Musical Performance
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21 November, 2008
The Flute continue…

Repertoire

According to Berlioz the flute ‘is an instrument well-nigh devoid of expression, but which may be introduced anywhere and everywhere, on account of its facility in executing groups of rapid notes, and in sustaining high sounds useful in the orchestra for adding fullness to the upper harmonies.’ This is a fair description of the way the flute is generally written for in orchestral works, but there are many exceptions. The sounds of the middle and upper registers combine well with any ensemble and add lustre. The lower register lacks penetration but has a soft and seductive quality. ‘These low sounds‘, wrote Berlioz in his Treatise on Instrumentation, `are seldom, or else ill, employed by the majority of composers.’ All the great orchestrators have however always known how to write for the low register. (More…)

Playing Music with the Clarinet

The clarinet is generally described as being a stopped cylindrical tube, but in fact only roughly two thirds are perfectly cylindrical. Part of the tube leading to the bell is conical, and so is the mouthpiece, which does not hermetically seal the top.

These factors, plus the fact that the surface of the bore of the tube is not perfectly smooth on account of the key holes, all contribute to the complex timbre. Uneven harmonics are present in force in the lower register and diminish in number towards the higher, where even harmonics are present. (More…)



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