The Story of the Flute/Chapter 11

by Henry Macaulay Fitzgibbon

Layout 2

CHAPTER XI.

THE FLUTE IN THE ORCHESTRA.^[1]

Introduction of the flute into the orchestra—The flute and piccolo as used by the great composers—Bach—His obligatos—Handel—His flauto-piccolo—Flute and organ—Gluck—Haydn—The Creation—Symphonies—Mozart—Disliked the flute—Symphonies—Serenades—Operas—Concertos—Beethoven—His famous flute passages—Weber—Meyerbeer—Piccolo passages—Italian operatic composers—William Tell overture—Mendelssohn—Midsummer Night's Dream—Symphonies—Oratorios—Schubert—Schumann—Use by modern composers—Berlioz—Flute and Harp—Brahms—Dvǒrák—The Spectre's Bride—Cadenzas—Grieg—Bizet's Carmen—Sullivan—The Golden Legend—Coleridge-Taylor—Wagner—Tschaikowsky—R. Strauss—Passages of extreme difficulty.

The flute is the leader of the wood-wind, and if judiciously used is one of the most telling instruments, and is capable of producing a great varietyEarly
Instances
of its Use of effects. The earliest representations of an orchestra rarely include a flute or any kind, but one in a Breviary of the fifteenth century, now in the Brussels Library, contains two flutes-à-bec. Fifes and a flute were included in a band which played instrumental intermezzi at a performance of Ariosto's Suppositi before Pope Leo at the Vatican in 1518. Flutes were used, along with lutes, in Corteccia's ballet music at the marriage of Cosmo I. and Eleanora of Toledo in 1539; and in Baltazarini's Ballet Comique de la Royne the music of which was composed by Salmon and Beaulieu in 1581. In this work each character is always accompanied by special instruments (as also in Monteverde's Orfeo), those of Neptune being flutes and harp. In Cavaliere's oratorio Anima e Corpo, produced at Rome in 1600, the orchestra included two flutes, whilst in Jacopo Peri's Eurydice (December, 1600), the earliest Italian opera, three flutes behind the scene played a Ritornello, whilst Tirsi, a shepherd, pretended to play a triple flute ("tri-flauto") on the stage. Here is what he played, the longest piece of instrumental music in the entire opera!—

Peri, Eurydice.

Claudio Monteverde, who is generally termed the founder of the orchestra, in his opera Orfeo (1607-8), introduces an instrument described as "Uno Flautino alia Vigessima secunda," which would strictly mean an instrument pitched an octave above the piccolo! Probably all the flutes mentioned in the above works were flutes-à-bec, the "flautino" being a little high-pitched whistle pipe.

Alessandro Striggio is said to have employed a transverse flute (along with two flutes-à-bec—"Tenori de Flauti") in his La Cofanaria (1566). If so, he is to be credited with the first introduction of a transverse flute into the orchestra, a distinction usually attributed to Giovanni Battista Lulli, who beyond all doubt used the instrument in several of his operas, sometimes allotting it an independent part. Lulli has two such flutes in Alceste (1674), and gives solo passages along with bass in his Songe d'Atys (1676). In his Isis (iii.) two "German" flutes play in thirds in a minor key to

Lulli, Proserpine.

represent the lamentations of Pan for the death of Syrinx. In Proserpine (iii.) he uses a third bass flute pitched a fifth below the others; in his Triomphe d' Amour (? 1681) we have a quartett of flutes; whilst in his Psyche (1674) we find no less than six flutes, two firsts, two seconds, and two bass. Some of these parts, however, were probably written for flutes-à-bec. Lulli invariably uses the flute to express pathos, sadness, and melancholy, an example which has been largely followed.

J. S. Bach, living under Frederick the Great, naturally paid considerable attention to the favourite instrument Bachof that monarch. The treatment of the flute by Bach and Handel is particularly interesting, owing to the fact that they lived at the period when the flute-à-bec was being gradually superseded by the transverse flute. They each make use of both kinds. Bach uses the flutes much more freely than Handel, and gives them much more difficult passages—many indeed require very considerable executive skill on the part of the performer. He frequently employs the entire compass of the transverse flute of that day, which Handel hardly ever does.

Many of Bach's cantatas have parts for one or two flutes. In these works we find almost every possible combination of the flute with the other instruments used, with one noticeable exception—viz., flute and bassoon, a combination very usual in Handel and Haydn. In the earlier works Bach uses the flute-à-bec. He hardly ever uses both it and the transverse flute in the same work, and never in the same piece. The probability is that both varieties of flute were played by the same performers. It has been suggested that the flutes and oboes were so played, but as they are frequently used together in the same piece, this cannot have been the case as a general rule, although undoubtedly many early flautists did also play the oboe.

Bach is fond of flute obligatos, and many (along with all varieties of voice, but chiefly with soprano) are to be found in these cantatas. Some of Bach's
Flute
Obligatos them are extremely florid and difficult, abounding in iterated notes and arpeggios. These obligatos are sometimes written for a single flute, sometimes for two flutes playing in unison or else playing independent parts. We often find two flutes and bass forming the sole accompaniment, whilst occasionally the organ alone Is combined with the two flutes. No. 170 contains an alto solo with a remarkable rapid obllgato on the flute and organ combined.

Bach often uses the flute to express the sentiments contained in the text. In No. 122 three flutes play a chorale (by Cyrlacus Schneegass) to represent Bach's
use of the
flute angels singing. In the cantata "O Holder Tag," at the words "Be silent, at the words "Be silent, flutes," they play weak, dying-away notes. He frequently introduces flutes when tears are referred to. Thus in the St. Matthew Passion, at the words "May the drops of my tears have agreeable perfume for thee," two flutes play passages like cascades of pearls.

Bach frequently combines oboes with flutes, often in unison, sometimes in harmony. He very rarely combines the flute with a single stringed instrument obligato, although the combination of flute and violin, or flute and violoncello piccolo (No. 115)—and also of flute and horn—are very occasionally to be met with in the cantatas. In the chorales to his Passions and elsewhere the flutes, first oboe, and first violins as a rule play the same part as the soprano voices—the flutes being an octave above the voices; but in some choruses the flutes play the same part as the tenor voices, just as in some of the instrumental portions they play along with the violas, the violins and oboes playing the top part. This treatment of the flute as a tenor instrument is very remarkable. He occasionally makes effective use of the low holding notes, and frequently writes passages on the low register, which, if played under modern conditions as regards the balance of strings and wind, would be quite inaudible. Probably he doubled them on the organ, or very possibly several flutes played the same part—a custom which was quite usual in early times; we frequently find the directions "All the first flutes," "All the second flutes." In order to obtain the proper balance of tone in the works of Bach's era the orchestra should contain nearly as many flutes as first violins. When played by the huge orchestras of to-day, many of the delicate wind passages in the works of the great composers of the past are completely drowned by the mass of strings—e.g., the flute turns in the first movement of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony and the flute and bassoon passages in the finale to Mozart's Symphony in C.

I have only noticed two instances in the cantatas of the use of the "flauto piccolo" (probablyFlauto-
Piccolo
in Bach a small flute-à-bec); in No. 96 it is given a very florid part, without any flute; and in No. 103 it is employed to express the joy of the world, in the midst of which the flute interjects a short melancholy motif by way of contrast.

Bach has, in his flute parts, anticipated almost every device adopted by more recent composers, save that he

Bach, Suite in B minor.—Polonaise.

does not give it chromatic passages and uses accidentals very sparingly. He has used it to express grief, melancholy, softness, delicacy, feebleness, also as a pastoral instrument and expressive of joy and mirth; even occasionally to depict the supernatural and the anger of the Gods. He rarely introduces a flute into his purely instrumental writings. The Suite in B minor (which was a favourite with Mendelssohn), is for four strings and flute. The "Polonaise" in this work is for flute and bass only, the former being given a bravura variation; the flute is also very prominent in the bright "Badinerie." Bach has also written a concerto in F

Bach, ib. Badinerie.

major for flute, oboe, violin, and trumpet, two for flute, violin and clavier, and one for two flutes and clavier —all with string accompaniment.

Handel employs the flute much less frequently. Quite a large number of his operas and oratorios haveHandel no flute part; The Messiah, for instance (to which, however, Mozart has added a flute and also a piccolo part). In many works he introduces the flute in one or two numbers only; in none is it used anything approaching continuously throughout, as it often is by Bach. Handel's flute parts do not contain a single really difficult passage. Strange to say, his few "flauto piccolo" passages are harder and much more elaborate than those for the flute (he hardly ever uses both instruments together); the piccolo solo in Rinaldo being about the most difficult he ever wrote for any kind of flute. Handel rarely travels beyond the two octaves D′ to D′′′ of the flute

(it is to be noticed that the compass of the older flutes-à-bec was two octaves as a rule); occasionally we meet an E′′′, very rarely an F′′′, and I have only noticed a single case in which he has written a G′′′ for the flute. He uses the three lowest notes F to D much less frequently than Bach, who introduces them freely. Though he sometimes uses flutes in tutti movements along with oboes, trumpets, bassoons, and occasionally horns, as a rule, like Bach, he reserves them for special effects and to accompany vocal solos or duets. Although Handel introduced the transverse flute in a work written in 1705, in his earlier operas he almost exclusively uses the flute-à-bec, which instrument he continued to employ throughout his whole career, including his last work, The Triumph of Truth and Time (1757). But this production was really a rechauffé of an earlier work written in 1708, and it is interesting to notice that in some numbers where the flute-à-bec was used in 1708, the transverse flute is substituted for it in the later version. One number in this version in which the flute-à-bec is retained is taken bodily from his early opera Agrippina. In Giustino, i. 4 (1737), he uses a bass flute-à-bec, and in Riccardo (iii. 2) we have the solitary instance of his use of a bass transverse flute. It tranposes from F minor to G minor, and is allotted a melody, extending from G′ to B′′♭, the accompaniment being

played on violins and violas only. Sometimes Handel uses both forms of flute in the one work. Thus in La Resurrezione (1708) and in Rodelinda (ii. 5) we have two flutes-à-bec and also a transverse flute—in the latter work they are used simultaneously, the transverse flute playing the lower part—and in Tamerlane (iii. 5) two flutes-à-bec and two transverse flutes, one of each kind playing together in unison. Occasionally parts are marked for "flauto ou traverso," to be played on either kind of flute.

The famous obligato to "Oh, ruddier than the Cherry," in Acis and Galatea, has a rather interesting"Oh,
rudderier
than the
Cherry" history. In the first Italian version of the Serenata (1708) the flute-à-bec only is used, but this song does not occur in it, being first introduced in the English version published about 1720, where it is marked "flauto"—i.e., flute-à-bec. In the second Italian version (1732) we find the transverse flute used throughout,

Handel, Acis and Galatea, "Oh, ruddier than the Cherry."

but again this song is omitted. When Mozart re-scored the work, he gave this obligato to a transverse flute, adding some beautiful and characteristic passages, whilst Mendelssohn allotted it to two flutes. At the Ancient Concerts (London) it used to be performed on a flageolet, but nowadays it is usually played on a piccolo; possibly by way of a joking reply to the monster Polyphemus' demand for a pipe for his capacious mouth! Surely if Handel had intended this he would have marked it "flauto piccolo." In this very work the florid accompaniment to "Hush,Handel's
Flauto-
Piccolo ye pretty warbling choir" was originally so marked, though it is now always played on a flute. (By the way, "The heart the seat of soft desire" was originally written for two flutes-à-bec). Handel used the "flauto piccolo" on several

Handel, Acis, "Hush, ye pretty warbling choir."

other occasions. The most notable of these is the very elaborate obligato and cadenza (which last is omitted in the later version of 1731) to Almirena's song, "Augelletti," in Rinaldo (1711). This part was marked "flageolet" in the original autograph score, but it was altered to "flauto piccolo" in Handel's own writing. Addison in The Spectator, Nos. 5 and 14, has a most amusing description of this scene as performed at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, where sparrows flew about the stage and put out the candles; Addison calls the instruments used "flagellets and bird-calls." The "flauto piccolo" is allotted another very similar obligato in Riccardo (iii. 10). It is also used in the "Tamburino" in the ballet music in Alcitia (1735), whilst in the "Menuet" in the Water Music (1715) several "flauti piccoli" play in unison with the

Handel's Rinaldo. Cadenza for Piccolo.

strings, but it is doubtful whether the names of these instruments were specified by the composer. The compass used in the passage in Alcina is from F′ to G′′ only,

but those in Rinaldo and Riccardo extend to the D′′′ above this, and that in the Water Music to the high E′′′, Probably all these passages were written for a small flute-à-bec, and not for a transverse piccolo, which would therefore appear never to have been used by Handel; but it is to be noticed that in some cases they are written in the same key as the non-transposing instruments, whereas in others the contrary is the case. The same discrepancy occurs in the parts marked "flauto." It will be recollected that the flute-à-bec was a transposing instrument.

Several other flute obligates of note occur in Handel's works. Probably the best known is the soprano aria, "Sweet Bird," in Il Penseroso.Handel's
Flute
Obligatos The flute part is very florid and showy throughout, and an old critic has drawn attention to the admirable manner in which the words "Most musical, most melancholy," are treated. We have another bird-song in Joshua (1747), "Hark, 'tis the linnet [violin] and the thrush" [flute]. Apollo and Dafne has an important flute obligato to the duet, "Deh lascia." Like Bach, Handel uses the flute to convey the idea expressed by the words, as in "Softest sounds" in Athalia (i); with its thin string accompaniment, in order that the weak notes of the flute may not be drowned. Again, we find in Jephtha a remarkable flute obligato, "In gentle murmurs," and the words, "Tune the soft melodious lute, pleasant harp, and warbling flute," naturally are accompanied by a solo flute part, which instrument is also employed in solo passages and trills to illustrate "the soft-complaining flute" in St. Cecilia's Day,Flute and
Organ where the flute is used in combination with the lute and organ. The flute is introduced to represent tears in Deborah (iii. 5), "Tears such as fathers shed," being accompanied by two flutes and organ. This combination is also used in Alexander Balus, "Hark! he strikes the golden lyre," and in the famous "Dead March" in Saul. On one occasion when the present writer was playing at a public performance of this work, the second flute was horribly out of tune; at the conclusion of the number the second flautist discovered that he had left his bandana handkerchief (with which he cleaned his flute) in the tube all the time!

It has been pointed out that Handel uses the organ to accompany the flute in preference to the pianoforte, probably as being more similar in tone.Handel's
Treatment
of the Flute The combination of flute and bassoon, never used by Bach, also of flute and horn, occurs several times in Handel's works. In Solomon (1748) we find a curious obligato for a solo oboe, accompanied by all the flutes in unison. In La Resurresione and in Parthenope (iii. 6) the flute is used in conjunction with the Theorbo (bass lute). It is evident that, though he once declared that all flautists were intelligent, the flute is used by Handel more or less as an appendage to the orchestra rather than as a regular constituent member of it, the number of flutes employed being less than that of the other members of the wood-wind. Rousseau says Handel's usual orchestra contained but two flutes as against five oboes and five bassoons, and at the Handel commemoration in 1784 there were but six flutes, whereas the number of oboes and bassoons was twenty-six each. This preference for the double-reed tone is also very marked in Bach's writings, and even, though in a lesser degree, in those of Mozart. A notice in the General Advertiser of October 20th, 1740, announcing "a concerto for twenty-four bassoons, accompanied by a 'cello, intermixed with duets for four double-bassoons accompanied by a German flute," ridicules this predilection.

Many of Handel's flute passages were specially written for Karl Frederick Weidemann (said by Burney to have been a fine player), his principal flautist, who visited England about 1726.

Gluck seems to have been particulary fond of the flute and has written some lovely music for it. He has caught its true characteristics betterGluck than any other composer or his time. As a rule his flute passages are simple, though he writes freely up to the top G′′′ or even A′′′. In scenes of melancholy and grief he uses the solo flute with most telling effect. The most notable example is the famous scene in Orpheo, where he employs the flute to express the desolation and solitude of the bereaved Eurydice. This unrivalled passage has been thus described by Berlioz: "On voit tout de suite qu'une flûte devant seule en faire entendre le chant. Et la melodie de Gluck est conçue en telle sorte que la flûte se prête à tous les mouvements inquiets de cette doulour eternelle, encore emprunte de l'accent des passions de la terrestre vie. C'est d'abord une voix a peine perceptible qui semble craindre d'être entendue; puis elle gémit doucement, s'eleve a l'accent du reproche, à celui de la douleur profonde, au cri d'un cœur déchiré d'incurables blessures et retombe peu à peu à la plalnte, au gemissement, au murmure chagrin d'une âme résigneé. . . .quel poète!"

Gluck, Orpheo.

The desired effect is sometimes produced by a few notes only. Thus in Iphigenie en Tauride (ii. 4), at the words "II a tué sa mére," Orestes utters a cry, "Ah! ah! ah!" and the flutes play these three notes

with thrilling effect at each "ah"; and in the same opera (iv. 4), at the words "Cruel! ìl est mon frère," the F and D sustained on two flutes for three bars create an impression of sadness. In the scene on the border of the enchanted river in Armide (ii. 3), the flute, during the sleep of Renaud, plays a dainty

Gluck, Armide, ii. 3.

ritornelle which "expresses the voluptuous languor of the soul of the hero under the seduction of the magician's art; we seem to see the lovely landscape, smell the perfume of the flowers, and hear the birds sing."^[2]

Gluck was the first composer to discover the value and effectiveness of the sonorous, rich notes of the lowest register of the flute; striking examplesGluck's
use of the
Piccolo will be found in Alceste. As a rule these flute solos are accompanied by strings only. He is also one of the first writers to make use of the piccolo; he introduces it with dramatic effect in Iphigenie en Tauride (using it right up to the top G′′′), where we have double trills on two piccolos—as afterwards used by Weber and Meyerbeer.

Hitherto the flute had been used in a fitful manner, chiefly to produce special effects and for obligatos, but with Haydn and Mozart it becomes a regular and indispensable member of the orchestra, being frequently combined with other instruments and no longer almost exclusively confined to solo passages. Haydn evidentlyHaydn had a great predilection for the flute, and has written largely for it, using it much more freely than any of his predecessors. In fact, the wind instruments were only beginning to be understood by composers—as Haydn remarked pathetically to Kalkbrenner, "I have only just learned in my old age how to use the wind instruments, and now that I do understand them, I must leave them." Many of Haydn's symphonies have very prominent solo passages for the flute; especially in the slow movements. In a symphony composed in 1788 (Biedermann's ed. No. 3), the andante movement contains quite a long solo for the flute accompanied by two violins only. As the Esterhazy band included only a single flute-player (Hirsch was his name), Haydn often only uses one. Sometimes the flute is only introduced in a single movement, and is the only wind instrument used in that movement.

In The Creation we find several graceful flute solo passages; and in the lovely introduction to the third part, three flutes are used to depict the earthly paradise. The third flute was apparently to be played

Haydn, The Creation, "On Mighty Pens."

by the oboe-player, as it is written into his part. Macfarren has said of this passage, "The morning of

Haydn, The Creation. Opening, Part III.

the world, with all the freshness and stillness of our loveliest summer-tide experience, might by such gentle sounds indeed be wakened to find the pulse"The
Creation" of nature vibrating in soft harmonies like priestly voices from the ancient statue [of Memnon] to greet its dawning." Haydn shows great skill in combining the flute with several other instruments; thus in the opening of his "Military" symphony we have one flute and two oboes playing quite long and delightfully fresh passages entirely alone. Duets for

Haydn, Military Symphony.

flute and bassoon in octaves frequently occur in his works, and, like Mozart, he is fond of writing melodiousHaydn's Symphonies passages for the flute, clarinet, and bassoon in three distinct octaves. The finale to the Seventh Symphony has a regular solo for two flutes in thirds. His flute passages avoid the notes at either extreme of the compass, and as a rule lie between F′ and F′′′. They have a delightful freshness and are skilfully written to display the beauties of the middle register of the old flute. He often gives the flute a little ascending passage quite

alone at the end of a phrase or movement, as in the Largo of the Twelfth Symphony—

The flute does not take nearly so outstanding a part in Mozart's music as it does in that of Haydn. He hardly ever gives it a solo of any lengthMozart or prominence. He does not consider it a necessary part of his orchestra: his first eight symphonies, and several others written quite late in life, and also his Requiem, have no flute parts. In each of his three great symphonies he only uses one flute. Apparently he shared the opinion of Cherubini, of whom it is related that once when a conductor, whose orchestra included only a single flute, complained piteously "What is worse than one flute in an orchestra?" the master replied laconically, "Two flutes"—meaning thereby that they are never in tune—or as the old German joke has it, "nothing is more dreadful to a musical ear than a flute concerto, except a concerto for two flutes."^[3] As a matter of fact, Mozart did not like the flute and had a profound distrust of flute-players, for the same reason as that given by the Greek, Aristoxenus, who complained that the flutes of his day were continually shifting their pitch and never remained in the same state. The onlyHis dislike
of the flute flautist whom Mozart seems to have liked was one J. Wendling, of whom he said, "He is not a piper, and one need not be always in terror for fear the next note should be too high or too low; he is always right; his heart and his ear and the tip of his tongue are all in the right place, and he does not imagine that blowing and making faces is all that is needed; he knows too what Adagio means."

In several symphonies a flute is introduced into the slow movement only, and in the early works the flutesMozart's
Symphonies are generally in unison with the violins. The first symphony in which the flute has any independent part is the fourteenth. In the Twentieth Symphony we find a part marked "flute obligato" in the andante, but it is in unison with the first violins almost throughout.

In the Serenades the flute is much used. In the ninth the trio is for flute and bassoon (a very favourite combination with him), whilst the Rondo contains the nearest approach to a real flute solo in all Mozart. It is of quite considerable length and is accompanied by the strings. In another trio in this serenade Mozart's
Serenades a "flautino" (i.e. piccolo) is named along with two violins and bass, but no notes are written for it. In the fifth the two flutes have a great deal to do, and in one of the trios the second flute is given a solo accompanied by the strings.

Although Mozart never introduces the piccolo into any of his symphonies, we find it in several of hisHis Piccolo
Passages Operas, and above all in his Minuets and Dances. In a contre-danse entitled "La Bataille" the piccolo plays the part of Hamlet, whilst in another two piccolos play along with two oboes. Mozart uses the piccolo in these works in all sorts of combinations: sometimes it plays with the bassoons, sometimes with the violins, once with the lyre. Sometimes the piccolo plays the accompaniment along with the second violins, whilst the first violins and bassoon play the melody. In one dance we have a piccolo and two flutes playing together, and ending up with a solo piccolo run and shake. Mozart seems to have been fond of trying curious and unusual combinations: in his Twenty-seventh Symphony we find two flutes combined with the viola in thirds; in several we have passages for two flutes and two horns alone; the Fifth Divertimento is for two flutes (which play the melody), five trumpets, and four drums (in C, G, D, and A) only. This and another similar composition were written by Mozart whilst at Salzburg in 1774, probably for some special occasion.

The flute is again used along with the brass and drums in the finale to Act ii. of The Magic Flute with great effect to portray Tamino (originallyMozart's Operas acted by a flautist named B. Schack) with his flute overcoming the brute forces of Nature. This weird melody on the solo flute may be compared to the famous solo in Gluck's Orpheo.

Mozart, Magic Flute Overture.

Although the flute is not so much used in this opera as we should have expected from its title, the magnificent overture contains several important passages for the instrument. Skilfully written flute passages also occur in the overtures to Don Juan, Cosi fan Tutti, and L'Enlévement au Serail, in which, by the way, the piccolo part descends to low C♮ in Bretkopf and Härtel's edition—possibly this is meant for the flute only. In this opera the piccolo is much used (occasionally one in G), and is sometimes given quite florid passages; as also in The Magic Flute. It will thus be seen that, notwithstanding his prejudice, Mozart scores for the flute very considerably; chiefly in rapid, bright passages. It is to be noted that he always uses the middle and upper registers; in fact, the lowest register is practically never used by

Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven. Like the other composers of his day, Mozart rarely travels above F′′′.

Mozart has written two concertos for the flute—one was first performed by Cosel in 1774; the other was composed in 1778 for Deschamps, a rich Indian Dutchman who played the flute, and whom Mozart calls "a true philanthropist." Also a concerto in CHis
Concertos for flute and harp, a bright, melodious work with a fine andante. This last was written in 1770, when Mozart was at Mannheim, and had fallen in love with Aloysia Weber. The composer, though disliking both instruments, wrote the work at the request of the Duke de Guisnes (an amateur flautist) and his daughter, who played the harp. It is said that the Duke was niggardly in his payment. Mozart also wrote an Andante in C for the flute, with an accompaniment of oboes, horns, and strings; and two quartetts for flute and strings. The flautist Furstenau bears testimony to Mozart's perfect knowledge of the instrument, its technique, and easily-attained effects.

Beethoven's symphonies abound in fine flute passages, written with consummate skill; there is not one in which the flute has not something important to play. The Fifth Symphony has a curious passage of contrary motion for the flute, oboe, and clarinets; when this was first performed the audience

Beethoven, Fifth Symphony.

considered it to be a joke on the composer's part. The most remarkable flute passage in the immortal nine is

that known as "Langage des Oiseaux," at the conclusionThe
Famous
Passage
in the
"Pastorale" of the andante in the "Pastorale" Symphony, where, amidst the murmurs of the stream, we suddenly hear the voices of the cuckoo (clarinet), quail (oboe), and nightingale, the last-named being reproduced by a trilling passage on the flute. Grove says that these "imitations, or rather caricatures," were intended by Beethoven as a joke of the most open kind, and adds "how completely are the

Beethoven, Pastorale Symphony.

raw travesties atoned for and brought into keeping by the lovely phrase (on the violin) with which Beethoven has bound them together and made them one with the music which comes before and after them." But this "joke" view has not been shared by other critics of note. Teetgen writes poetically:—

"At last the brook is still, the trees rustle no more: we have already once said farewell to the soft babbling that long kept us spell-bound. Quail, cuckoo, and nightingale are alone still heard.—Beautifully imagined! as it were also saying 'farewell' to the sympathetic wanderer up the vale; who, only another human form of them, had stayed so long with them, loving them like their brother, enchanted by their song—enchanted in Nature's bosom."

An American critic dissects the passage more coldly:—

"Neither the nightingale, the quail, nor the cuckoo sings precisely thus. The nightingale does not imitate itself in the proportions of the musical scale; it only makes itself heard by inappreciable or variable sounds, and cannot be imitated by instruments of fixed intervals and absolute pitch. The quail has been well rendered as to its usual rhythm, but not in relation to its pitch and quality. As to the cuckoo, it gives the minor third, not the major."

At the conclusion of the opening movement of this symphony the flute is given a very dainty and characteristic ascending passage, the rest of the orchestra being

Beethoven, Pastorale Symphony.

silent. In the "Storm" section the piccolo is usedPiccolo in
Beethoven with fine effect. Beethoven was the first to introduce this instrument into a symphony, and he uses it also in the Fifth and

Ninth Symphonies ("like golden braid on tapestry, lending dazzling glitter to the design"), in the overture to Egmont, in his Ruins of Athens, King Stephen, and

Beethoven, Overture to Egmont.

the "Battle" Symphony (op. 94), where he assigns to it "Rule Britannia" and "Marlbrook," the latter in a minor key to typify that the French were defeated. He never uses two piccolos.

In the overture Leonora, No. 3, the flute plays an ascending scale from the low D upwards, followed by aThe Passage
in "Leonora,
No. 3" gay succession of rapid sequences in the upper register. This very prominent passage is written for the first flute only. Owing to the weakness of the low register of the flute, the earlier portion of the ascending scale is not heard as a rule.

On one occasion a very celebrated conductor at a rehearsal of this work desired all three flutes to play the scale in unison. The first flautist refused to allow this, on the ground that Beethoven wrote it for one

Beethoven, Overture, Leonora, No. 3

flute only, and that it must be so played. Both were obstinate on the point, a quarrel ensued, and the first flute soon after threw up his post.

Weber may almost be said to have inaugurated a new era in scoring for the wood-wind. His treatment of the flute in Der Freischültz is very remarkable.Weber Berlioz says of the sustained notes in "Softly sighs": "There is something ineffably dreamy in these low holding notes of the two flutes, during the melancholy prayer of Agltha, as she contemplates the summits of the trees silvered by the rays of the night

Weber, Der Freischütz, "Softly sighs."

planet." Weber makes the listener almost shudder in the Wolf's Glen scene, by giving the two flutes long sustained chords on the low register while Caspar is mixing the ingredients for the magic bullets.

The weird effect thus produced somewhat resembles that in Wagner's Lohengrin (ii. 2), where Elsa says "Wer ruft? wie schauerlich und klagend ertönt mein Name durch die Nacht," whilst the two flutes sustain C♭ and A♭ pianissimo.

In this same scene of Freischültz we find the two flutes on their low register playing in unison with the second violins to produce a

Weber, Der Freischütz.

veiled and gloomy impression, and later on to express agitation. In Oberon (ii) the flute is used to create a fairy effect, the first flute and first clarinet playing the melody, whilst the second flute and second clarinet play arpeggios with contrary motion. Weber is fond of arpeggios on the flute and also of blending the flutes and clarinets together. He very frequently uses the flute in unison with the voice. In Euryanthe, when the heroine is deserted in the forest, it is the flute that voices her desolation. He also makes full use of the middle and upper registers, and has written many bright and florid flute passages:—e.g., the overture to

Weber, Preciosa Overture.

Preciosa. The flute is very prominent throughout all his operas—he writes well for it and gives it good, full, and melodious parts; I would instance Killian's song in the first scene of Freischültz, where the flute plays a

Weber, Der Freischütz. Killian's Song.

Weber, Der Freischütz. The Hermit's Song.

lively little tune in octave with the solo 'cello, and the Hermit's song in the finale of the same opera; the

Preciosa, ii, Lied No. 6.

lovely woodwind passage at the opening of the third scene in Preciosa, the Lied, No. 6, in the same, and the

Weber, Oberon, Finale, Act II., " Let us sail over the sea."

Finale to Act II. of Oberon. The fifth and sixth bars of the overture to Oberon contain a prominent descending passage for the two flutes in thirds pianissimo along with the clarinets.

Weber, Overture to Oberon.

I have dwelt at some length on Weber, as his writings show a more complete grasp of the possibilities of the flute than those of any of his predecessors;Weber's
use of the
Flute I might almost add, than most of his successors. Moreover, they are most grateful to the player, are eminently playable, and present no great difficulties of execution. He also uses the piccolo in a very original manner to produce a startling and weird effect, as in the ghost scene in

Weber, Der Freischütz. Caspar's song.

Freischütz and in Caspar's drinking song, The mocking effect of the shakes on two piccolos is termed by Berlioz a "diabolic sneer," and "a fiendish laugh of scorn" when repeated at the words "Revenge, thy triumph is nigh." But Weber does not always employ the piccolo in this manner. We find two piccolos used in the Bridal March in Euryanthe, in Oberon, and in Preciosa (ii.), where they have a remarkable passage. In the

Weber, Preciosa, Opening Chorus, 2nd Act.

last-named opera (sc. viii.) we have the piccolo combined with the clarinet, with an accompaniment of bassoon, horns, drums, triangle, and tambourine—no strings. Another curious combination occurs in the Cantata on Waterloo, where the Grenadier's March is written for two piccolos and side drums only, along with the voices.

Meyerbeer was very fond of the piccolo, especially in scenes of devilry, and introduces it largely into all hisMayerbeer
and the
Piccolo operas. Thus in Robert le Diable it is largely used in the Baccanale and the Valse Infernale (i.) and in the frantic dance of the condemned nuns (iii.). In the Couplets Bachiques in Le Prophete (v.) a telling effect is produced by a few piccolo notes, along with harps and flutes, and in the Benediction of the Daggers in Les Huguenots it creates an almost savage effect, where at the word "strike" it represents the clinking of iron. In Robert le Diable it represents the whistling of bullets. In Dinorah lightning is imitated by means of an ascending scale on the piccolo, the flute playing a descending scale in the opposite direction. In his Kronungs March we find two piccolos

Meyerbeer, Robert le Diable, Valse Infernale (for voices, piccolo, trumpets and cornets, trombones, tuba, triangle and cymbals).

and two flutes all playing separate parts simultaneously. Two piccolos and two flutes soli are used in L'Êtoile du Nord, and in the Soldiers' March there are four piccolos on the stage, but they play only two distinct parts. In

Ib. Dance of the Nuns.

the overture to Dinorah we again find two piccolos and two flutes used. He frequently uses the piccolo without the flute, and sometimes in very curious combinations—e.g., with the cor anglais or with the bass clarinet. "Piff", paff," sung by the soldier Marcel in The Huguenots (i.) is accompanied solely by the piccolo, cymbals pianissimo, four bassoons, big drum, and double bass pizzicato; the piccolo, as an introduction, shaking successively on G, G♯, A, and B. This song gave rise to Rossini's sarcastic comment, "musique champetre." In the finale to Act I. we find the piccolo, viola, bassoons, and trombones united; in the Bohemian rondo (act iii.) we have the piccolo, flute, drum de basque, and triangle; also the piccolo, trumpet, drums, and horns. In the valse in L'Êtoile (ii.) we have the piccolo, bassoon, 'celli, and double-basses: and in the gallop in Le Prophéte the piccolo, flute, and triangle have a very important solo passage.

Meyerbeer's treatment of the flute is masterly. He uses it largely to brighten the strings; bringing out allMeyerbeer's
Use of
the Flute its charm and sweetness, all its descriptive and dramatic powers. In the dream scene in Le Prophéte a mystical effect is produced by the low notes of the flute (right down to lowest C), accompanied by violins playing arpeggios, drum, and cymbals. In "L'Exorcisme" (iv.) two flutes and a piccolo are used along with violas, divided violins, and a cor anglais to create an ethereal effect at the words, "Que la sainte lumiére descende sur ton front." In the prelude to the song, "Quand je quittais la Normandie," in Robert le Diable, the flutes, in conjunction with the oboes and clarinets, are most delightfully handled, echoing and interlacing each other, as it were. In Les Huguenots the flute has many florid solo passages, and is given a long cadenza in the prelude to Act II. He frequently combines the flute with the harp, and in Dinorah (ii.) produces a peculiar effect by means of the flute and some harmonic sounds of the harp, which are heard above the melody which is sung out by the 'cellos.

The solo "Dall' Aurora," in L'Êtoile du Nord, is accompanied by a double obligato on two flutes—one flute is behind the scene and the other is on the stage, and has a cadenza along with the voice. Chorley remarks that this trio is "better as a concert-piece

Meyerbeer, Cadenza in Les Huguenots ii.

than when heard in the opera, because there the songstress must remain at such a distance from both instruments (the flautist on the stage being merely a mime) that all the intimacy of response and dialogue is lost, and the effect is that of a soprano scrambling against a double echo." It was performed at the Philharmonic Concerts in 1857 (Pratten and Card) and in 1868 (Svendsen and Card), and by Madame Albani and Messrs. Fransella and Warner-Hollis at the Norwich Festival of 1899. Bach has accompanied a soprano aria with two flutes in several of his works, and Verdi accompanies the soprano and contralto voices in his "Agnus Dei" (Requiem) with three flutes: these, however, are not, strictly speaking, obligatos.

The Italian operatic composers, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, etc., write melodious passages for the flute,Italian
Operatic
Composers often in unison with the voice or the violin. A notable obligato occurs in the mad scene in Lucia de Lammermoor, which has given rise to the remark that whenever the principal female character in opera becomes distraught with passion or grief, her recovery is marked by a flute

Rossini, Overture, Scmiramide.

obligato! Rossini frequently combines the flute with the oboe or clarinet in rapid passages; as in the overtures to La Gazza Ladra and Semiramide, in the latter the above well-known passage is given first to the piccolo and oboe together, then to the flute, and finally to both flute and piccolo.^[4] Rossini does not use the piccolo very much, he, however, introduces two in The Bather of Seville at the words "Point de bruit"—probably a joke. He seldom gives the flute a solo of any length; several, however, occur in William Tell. The Andantino in that overture is the best known flute passage in the whole range of orchestralThe
"Willian
Tell"
Overture music; the flute playing a florid embroidery, as it were, to the Alpine "Ranz des Vaches" on the cor anglais. This passage stands out wonderfully: I have seen a first-rate player from the Hallé orchestra actually trembling with nervousness when he approached it. After the final sustained top G had died away into nothing, he remarked to me, "I never come to that passage without shaking all over like an aspen leaf; if

Rossini, Overture to William Tell.

I made the slightest slip every single person in this large audience would notice it." Chorley tells us how, in 1847, Mendelssohn and he, when taking a walk together near Interlacken, heard the sound of distant cow-bells in the valley below, Mendelssohn stopped, listened, and began to sing this cor anglais melody. "How beautifully," he exclaimed, "Rossini has found that. All the introduction too is truly Swiss. I wish I could make some Swiss music."

Mendelssohn has given very considerable prominence to the flute, and writes most delightfully for it. His Midsummer Night's Dream music—inMendelssohn's
"Midsummer
Night's
Dream which one writer says the composer has exhausted the resources of the instrument—contains quite a number of fascinating flute passages. In the very first bars of the overture he makes a very striking effect by means of slow ascending chords sustained by two

Mendelssohn, Midsummer Night's Dream Overture.

flutes; the delicate, elfin-like scherzo contains one of the most famous flute passages ever written—namely, the concluding rapid staccato passage (Mendelssohn was one of the first to introduce such passages for the wind) lying in the middle and lower registers, and descending to the low C♯. Mendelssohn fully appreciated the value of this lower register, and frequently made use of it. The words "Spotted snakes" have a curious triplet accompaniment for two flutes in unison on the low D

Mendelssohn, Midsummer Night's Dream, Scherzo.

and E, and at the words "Beetles black approach not near" they shake on the low C♮ and E respectively with thrilling effect. In the Nocturne we find most charming

Mendelssohn, Midsummer Night's Dream, Nocturne.

writing for the flutes; notice the effective shakes. Mendelssohn is continually giving delicate little trills to the flutes—e.g., the scherzo in his "Reformation" Symphony. The finale of this symphony appropriately opens with the German chorale "Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott" in G major (in its originalHis
Symphonies form, and not as used by Bach and Meyerbeer) on the first flute absolutely alone. "The grand old air thus heard alone and on one instrument comes like a response from the skies [to the prayer in the preceding andante], and its introduction is perhaps the most impressive that could be conceived." In the andante to the "Italian" Symphony Mendelssohn uses the soft notes of the middle register to produce a feeling of desolation, and by way of contrast gives very lively solo parts to the two flutes in the subsequent "Salterello."

Next to his use of the flute to produce an impalpable, sylph-like effect ("He brought the fairies into the orchestra and fixed them there."—Sir G.His use of
the Flute Grove), Mendelssohn's most outstanding feature in the treatment of the instrument is his use of rapid, iterated chords, often in triplets, on flutes and other wood-wind instruments—a device previously used by Bach, Beethoven, and Weber, and

Mendelssohn.—St. Paul, "Jerusalem."

adopted by many modern composers. A typical example occurs in the accompaniment to "Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets" (St. Paul). He is also very fond of smooth, running legato passages for the two flutes, generally in thirds, as in the accompaniment to "Let all men praise the Lord" (Hymn of Praise).

Mendelssohn, Hymn of Praise, "Let all men praise the Lord."

He assigns to the flute a dainty little obligato to the contralto solo "Oh rest in the Lord" (Elijah), giving it a graceful turn at the conclusion. Mendelssohn never writes anything difficult or in the bravura style for the flute; and although in the overture to Athalie he uses the high B♮′′′, as a rule he does not go

above A′′′. He was one of the first to introduce tremolo passages on the flute.

Mendelssohn seldom introduces the piccolo. The only instances I can find are the overtures Meeresstille;Piccolo in
Mendelssohn Loreley; the Military Overture, op. 24, for wind and drums only; and several times in the Walpurgis' Nacht. Strange to say, it is not used in Midsummer Night's Dream, where we might have expected it. He never employs more than one, or uses it above G′′′.

Schubert gives the flutes a good deal of solo work; sometimes he uses only one. The scherzo of the Ninth Symphony contains a delicious melody givenSchubert
and
Schumann to the flute: this was an afterthought. In the overture to Rosamunde von Cypern (op. 26) we find a remarkable scale passage for the flute alone. Important solo passages occur also in the overtures in Italian style and Des Teufel's Lustschloss. The Sixth Symphony (andante) has a Haydn-like passage for two flutes and two oboes; they are subsequently joined by the clarinet. He is skilful in contrasting the tone of the different wood-wind, and in the Rosamunde ballet music and entre-act makes the flute, oboe, and clarinet converse with one another in a most delightful manner. Schubert never uses the piccolo in his symphonies; but it is to be found in several of his (now-forgotten) operas, which also contain several important flute solos. As a rule he employs only the upper register of the flute, often ascending to the

Schumann, Symphony, No. 1, Cadenza.

highest B♭′′′. The same is the case with Schumann, who hardly ever writes a passage for the low notes. Schumann allots to the flutes, as a rule, either sustained chords along with the other wind, or else chromatic passages. The overture to Manfred has a flute solo of considerable length, and his First Symphony contains several important flute passages: in the andante we find a remarkable shake and cadenza for the flute. The Fourth Symphony has elaborate running passagesPiccolo in
Schumann for two flutes in unison with the violins. Schumann never uses the piccolo in his symphonies; but we find it in Paradise and the Peri (where one in D♭ is used in a difficult passage in D minor), and in several of his overtures. He rarely, if ever, uses the piccolo without the flute, but in his Concertstück for horns (op. 83) he gives it an independent melody whilst the flutes play chords.

The increased facility and the improvement in the instrument consequent on the introduction of the BöhmFlute in
Modern
Composers flute have caused modern composers to write very freely for it. They use it often as they would a violin, and think nothing of giving it passages or great technical difficulty, such as the earlier composers would never have dreamed of assigning to it. Moreover, the number used is systematically increased to three (Haydn, Gretry, and Meyerbeer had already occasionally introduced three), and sometimes a piccolo is used in addition. Quantz recommended that an orchestra should Include four flutes—the number found in the Berlin Hof-Kapelle in 1742—but he probably intended that the parts should be doubled. Thus Berlioz uses four flutes playing only two parts in octavesNumber
of Flutes
Increased in the march in his Te Deum (op. 22). In the "Agnus Dei" of his Great Mass for the Dead the four flutes play some chords of four notes, accompanied only by the trombones: here the fourth flute was not in the score as first written. I cannot recall any other orchestral example of four flutes playing four distinct notes. In the "Tibi omnes" the flutes have some wonderful arpeggios. In Berlioz's Funeral Symphony five flutes and four piccolos are directed to be used (the piccolos were originally in D♭ and the third flutes in E♭), but they all play in unison or octaves.

Berlioz was the only great composer (save Tschaïkowsky) who was himself a practical flautist. When a youth, his father bribed him to pursue his medical studies by the promise of a new flute with all the latest keys. Whilst quite a boy he wasBerlioz able to play Drouet's most difficult solos. In early life he composed two quintetts for flute and four strings, which he subsequently destroyed; but he afterwards used one of the themes in his Frane Juges. As a youthful student in Paris Berlioz gave lessons both on the flute and the guitar. In one of his letters he gives an amusing description of the usual style of prize compositions at the Conservatoire:—

"The sun rises; 'cello solo, gentle crescendo.
The little birds wake; flute solo, violins tremolo.
The little rills gurgle; alto solo.
The little lambs bleat; oboe solo," and so on.

Berlioz makes frequent and delicious use of the flute, availing himself much of the low register; he employs the entire compass, right up to C in alt., as in Faust, in which work the flute has a fine running passage whilst the horn plays the melody. In L'Enfance du Christ weFlute and
Harp find an entire movement for two flutes and harp—a rather unique combination. Berlioz was very fond of writing for the flute or piccolo along with the harp; a notable example occurs in his arrangement of Weber's Invitation à la Valse. The combination appears to have been much favoured by the ancient Egyptians, and many modern composers have adopted it; amongst others, Mehul (Uthal), Mendelssohn (Antigone), Meyerbeer (Prophete and Stuensee overture), Adam (Si J'etais Roi), R. Strauss (Tod und Verklartung), Brahms (Requiem).^[5] It is used by Wagner in The Rheingold (where the two instruments echo each other), in Lohengrin, and in The Walkure in a curious passage for two piccolos along with three harps answering each other.

Berlioz frequently combines the flute and oboe, sometimes giving the flute the lower part, an arrangement also found in Mendelssohn and Wagner (in Verdi's Requiem the flute plays below the clarinet). Noufflard, referring to the allegro in part two of thePiccolo in
Berlioz Fantastique Symphony, speaks of "le cri eperdu que jette une flute de son timbre strident." Berlioz uses the piccolo very frequently, employing it up to the top A′′′, and even B′′′♭, in the Funeral Symphony. In the "Apotheose" he combines two

Brahms, Requiem, No. 2.

piccolos and bassoons in a striking triplet passage. He allots the piccolo a very important passage along with the oboe in the Serenade in his Harold Symphony. In his "Pandemonium" (Damn. de Faust) we naturally have two piccolos, whilst in his "Heaven" we find three flutes and harps. He even uses the piccolo in the accompaniment to songs—e.g., The Danish Huntsman, "Meditation," in Cleopatra (where two are used), and the choral ballad, Sara the Bather.

Dvořák uses both the flute and piccolo with great skill. In his Third Rhapsody, and in the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Symphonies we find remarkable solos for the flute, whilst one of the most effective flute parts ever written is to be found in his lovely cantata, The Spectre's Bride. In this work he has allotted the instrument a most charming obligato toDvořák the principal soprano aria ("Oh, Virgin Mother"), in which he shows how fully he appreciated its lower register, going down to the lowest note. In his Stabat Mater and his Sclavonic

Dvořák, The Spectre's Bride, "Where art thou, Father?"

Rhapsody he uses the low B—a note not found on most flutes—and in his Second Symphony the topmost C♮. In The Spectre's Bride he employs the flute to imitate the persistent crowing of the cock at sunrise, and also to depict the hero leaping over the wall (by a very rapid diatonic run from G′ to G′′). In "The Ride" the piccolo is used most effectively. In this work we also find a very elaborate cadenza, written, strange to say, for the second flute accompanying the voice.^[6]

Grieg in his Peer Gynt Suite, No. 1 ("Morning"), has a quiet passage for solo flute, and later on in the same piece he writes gracefully forGrieg two flutes in thirds. In Olav Trygvason he uses two piccolos in thirds along with a flute in some effective chromatic runs, whilst in accompaniment

Grieg, Peer Gynt.

to his song Henrik Vergeland he assigns to the piccolo only four notes: the piccolo player here certainly earns his fee easily! In his Second Suite ("Danse Arabe") Grieg used two piccolos with drum and triangle.

The modern school of French composers make great use of the flute, frequently writing for it passages of delicate filigree and arabesques. They use the instrument "rather to ornament and brighten a subject thanModern
French
Composers to propound it." Sometimes, however, this degenerates into mere tinsel. Perhaps the most noticeable point about the modern use of the flute is the frequency of passages on the lower register, whose peculiar and unique beauty has been fully recognised by many recent composers. No one has more fully grasped the capabilities of the instrument than Bizet—who assigns the

Bizet, Carmen, Act III., Introductory March.

march in Act iii. of Carmen to the flute, playing staccato and pianissimo in the low register, with fine effect; so again in the Seguidilla, No. 10. Other fine flute passages in this work are the Entr'acte (ii.), where the two flutes play running passages in thirds along

Bizet, Carmen, Seguidilla, No. 10.

Bizet, Carmen, Act II., Opening. Zigeunerlied.

Bizet, Carmen, ii-iii. Zwischenspiel.

with the harp, 'cello, viola; and the Zwischenspiel (ii.-iii.) for solo flute and harp only. In fact, throughout the entire work, the flutes are splendidly handled.

Turning to English composers of recent times, we find Sir Arthur Sullivan making great use of both the flute and piccolo in The Golden Legend.Modern
English
Composers The flute parts are written very high. At the beginning of this work he uses the flutes in sustained notes at the very top of their register to depict the whistling of the wind and the storm raging round the spire of the cathedral, and at the devil's words, "Shake the casements," he gives them a rapid staccato descending passage. The dying

Sullivan, Golden Legend. "Shake the casements."

away of the storm is portrayed by chromatic passages, gradually descending from the C♯ in altissimo, on the flutes. In the sixth scene there is the long passage for

Sullivan, Golden Legend, Sc. vi.

two flutes and piccolo in imitation of bells, and in the first scene we have a very peculiar effect produced by an accompaniment of two flutes and two piccolos—the

Sullivan, Golden Legend, Sc. i.

latter answering each other in alternate phrases. In Coleridge Taylor's Hiawatha we find some most appropriate themes given to the flute. The work opens with an announcement of one of the principal motifs by a solo

Coleridge Taylor, Hiawatha.

flute, and the chief tenor solo has a delicate flute obligato. Some of the flute passages lie very high and are of great difficulty. A few can only be played with sufficient rapidity by the use of harmonics—a thing undreamt of by the older orchestral composers. Most of these, however, are doubled on the piccolo. This composer also gives a great number of shakes to the flute, including one of two and a half bars' duration on the top B′′′♮.

I have already spoken of Sullivan's use of the flutes in their highest register to depict a storm; WagnerWagner uses them for the same purpose in his overture to The Flying Dutchman, and also in the "Ride" in the Walküre, where he allots to the flutes chromatic runs and shakes on their very highest notes along with the piccolos. He uses the flutes in groups, generally employing three flutes (often in unison) and a piccolo, sometimes even more; thus in Siegfried (ii. 2) we find three flutes and a piccolo, but they play only three distinct parts, and in Tannhäuser we have in the orchestra three flutes (one also plays piccolo), and also on the stage four flutes and two piccolos. As a rule, Wagner uses his flutes chiefly in sustained or reiterated chord accompaniments, or in unison with the rest of the wind in forte passages. He is fond of combining them with the oboe (e.g., Tannhäuser, iii. 1, "The day breaks in," and in the Meistersinger several times). But he hardly ever gives the flute a solo of any length; practically never a really long solo standing out prominently. The flutes are never used absolutely alone for more than a single bar. In my examples I have given the nearest approaches to solo passages to be found in his works. In Siegfried and elsewhere he uses the three flutes to imitate the flutter of birds.

Wagner does not as a rule treat the flute as a melodic instrument, nor does he use it much for "conversations" between the various instruments. We often find whole pages of his scores with no flute or

Wagner, Tristan. Beginning of Act II.

Wagner, Götterdämmerung. Act III., sc. 2

Wagner, Siegfried. Birds in Finale to Act II.

piccolo part at all, and often only a few isolated notes in an entire movement. One feels that he could almost dispense with the flute altogether, and I rather suspect that he had an antipathy to the instrument. He chiefly makes use of the higher register, writing right up to the top C′′′′♮, as in the Walküre, where he also gives the whole three flutes an A′′′ in altissimo. He occasionally employs the low register (Siegfried and Meistersinger),

Wagner, Meistersinger, ii.

and in one instance we find the three flutes playing in harmony on their lowest notes in order to produce a specially mournful effect. His flute parts, while often tiring and exacting on the player, do not present any great technical difficulties, and as a rule they are well written, though Mr. Chorley complains of his placing the group of flutes above the tenor voice in Tannhäuser. (Mod. Ger. Mus., p. 367).

Wagner seems fonder of the piccolo than of the flute, and often gives it little ascending runs with good effect.Wagner's
Use of the
Piccolo He writes for it right up to the top G′′′ and uses it very freely (sometimes without the flute), especially in Siegfried and the Rheingold. He is fond of combining it with the violins, as in the Götterdämmerung, and in the Walküre; and in the magic fire music in the latter opera (iii.) he makes remarkable use of the middle notes on the piccolo. He introduces this instrument into practically all his works, and in the Meistersinger gives it a regular solo, accompanied by two flutes.

Wagner, Meistersinger, iii. 5 (abbreviated).

Tschaïkowsky shares with Berlioz the great advantage of having been himself a practical flautist, an advantage which is much greater in theTschaï-
kowsky case of a wind instrument than in that of strings. In early life Tschaïkowsky studied the flute for two years, and played second flute in N. Rubinstein's orchestra at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. He took part in a performance of Kuhlau's quartett for four flutes at a musical evening in honour of Madame Schumann on the occasion of her visit to that city. He did not keep up his flute-playing in after-life, but doubtless he gained invaluable knowledge of the instrument in those two years. When his first Suite for orchestra was produced in 1879 in Moscow, the conductor complained that a passage for three flutes, playing triplets for twenty-two bars without a break for breathing, and also one in the andante, where the flute and clarinet have triplets in semi-quavers, were too difficult, and went very badly at rehearsal, and even at the concert. To this objection the composer replied that the flute could play such a passage for two hundred and twenty bars: "It would be very innocent to imagine that this must be done in one breath; they could breathe every time. I play the flute a little myself, and I am certain of it" (Letter, January 4th, 1880). None of Tschaïkowsky's fluteHis Use of
the Flute passages, though often difficult, are unplayable or impossible. He makes most effective use of the instrument, especially in his scherzo movements, and gives it very considerable prominence, often allotting it the melody, accompanied by the other wind (e.g., the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies). On the other hand, he often gives the accompaniment to the flute, whilst the strings play the melody (e.g., finale to Fourth Symphony). In the Sixth Symphony (finale) three flutes play in unison on the low notes, along with the bassoon, as an accompaniment to the melody on the string's; he also combines the low notes of the flute very effectively with the violas. He frequently gives the flute chromatic passages like this from the Fourth Symphony, and he

Tschaïkowsky, Fourth Symphony.

often allots it little groups of five or six rapidly descending semi-tones. Probably the best-known flute passages in his works are the charming "Danse des Mirlitons" for three flutes, and the very remarkable and outstanding solo flute passage in the "Danse Chinoise" (Casse-Noisette Suite).

Tschaïkowsky, Casse-Noisette Suite, Danse des Mirlitons.

Tschaïkowsky, ib. Danse Chinoise.

In the First Symphony the flutes have prominent solo parts in the Adagio, "Black land, foggy land," and in the Second Symphony we find a remarkable chromatic passage of eighteen bars' duration for the two flutes, accompanied only by strings pizzicato. He also uses the piccolo in all his symphonies, and allots it solo passages in the second and fourth.

Tschaïkowsky, Fourth Symphony Scherzo.

The ultra-modern school of composers have absolutely no mercy on either the fingers or the lungs ofR. Strauss the unfortunate flautist. Richard Strauss generally employs three flutes (often with a piccolo in addition), and he frequently assigns to all three parts finger-twisting passages of enormous difficulty. One of the characteristics of this school is to write passages of almost, if not quite, equal difficulty and importance for each of the flutes. These parts are often curiously interwoven. Some previous composers had occasionally given an important and difficult part to the second flute, as in Dvořák's Spectre's Bride and in Berlioz's Carnival Romain overture; but Strauss almost habitually exacts as much from his second and third flute-players as from his first. Thus in his Ein Heldenleben all three flutes have passages of extreme difficulty: he gives the third flute a passage running up to the top C—(by the way, the menuetto in Sibelius's Konig Kristian II. begins with this extreme note). In Strauss' Symphonia Domestica the flute has a D′′′′ in altissimo, a note which is not to be found in the scales given in instruction books. He takes care as a rule not to write above A′′′ for the piccolo, which instrument is very prominent in Till Eulenspiegel. In Don

Strauss, Till Eulenspiegel, No. 5.

Quixote he has a variation marked "Flatterzunge"—i.e., flutter-tongue—containing terrific chromatics for both the first and second flutes. In Don Juan the flute is given an important solo. In Strauss' works the extreme limit as regards technical difficulty is assuredly reached; whether the result obtained, however, is commensurate is certainly open to question, and assuredly the difficulty does not tend to pure intonation on the part of the players. Personally I venture to think that much of the charm of the flute—such as we find in the works of the earlier masters—is lost in these whirlwinds of notes and dazzling chromatic scales. Perhaps, however, the composer does not intend that all the notes should be accurately played; possibly he shares the views of Sir Arthur Sullivan, who once at a rehearsal of his Golden Legend, when the 'cellos complained of the great difficulty of their part in the introduction depicting the storm, replied, "Oh, I never expected you to play all the notes of those chromatic scales, but merely to run your fingers up and down the strings so as to give the general effect." After all, it should never be forgotten that the flute is essentially a melodic instrument.

In the light of the passages written for the flute by these modern composers, the following directions given by Charles Avison in his Essay on Musical Expression, published in 1752, are somewhat amusing:—

"In composing for the German flute is required the same method of proceeding by conjoint degrees, or such other natural intervals as, with the nature of its tone, will best express the languishing or melancholy style. With both oboe and flute, the running into extreme keys, the use of the staccato, or distinct separation of notes, and all irregular leaps or broken and uneven intervals must be avoided, for which reason alone these instruments ought never to be employed in the Repieno parts of Concertos for violins, but in such pieces only as are composed for them, and these perhaps would be most agreeably introduced as principal instruments in some interesting movements in the Concerto, which might not only give a pleasing variety, but show their different expression to the greatest advantage" (p. 95).

Lavoix says the flute-players of Lulli's day refused to play some of his passages owing to their being impossible to execute. What would they have said to those of Strauss? Truly we have travelled a long way from the lovely elegaic flute passages of Gluck; but have we excelled them?

1. In some instances the musical examples have been abbreviated.
2. A rather interesting little point about this flute solo is to be noted: in the original draft a passage beginning thus:
   
   was considered too high and accordingly was re-written an octave lower, as it now occurs in the full score.
3. Cherubini was noted for his dry and caustic manner. When Brod, his oboe-player, died, Tulou the flautist said, "Ah! maestro, we have lost our dear friend Brod." "What?" said Cherubini, who was deaf. "Brod is dead," shouted Tulou. "Ah!" replied Cherubini, as he turned away, "Petit son, petit son" ("little tone").
4. Some outstanding passages for the flute occur in Balfe's overture Le Puits d'Amour.
5. Brahms uses the piccolo in his Fourth Symphony (allegro giocoso) in his Serenade, op. 16 (Rondo), and it is very prominent in the last of the Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Flute solos occur in his Rinaldo and in the Second and Fourth Symphonies.
6. Cadenzas on the flute are always remarkably telling; in addition to several already referred to, I might mention those in Boieldieu's Dame Blanche and in Listz's Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2. Probably the longest flute cadenza in any work is that in an opera, entitled The Flautist, by Kling. It extends over a page.