dear flute studio and niu conductors,

11/2/2020DearFluteStudioandNIUConductors,ThesetwocontrastingetudeswerepickedcarefullyforSpring2021ensembleplacementauditions.Bothetudespurposelydonothavetempoindications;pleasepreparethemtothebestofyourabilityinregardstospeedandaccuracy.BeparticularlymindfulofwhichB-flatfingeringyouchoose.Allthreehavetobeusedintheseetudesfordifferentreasons.ETUDE#65

- Thisetudecontainseasyrhythms,buthardnotes.Advancedstudentscanpreparethisinfast12/8(in4)andlessadvancedstudentscanpreparethisinslow12/8(in12).Pleasepayattentiontotheclear4-barphrases.

- Mostofyouareadeptinplayinginflatsduetoyourhighschoolbandprogram.Asyouprobablyknow,thefunnylookingxisadouble-sharp.Itisanaccidental,anditsupersedesthekeysignature.Inotherwords,thefourthnoteisnotanF#double-sharped.Theaccidentalsupersedesthekeysignature.ItisanF,sharpedtwice.Besuretocarrytheaccidentalsthroughthemeasure.

- Therearealotofhighnotesinthisetude;allofyouneedtoworkonyourhighregisterdexterity.Thefingeringsupthereareawful,withlotsofcross-fingerings.Inaddition,mosthighnotesintheupperregisteraresharp,exceptforone.Hint:itisnothighA.Thatisastablenote.TherearenoAsinthisetudeanyway.Pleasenoteallotherhalfstepsinthetopregisterareinthisetude.Sneaky.

- Whatkeyisthisin?Pleaseusethistohelpwithtuning.Thebestwaytoworkontuningistousedrones.Putyourtuneronthetonicofeachchordchange.Whoevercangivemeaproperharmonicanalysis(chordsymbols)ofthisetudegetsaprize.Ittookmeafewminutes,sittingatthepiano,tofigureitoutformyself.Onceyoudo,youhaveafoundationfortuningyourhighregister.

ETUDE#109

- Thisetudeisinaneasykeyandcontainsdottedrhythmsandtiednotes.Besuretosubdivide.Usethistermwithyourfutureprivatestudentsandbandstudents–subdivide:totakeanoteandbreakitdownintosmaller,equalparts.Everyoneneedstosubdividecorrectlyforgoodrhythm.

- Thephrasingonthisetudeisnotasclear-cutastheotheretude;thinkaboutthisasyoudecidewheretobreathe.Iaddedafewslursforvariety.Enjoy.

- Allofyouneedtoworkondouble-tonguing,evenifitisataslowtempo.Forfastnotesthatdonothaveslurs,pleasedouble-tongue.

- Thisetudedoeshaveatempoindication–Andantinograzioso.MoreexperiencedstudentscanthinkofthisasagracefulAndantino–in2.LessexperiencedstudentscanthinkofthisasagracefulAndante–in6.Remember,somesuffixesonItaliantermsarediminutives(Largo/Larghetto;Allegro/Allegretto),meaning“lessthan”.Allegretto,orlessAllegro,meanslessfast.Larghetto,orlessLargo,meanslessslow:adoublenegative.Andante,orwalkingtempo,isambiguousanyway–weallwalkatdifferentspeeds.IthinkofAndanteas“mediumslow”,so“lessmediumslow”forAndantino?Ambiguous.Thisetudecanbefeltin6orin2!

Keeplearningatanyage.Thinkaboutthis:whydobeginningbandsplayinflatsandbeginningorchestrasplayinsharps?TodayIlearnedthatsupersedesisnotspelledsupercedes.Iwasthinkingitwouldbespelledlikeintercedes,orprecedes.Butthenwhyisproceednotspelledprocede?Cansomeoneexplainthistome?Ok,I’llswitchtodecafnow,andwehavebiggerissuesthisweekanyway–besuretovote!

Cesarini, Franco, “Poema Alpestra”, Flute 1 mm. 31-33 Tempo I = Lento = 60

mm. 71-85 Allegro appassionato = 120