Creating Depth in Sound & Interpretation

If only Gustav Leonhardt had recorded the other movements of the Bach Partita! There's so much depth in this rendition, whether in terms of sound quality, understanding, and internalization of the music that I feel like you really get a glimpse of the universe.✨

While we can't play more notes than physically possible on the traverso, we can create some acoustical effects with the means that we DO have to expand our sound and expression. That means, understanding our instrument by experimenting with:

✅Slowing down the airspeed, reducing air pressure so that we get a pure tone with minimal noise around the sound.

✅Dropping the lower jaw and opening the nose to create more space and depth in the sound.

✅Training the lips to be flexible and knowing exactly how to move between registers. For example, the lips need to be a bit forward for the higher register, along with just a slightly higher air pressure. However, these are absolutely micro maneuvers which need to be internalized like a string player knowing exactly where to place the finger on the fingerboard. This feeling of security also requires great physical strength, which can only be built over time. Practicing with harmonics can be a good approach for this. Make sure you still create the best sound possible for the harmonic tones.
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✅At the end, it's like a singer who knows where each note is coming from in their body. You can test this by going over the piece of music inside you without your instrument, perhaps also fingering along. Can you recreate that sensation of playing, can you feel how the air would move inside you, how the embouchure would feel, how and where each note would resonate in your body?

I thought to use Bart Kuijken's recording of the Mozart C Major Flute Quartet as an example. Start from around 7:42 and listen especially to these phrases that involve only a few "simple" notes (the simpler the more difficult!). You'll hear that Bart's sound is completely calm, "straight" without the modern concept of vibrato, yet supple and flexible. It embodies musical tension which draws one's attention and leads you along note after note, phrase after phrase. Especially from the middle to higher register on the flute, we actually need an incredible amount of physical strength and support (strength in the embouchure and strength to manage the breath) so that it sounds elegant and deeply meaningful.  It is the way for us to bring out the essence of the expression AND to experience maximum joy and connection with this music. This is the way to create what I like to call a 3-dimensional sound.

As they say in German, "Strength lies in tranquility" (In der Ruhe liegt die Kraft)!