Corrente for Cesar

I feel the art of teaching is about how to make someone to not only understand your point, but feel so convinced and inspired that it leads them to understand other situations on their own.

One of the things that makes teaching music so hard is that we often work with exceptions rather than uniformity. For me, teaching a class means a lot of preparation work in finding the right words and expression. I strive to be clear and to find just the right metaphors to hopefully engage as many as possible. 

A case in point is a situation from my last workshop on J.S. Bach's Corrente from the Partita. I dove right into explaining historical articulation, crafting my language and visuals so that the concepts would appear as comprehensible as possible. Having chosen the passage starting from the half of m. 4 to illustrate articulation and dynamics, I remember thinking to myself that I should not forget to think about how to explain the very opening motif, because that actually goes somewhat against what I tried to illustrate with m. 4-10. Well, in the midst of all my preparations, I forgot.😅

And lo and behold, Cesar asked about it and it would have been a great opportunity to demonstrate how music or art (or everything in life?!) is full of contradictions and exceptions, that rules are only there to somewhat guide you but they don't overwrite everything. So here's for you Cesar!

To recap, I offered to my audience a very simple "Quick Tips in Interpreting Melodic Movement". As easy and as over-generalized as it may seem, they really do define how the majority of Western classical music functions and I know it's helpful for many. It goes like this: we crescendo with notes moving up, and decrescendo with notes going down.

Cesar's question was whether I would also apply that same concept in the opening bars up to m. 4. Well, yes and no. In principle yes, but not everywhere. The reason being that there is also the question of character and that can often supersede our neat little rules. It would be boring if everything fitted perfectly and it also shows that we have so many tools and elements to work with in music. So while a crescendo is a great thing to do in that first scale going upwards, I actually wouldn't do much nuancing between all those dramatic jumps in m. 2-3. Even if the basic outline of those bars is going down towards m. 4 (C-B-A-G#), there is a definite sense of rambunctiousness through that passage and not really an expression of delicacy. (which then contrasts beautifully with those falling scales starting mid m. 4). There are, however, still some little details we could do:

Those two 16ths in m. 3 give a lot to that defiant, rebellious character. To convey that, they need an impulse going towards the A 8th-note. So while one can sort of explain it as a slight crescendo through the notes G#-A, it's also very much about feeling and expressing that specific character. 

One may also consider to swagger that rhythm just ever so slightly, make it jump out of that low F (which is a terribly weak note on the baroque flute, we'll get to that lower voice in just a bit). I think it's worth staying in this stubborn character and thus only do a slight tapering through the trill, so that the cascades coming afterwards can start soft and have a different affect. OR, you can certainly diminuendo between the B and G#, which will give a softer feel, and use that as an effective repeat.

The lower line implied through the notes going down (A-G-F-E-D): again because of the character, I wouldn't think much about getting softer through those little steps. Stay in that stubbornness. A technical challenge here is to have these very low notes of the baroque flute sound as powerful as the higher notes. Thus, the important thing is to have a good solid sound, it doesn't need to be super loud, just give enough space for the notes to resonate. Don't squeeze with the embouchure or tongue too forcefully. Work more with the breath than anything else. 

And then, after all that earthiness, you can enjoy tumbling in the air....