Here's a question from one of my readers which perhaps others may find helpful.

The question is - What's up with the pluses and squiggles?😅 (Boismortier Op. 8)

The signs suggest different types of trills. The pluses tend to happen on longer note values and the squiggly lines on shorter ones. So I would interpret the squiggly lines as a shorter, quicker trill (4 notes), very superficial and played absolutely lightly (using hardly any air at all, in diminuendo). It should just sound like something fluttering in the air. For the pluses, there will be more room for a slightly longer appoggiatura (but with varying lengths depending on the instance), starting perhaps a bit slower and then getting faster as time permits, and overall a longer trill. Lentement does mean slowly, but it is still indicated in 4 (the C) so we want to feel 4 big beats.
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If you're having trouble with this rhythmically, try to see if you can feel both the big pulse as well as the 8th at the same time. The longer trills will benefit from that inner subdivision.

We are once again slowly approaching the Easter season! I thought it would be useful to share one alternate fingering which I feel is an absolute must-know for baroque flutists. Namely, the second octave B-natural fingered as such: xoo xxx x

X means the hole is closed, which means for the key, you must not press on it.

When fingering this B with the standard fingering xoo ooo o, this note can be a little flat. The alternate fingering gives a higher pitch, and also allows us to play it with very little air, which makes blending with other instruments a lot easier. Make sure to bring down the pitch somewhat (using slow air) and since it speaks very easily, it's a great fingering to enable playing pianissimo AND not worry about being flat. The B can sit relaxed on top in delicate situations.

​One such delicate situation is the opening chorus of J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, where the first flute part of both orchestras are in unison with the first oboe. We'll look at the bracketed passage specifically. Because of the quite exotic harmony and the presence of notes like A# and G#, this passage deserves special care in terms of intonation and sound color. It works best if you can imagine you're wrapping around the oboe sound or dissolving into it. I've found myself using the alternate fingering for all of the B's here, and sometimes also in m. 6. Practice this passage with a drone on B. If you can play it soft, well in focus, and in tune, you'll be on the good way to playing well with your oboe colleague. Your lips should feel overall soft, relaxed, and no need to squeeze or pinch. I imagine it might be similar to walking on a tight rope with much confidence. If your lips end up trembling (or also your airstream for that matter), it means that you haven't developed the necessary fine muscles yet. Be patient with yourself and just keep practicing to build up this inner strength, your body will need time to trust and internalize all this coordination between embouchure and air moderation.

I would also suggesting using Gb instead of F# when in combination with G#. (xxx oxx o, another great fingering to discuss another time!). This gives you the chance to use similar techniques for groups of notes so that you can play efficiently and not needing to adjust much. We can thus define this passage as generally needing very little air, slow air, drawing the lips forward for focus and bringing the pitch down. You may have to watch that the A# is not too low, it should suffice if you'd aim a little higher with your lips. Due to the nature of this note, keep it soft and diffused so that you're not competing with the oboe on it. It works best to just stay in the background. 

If you substitute the B natural with the regular fingering or use the regular F# along with G#, you'll have to make huge adjustments to compensate along the way, making this passage a clumsy act. We'd lose pureness, homogeneity, and flexibility in sound, which then causes difficulty to blend well with others. We always want to achieve the maximum with the minimum. 

With quick changes between the higher and lower registers, the key to this phrase is letting the air go so that we create that sense of movement. This needs to happen basically in every bar. Lighten up a bit as you play the 8th notes in kind of a bouncy staccato style, and really retract the breath as the notes go up in m. 2. The C should hardly sound and only needs a wisp of air. 

We'll also have to decide what are the various nuances within a dynamic range. The most "energetic" measures are 2 and 4, the two 16th notes really propel the music forward and up into the air. M. 2 is a leap out of our low register and m. 4 goes even higher, plus the rest gives another element of suspense. Thus m. 4 contains the most tension out of all. To create that intensification, make the D sound a little longer and do less of a diminuendo compared to the parallel note in m. 2. We'd still want to retract the breath somewhat, but at the same time there's an intensification of intention which is almost like a crescendo. Also, don't worry about "being on time" after the 8th rest - it's much desired and far more effective to let your listeners hang a bit before the music carries on. The entire sonata has this playful use of rests as a powerful expression.  Keep in mind that all this will also depend on the acoustics - you may need to lengthen notes in a dry location, or stretch the rest even longer in a resonant one. These are all nuances on the micro-level but they'll make a noticeable difference. 

To summarize, I'd say that my intention is to show how the energy bounces around in this phrase. My intention is to create suspense through the phrase and lead my listener from one place to the next. Continuing with my image from last time, each measure in this phrase is like a "strand" of water which makes up this entire waterfall. Each of them has a specific shape, but they all contribute to one form, one gesture, one story. 

Imagine to have all sorts of textures, shades, and energy levels within your playing. Even in a "smooth" passage, there will still be fine details and nuances, just like this waterfall. Can your articulation be prickly? Can they sound like drops of water? Little icicles? In this case, you'll want to work your breath, make it succinct, bouncy, and using very little air. Imagine a small puffs of air (huh, huh), use a deep sounding vowel and use a mirror to make sure that the lips don't get involved and stay put. Working the breath with articulation is a way of engaging your whole "being" with the music, and not just simply using the tongue. On the baroque flute, a little goes a long way so try things little by little and observe their effects attentively. 

And sometimes there'll be passages where you'll use longer flows of air, but remember to always shape. Maybe the notes go a little upwards, try a crescendo with that. Maybe they'll go a little downwards, try a decrescendo. These can be minute differences and also, it's mostly about raising or decreasing an INTENTION, RATHER THAN PURELY VOLUME . Going up can be a sign of intensification, going down a relaxation. Remember that the word “dynamics” can also refer to a motion, a force, an energy. And there'll always be exceptions but these are good concepts to start with.

The long exposure in this image shows that the strands of water waver and are not even. So we see there's an overall form of the waterfall, but within it there are different shapes and details.  Music also hardly moves in a straight line and there are always nuances within a phrase, where different components make up an expression. The most interesting thing is always the path along the way towards the goal.

So last week I wrote some quick start-up tips on baroque ornamentation and the appoggiatura. I mentioned how it's always going to be a combination of historical information and personal interpretation. Let's see how this works in practice! 

Here's the beautiful opening of François Couperin's Premier Concert of his Concerts royaux. With the indication Gravement, we can understand the movement as having a sense of weight and seriousness (but still with a hint of tenderness as French music does!). I'll just concentrate on the first five measures - we can see how various appoggiatura lengths can be used and I'll go through my reasoning and analysis for each case. Depending on your screen size, you may want to open two browser windows to be able to refer to the music above. 

And before we start, I want to say it's my understanding that Couperin is a little vague regarding the appoggiatura between descending thirds (so-called tierce de coulée or other similar names) Although he seems to indicate in his L'Art de Toucher Le Clavecin that "the little lost note of the lower or upper appoggiatura" should be played on the beat, there are other instances where he diverges from this concept and have them as "passing".(as we often understand how the tierce de coulée is to be played) This will provide an interesting point to consider in the following passages.

The referred appoggiaturas are the ones that look like small 8th notes. 

#1 - The first A-appoggiatura is the typical port de voix (appoggiatura from below) followed by a mordent. It would make sense to place this on the down beat, not only does it create richness in sound with the base (also with mordent!), but also we already have the trill with termination beforehand with an A, so only this solution will give clarity and musical sense. The second A is what we'd consider as a tierce de coulée, and although you can certainly follow Couperin strictly by playing this on the 8th note value, there is a bit more elegance by playing this one as passing, especially since we already have the A-appoggiatura on the beat previously. Whether you play the appoggiatura as passing or on the beat, be sure to diminuendo, lighten up the sound and keep the A short. Compare yourself and see what you think. 

#2 - I'd play the E-appoggiatura on the beat (again achieving clarity and good separation from the previous E), either as an 8th or 16th note. I don't think I'd do anything shorter than that, in order to preserve the "serious" expression. The next two appoggiaturas are again interesting - they both seem like the tierce de coulées as we know them (and very typically happening in sequence). We COULD consider playing the C-appoggiatura on the beat (8th note value)to enhance the Gravement affect on this harmony (diminished chord), but then let the A-appoggiatura fall, making it passing and unaccented. We'd then play the mordent on the G on the beat, giving us that metric and harmonic support (7th chord in bass). It's otherwise a very common thing to have an appoggiatura on the beat followed by a mordent, but it feels a little awkward to do that here. 

#3 - G-appoggiatura definitely on the beat, and I'd play it as an 8th rather than 16th, perhaps also with mordent or even a little trill afterwards. I'd choose a longer appoggiatura here because it provides a nice relief after that fancy cadential trill happening before, again, thinking Gravement. Be sure to lean into the G nicely and then release on the A, even if you decide to do a mordent or trill on it. They must be very light and need only a wisp of air. 

#4 - It might be tempting to play the B-appoggiatura also a bit long (like a full 8th note), but we'd also have to consider the changing harmonies. In this case, a short appoggiatura is more suitable since we do want the C# to sound in the #6-4 chord. Again on the beat, with the same reasons like #1 and #3. Also, starting already from the turn after the A-mordent, all these short little notes help us gain a sense of moving forward toward the cadence.

So in just these measures, we've got a whole range of ways to determine and interpret just a little note, which in turn adds so much more expression and meaning to all these passages. Try them out and let me know what you think!