If you want a little rubato somewhere or a tenuto to bring out a note, do not do it on quarter notes. Good places for tenutos are at 32 and again at 36. Don’t overdo the expressive gestures.

As in Baroque music, the fewer ornaments you use the more effective they will be, and since this variation is actually an ornamentation of the original melody, anything added is also an ornament.
    At 40, start at mf and show the change of harmony with a little rubato. When the music repeats in measures 44-47, begin softly to produce an echo and make a smaller crescendo than you did in 42 and 43. 
    I disagree with the pp dynamic at 50. Use your best and most luscious low register sound and bring out all the woodiness of the piccolo you can muster. End the phrase segment on measure 53 and  treat the C in 53 as a pickup to 54. I believe the two low Fs in 52-53 should be slurred, just as the two Gs are in 56-57.
    The musical gestures at 69 are difficult and will require extra practice. The piccolo part is misleading because of the p subito and accelerando and crescendo markings. The subito applies only to the dynamic, not the accelerando. To make this four-bar accelerando and crescendo work, each beat should get gradually faster and louder. The accelerando should feel comfortable, not rushed, and the crescendo is only to forte. Everything about this passage should be controlled so that you arrive at the tempo of the first movement.
    The same control is necessary in measures 105-109, as the ritardando gently slows to the Andante con moto tempo of measure 24. The ending ritard should really start one measure later than marked with a healthy accelerando from the orchestra and a full ritard on the last beat for a convincing ending. As marked, make a crescendo in the next to last measure on the last part of the last beat followed by a full dimin­uendo to end the piece.

Playing Piccolo Concertos
    Before 1985 there were only four piccolo concertos that were widely known: the three Vivaldi concerti and one by Will Gay Bottje. That means that piccolo players never developed the art of concerto playing. Although all piccolo players played flute, the performance ability never seemed to transfer from the flute to piccolo. Now is your chance to practice a soloistic sound, such as a cellist or a violinist might have. The sound should be bigger and louder but not shrill, than when you play in an orchestra, band, or small ensemble.
    Piccolo players often seem afraid of the instrument. When trying to play softly, they squeeze and turn in, as though the piccolo is a loud instrument. It is not. When played poorly or by a beginner, it can be shrill in the upper register, but it need not be that way. Approach the piccolo as an instrument that can be expressive and have a pleasant, beautiful sound.
Most of the unpleasantness of playing piccolo comes from flutists’ inability to play the piccolo in tune. Most have conquered intonation on flute, but don’t have a clue about how the piccolo works. Piccolo fingerings are not the same as those for flute; the acoustics are very different, so it is unreasonable to think that flute fingerings will work on piccolo. Find out which fingerings are different and why, and your quest for good intonation will be much easier.
    Playing the piccolo is harder work than playing flute. You must always control the air column to avoid overblown notes, especially in the upper octave. Learn to use only enough air to get the note to speak and practice making it a beautiful sound. As on flute, the sound should be even throughout the three octaves.
    Playing a concerto is hard work. The movements are usually longer than any solo passage that you have played in an ensemble. Condition yourself so you can play the entire piece at your best level. Before performing a piece, I play it through two or three times a day, one right after another, just for stamina. I also have to play at full voice at least one hour before the performance to make the muscles ready. Then I can start with a full sound.
    Don’t start the performance by tuning and noodling in front of the ensemble. Warmup and tune beforehand. You should know where the pitch will be from the rehearsals, so a touch will make sure it is still in the neighborhood and your instrument hasn’t lost a pad between the green room and the concert stage.

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The French Influence
    Adorján embarked for the International Summer Academy in Nice for the first time in 1964. He was 20 and had already started to study dentistry. “The combination of my father being a doctor, and no musical background in the family, made my mother determined that I should receive a degree in something where the diploma would automatically give me a way of earning money. At first I wasn’t too interested in dentistry, but the more I did it, the more I liked it. In fact I can well imagine having led a life as a dentist and an amateur musician!
    “After 5 years of study, when I had received my dental diploma, and my mother was satisfied, I decided to see what type of life I could have as a musician. Studying for dental school was very time consuming, and as a result, I rarely had the opportunity to practice more than an hour per week. I don’t believe I accomplished a lot, but at least I didn’t lose anything. During these five years, however, I spent every summer in Nice studying with Rampal.”
    Rampal was very influential on Adorján’s outlook on music. “From Rampal I learned that music is an essential part of your life; that it is like eating or sleeping, and you have to live it. When you play, you are the music itself. Of course, I learned a lot of technical aspects, but my studies with him involved more hearing and absorbing. One could describe it as imitation, but I don’t like using this word. I prefer absorption. Only if he felt that there was something you didn’t understand, would he explain. Otherwise, he would just play for you. What an inspiration! I can still recall him playing every piece I ever heard from him.”
    In 1968, one week after finishing his dental studies, Adorján returned to Nice for the summer course. This time he asked Rampal if he could start studying with him and become his pupil during the year. “He said he was honored and would like to help me, but he had no teaching job. He said I couldn’t just take an airplane and follow him all around the world taking private lessons. Instead he suggested that I study with Aurèle Nicolet.”
    Adorján took Rampal’s advice and headed to Freiburg, Germany to study with Nicolet at the Musikhochschule. He left there in 1970, two years before his final exam and diploma, in order to accept his first appointment as principal flute in the Orchestra of the Royal Stockholm Opera in Sweden.
    The two years he spent with Nicolet were highly productive and influential to Adorján’s development as a flutist and musician. “He taught me all the basic things about flute. I think, however, that I should have studied with these two teachers in a different order. It would have been easier to put all the musical essentials that I learned from Rampal on top of the basics. Rampal assumed I knew the basics from Denmark, but I didn’t know enough. I had to start from scratch when I started with Nicolet. He could explain things very well. I was very lucky to have these two musical giants as my teachers. They were the best teachers in my life.
    “Everyone has different best teachers because they are an incorporation of many things. You have to be the pupil of the teacher, as much as he has to be the teacher for the particular pupil. Everyone isn’t always fortunate to have the right match immediately. The student and teacher have to be suited to each other. I have been very lucky to have found my best teachers.”

 
The French School
    “Before, we had two quite different schools of flute playing – the French and the German. Now there is only one school remaining. If you want to make a separation, you can only talk about a good or a bad school. Today the good seems to be a mixture of all the highlights of the French and the German schools.
    “It is extremely difficult to give a definition of these former schools. You may be able to say that the French style is more instrumental, and the German advocates a more analytical way of playing. The French school may sound more intuitive. I think it becomes evident when you listen to old recordings of French and German players.
    “Also, articulation is very different in the French and German schools – probably because of the language. The way Germans and French use their tongue when they speak is so different. Germans speak with the tongue quite far back in the mouth, and the French use their tongue more in front, touching the lips. Middle Europeans such as Hungarians, speak somewhere in between. It is not that the Hungarian language is especially good for flute, but the Hungarian language is so different from all the other languages that Hungarians have to learn more than one language. Most of us speak English, German, and French, so we learn to use the tongue in different ways, which helps flute playing. There’s more variety. I do in fact tongue differently depending on what the music demands. I even recommend to my students that they learn French if they are not originally French speaking.”

Orchestral Life
    After two years as principal in the Royal Stockholm Opera, from 1970 to 1972, Adorján and his wife, who is also a wonderful flutist, decided to make a move. “I liked it there – it was a good orchestra and nice city, but somehow Sweden was very far away from most of my concert engagements, which were in France, Germany or England. As my wife is German, we decided to move to Germany so that at least one of us could live in our home country.”
    In 1972 he won the audition in Cologne, Germany for principal flute in the Gürzenich Orchestra, which is also an opera orchestra. He held that position for a year, but found the orchestra’s heavy rehearsal and concert schedule prevented him from doing much solo work. He thought the best option to combine solo and orchestral work was to play in a symphony orchestra, but he still wanted to remain in Germany.
    “The best symphony orchestras in Germany are the radio orchestras. The job was open in the Südwestfunk Symphony Orchestra in Baden Baden, which is a very nice resort city. I emphasize that is a resort city, as it is a place where one should either be a child or a retiree. It was a nice job and a wonderful city but too quiet for me.
    “A year later the job in the Bavarian Radio Orchestra in Munich opened. I was successful at the audition and happy to move to Munich, the musical capital of Germany. In four years, I had played in three different orchestras. We had to move so often, each time with not only more and more furniture, but also each year with a new child. I arrived in Munich in 1974 and finally settled and stayed in this orchestra for the next 14 years.”
    In 1988 Adorján left the Bavarian Radio Orchestra to take a teaching job at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. He wanted to seek out more possibilities for his solo and chamber music career, as well as find opportunities to teach. He stayed at Cologne’s Musikhochschule for ten years until he received the same position as flute professor at the Musikhochschule in Munich.
    While he was teaching in Cologne, he maintained his residence in Munich, even though he was no longer playing in the orchestra. “My children were going to school there and I had friends and connections that I wanted to keep. It was quite a difficult time because I commuted between Munich and Cologne for 10 years. Fortunately a job in Munich opened up, and I could once again work in my city of residence.”

Current Projects
    Due to German government requirements regarding mandatory retirement age, Adorján retired from his position at the Muskikhochschule in Munich but will teach his current students until their graduation. Adorján continues to perform and teach internationally. His schedule for 2011 includes a performance and masterclass for the New York Flute Club (Feb. 26 and 27); masterclasses at Yale, Peabody, and the New England Conservatory; performances in Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Egypt, Japan and Australia; as well as serving on the jury for an international competition in Crakow, Poland. In March he will embark on a new recording project featuring works of Beethoven and Mozart to be performed with members of the Berlin Philharmonic.
    Adorján also continues to develop his interests in realms beyond performance. Along with co-editor with Lenz Meierott, he recently completed an expansive four-year project that compiled hundreds of flute-related articles into a 900-page German-edition tome: The Flute Lexicon (Lexikon der Flöte: Flöteninstrumente und ihre Baugeschichte Spielpraxis, Komponisten und ihre Werke, Interpreten, Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2009). Unfortunately for non-German speakers, it is only published in German, but Adorján has plans to make it available in other languages.
    Two other recent projects include the facisimile manuscript of the Schubert Variations and a documentary DVD, “The Dopplers and their Musical Effects” on the life and work of the Doppler brothers. This latter project Adorján presented at the British Flute Society convention in August, 2010, followed by a recital of three Hungarian works by Franz Doppler, Antal Doráti, and Adolf Terschak.
    Adorján began researching the Doppler brothers early in his flute career. As a young boy in Denmark his teacher assigned him Franz Doppler’s Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy. “When I opened the book, I immediately fell in love with it. I was amazed to discover a flute piece with Hungarian coloring.” Adorján headed for the library and found that there was not just one Doppler, but two. “I read about their lives and how they moved away from Hungary, and believed there were some parallels between us, which made me even more interested.”

Louis Lot Flutes and
Modern Tone Quality
     At the British Flute Society convention Nicolas Duchamp presented a concert using Philippe Gaubert’s 1874 Louis Lot flute, No. 1986. It was the second Louis Lot flute that I had the opportunity to play, and like the other I noted that the tone quality was distinctly lighter than that of contemporary instruments. I asked Adorján about his conclusions regarding this instrument.
    “The Gaubert flute doesn’t have a very big sound, if you don’t focus the air very carefully. You have to work a lot to get a good sound on it. It is not easy to play, but it has a beautiful sound quality. I hope the young flutists who heard it were as touched as I was. It is such a colorful flute. If this is the way the flute was played by Gaubert, we should return to looking for more quality than quantity in flute playing.
    “We have to somehow return to the flute being a flute. The trumpet is a beautiful instrument, but let the flute be a flute. We all have a strange complex about the low register. I hope it’s a matter of fashion, and it may soon change back to what it was before.”
    “For me, sound is more important than technique. Of course you need good technique, but that alone will never make people wish to hear you. A good sound is the real attraction. Learning technique, finger technique on flute, (thank you Theobald Boehm) is quite simple since everything is visible and logical. The aspect of creating a good sound is more mysterious. Tone quality is much more difficult to explain and to produce.
    “The role of the diaphragm and breath control is very important and also the stream of air, of course. The technique is very similar to singing. Most people might not realize it, but they can sing with correct technique. It’s a very natural way to use the muscles of your body. If you apply a singing technique to your flute playing, then your breathing will be better. I often ask my students to sing. At first they don’t want to because they are ashamed of singing out of tune. It is not the pitch that’s important, but how you use your body. Also for natural phrasing, singing is essential.”

Advice for Students
    His advice for his students and others who seek to audition for orchestras comes from his decades of experience. “Of course every orchestra demands something different, but when you take an audition, you cannot play with compromise. You cannot play pretending to be someone else. You have to play your best. If you are good, they will accept you, and then you can adapt once you join the orchestra. The conductor will help you and so will your colleagues. You will become a member – a part of that group. I think that no good orchestra will listen with prejudgment. They will look for a good musician.
    “In short: the essence of flute playing is not the flute playing; it is the music. We have the possibility of making music only on the flute but after a while the actual instrument must lose its importance. One should understand and play the flute well, but when making music, the public should not admire the flute playing, but should enjoy the music. This point should be made clear for students. Even though learning the instrument takes a significant part of our time and effort, when we are finally making music, flute playing should become the most insignificant aspect.”     

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