Many thanks to those who came out to our NFA talk last night! And for those who had to miss it, I'll share the YouTube link when it's up.
Here's a snippet of my part of the presentation, where I talk about not being afraid of irregularities in baroque music: Let's go back to the original meaning of the word "baroque", which has French and Portugese roots referring to an imperfect pearl. Although symmetry was important, baroque art also liked to celebrate a certain bizarreness. Take a look at that extravagant chalice from the Dresden royal treasures. We can find this parallel in music too. So for example, towards the end of Bach's Bourrée Angloise in his A minor Partita, I would recommend separating the E from the 16ths and make it a pickup to the next bar. This may sound odd and abrupt at first, and goes against how it's visually presented on the page (notes barred together), but it's actually more reflective of the harmony. You'd be actually showing Bach's humour and also enhancing the character of a bourrée. Compare playing this passage with that separation and without, and let me know what you think!
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Need some help with your German?
One online resource I like to use is https://www.vmii.org, which stands for Vocal Music Instrumentation Index. If you play J.S. Bach arias and need to understand the German text (which you should because you'll be even more amazed by Bach's ingenious qualities!), you'll be delighted to find high-quality English translations here. The site is well organized and also has a nice cataloging system which is easy to navigate. If I'm preparing a lecture, I direct my learners to here and also like to think through the translations myself, perhaps swapping out a word or two which I believe would represent better the nuance of the German language, not to mention also to just make sure that everything is correct. One word can make a big difference in the implied rhetoric, the emotion of the music! An example which shows up again and again in various translations is the aria "Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben" (St. Matthew Passion), which should translate to "Out of love, my Savior wants to die", not "will die". Practicing the art of translation is a fun thing for me! Here's that (in)famous Nr. 26 in Bach's Christmas Oratorio III - so what's happening here is that the shepherds say to each other "Let us now go to Bethlehem to see what God has made known (the birth of Jesus)." It should show the joyful expectation of the people. The general performance tempo can vary quite a bit here and there are some very tricky passages for the flutes, which are in unison with the strings. So here are some of my tips for all flutists playing it this season, which I hope can help one or the other! - It's not a solo, but a musical backdrop that shows the excitement of the people. I personally don't think it should be super fast, but you may not have a say about that. There are many nice details in the entire passage, beautiful and surprising turns both in the harmonic and melodic material, which would be a pity to just rush and gloss over. The dynamic should be a very exciting piano, using articulation to delineate and carve out the fun shapes. Think of it like people chattering and getting ready to go to see something amazing. (perhaps also consider, the text says "go", and not "hurry" or "flee")
- Make sure to keep the air flow constant, smooth, and slow enough for sound production. Due to nerves, we can easily tense up in the throat and then the air becomes kind of "crumbly", resulting in a loss of sound and ending up with only dull-sounding articulation noise. This may be hard to control and comes with performance practice, as the air speed goes easily up when we're stressed!
- Don't forget to look up and breathe, always. Et misericordia a progenie in progenies timentibus eum.
(And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations.) Here's the "Et misericordia" from J.S. Bach's Magnficat. Amanda Markwick and I talked about how Bach used some similar compositional devices here which he also used for the opening of his Matthew Passion - the 12/8 time triplet figures with a pulsating bass give a flowing musical gesture, perhaps reflecting the concept of "the flow of mercy throughout all generations”. The suspensions over the bar lines don't resolve in an obvious way, which also support the sensation of continuity. We can use the slurs to direct our air in a way that highlights both the small shapes of the triplet figures as well as the overall structure. This will mean there's a slight release of sound in each slur, doing a very subtle diminuendo but at the same time being conscious about directing the line further until the appropriate cadence. It's just like the bw image, which shows the fine details that make up the entire sculpture. We need to be conscious of both the small and large elements. This technique of subtly releasing the sound is one that's very crucial to baroque flute playing. It also simply works very well on the instrument and in this repertoire. We can use very little air to generate a sound on the traverso and the smaller instrumentation of earlier music makes these nuances noticeably audible. Try letting go of the air each time, it may feel like we're losing control at first, but that's ok. Adapting to this can take awhile but the more we do it, the more our body will internalize it and at the end, we'll be able to have a sound that's effortless and free-flowing! This is the main flute aria in J.S. Bach's Magnificat, scored for two flutes, alto voice, and pizzicato continuo. It's quite a special aria in the entire work due to a number of compositional devices Bach uses to portray the text. I'd like to focus on the first two bars, which give us an idea for the rest of the piece. The aria begins with a curious rhythm in the flutes, with ties from beats 1 and 3 which roll over to beats 2 and 4. There are also these staccato marks. Altogether, these characteristics raise a couple of questions, and a variety of solutions can be heard in different interpretations. How do we shape this motif? Should the 16th note on beat 2 (A in Fl.1, C# in Fl.2) be emphasized, like the melody goes towards it? What kind of "shortness" do the staccatos mean and should we apply them everywhere, including notes which don't have staccato marked? I'd like to begin by drawing attention to the text - there's an emphasis on "emptiness" in different contexts, represented by the words hunger and empty (perhaps empty-handed). Esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent away empty. This leads me to think that a kind of light and airy way of playing would help illustrate the idea of emptiness. Notice also Bach chose using a pizzicato bass, which also contributes to the overall "aerated" expression. Thus I don't think it's necessary to play the staccatos in a dry, literal sense, but rather Bach is just telling us to play those notes with light separation, separated from the next beat. In measure 1, since these staccato notes are the 8th notes of that "short-long" rhythm, it's a way to prevent us from playing them really to their full value. In measure 2, the staccato is again an indication for us to somewhat clip that note lightly, which will also help us to place the trill nicely and start the trill clearly. (a nice example of where we'd stop the air gently with the tongue) We can also use the bass pizzicato as our reference – a short note with a bit of ringing resonance. In this piece, this would be my general treatment of all notes which need to be light. Now, Bach uses another way to show "emptiness", which is with that opening rhythm mentioned earlier. Beats 2 and 4 are “missing” due to the tie from the previous note. Some interpretations choose to accent that off-beat (notes with asterisk marked above). If we look at the harmonies though, these notes are perfect examples of “escape notes”, which are non-harmonic notes that are first approached by step and then resolved through a leap. It’s a short “escape” before the resolution. Escape tones are generally unaccented. OK, so who says that? Can we just slap on a general rule to explain this case? Let's look at where the important dissonances are. Looking at the first flute part, the held G# creates a 6-5 suspension with the B natural in the bass on beat 2, the resolution being the F#. The same pattern applies afterwards – the held over E creates a 4-3 suspension, resolving on a D#, again against the bass B natural. Accenting the escape tones (A and F#) would not create a release of tension, which is necessary in order for these suspensions to be effective. Also, not all dissonances are created equal. In this case, the suspensions are in the foreground of the harmonic structure and are supported by the escape notes (but they're not less important, it always takes two to tango). Having the escape tones sound just slightly after the beat and in diminuendo is Bach's ingenious musical response to the concept of "emptiness", and it would be a pity to miss out on that. With these points in mind, I hope they shed light on how we can effectively shape this motif! Happy Halloween!🧡🖤 |
ABOUT THE BLOG:I got inspired to document my own observations in flute-playing and music-making. Also, I thought it's important to pass on the teachings of the great Wilbert Hazelzet, as well as many other mentors who have influenced my artistic visions one way or the other. Enjoy this potpourri of tips, inspirations, and musings. ✨CONTRIBUTE!✨Yes I love the writing that I do! If you love them as well, how about consider showing your appreciation with a personal contribution? TOPICS:
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