Charlotte Ibbetson

Concert Hall
19th December 2009
12pm

G.F Handel
Sonata in G major
Paul Hindemith
Sonata for Flute and Piano
Claude Debussy
Syrinx
George Hue
Fantasie

George Friedrich HANDEL (1885-1759)

Sonata in G-major for Transverse flute

Op.1 No5 was formerly written as an

oboe sonata in F major c. 1711-1716.
Handel’s flute works are believed to have
been written between 1707 and 1726,
however many of his sonatas may have
originally been written for violin, recorder or
oboe, a practice common at the time, so the
number of and date of his flute sonatas is not
certain. The flute was gradually becoming
fashionable at this time since Hotteterre’s
invention of a one-keyed flute c. 1680,
displacing the recorder in popularity.

Sonata in G major has 5 movements: Adagio, Allegro, Adagio,

Bouree Anglais and Minuetto. It’s a blend of two older styles; it wasn’t
until the 1730s that the baroque sonata “proper” became a distinct style
in itself.

The first three movements are influenced by the ‘Sonata da Chiesa’,

popular pre-1700. Handel’s Adagio and Allegro movements differed from
those of this contemporary, J. S. Bach. Rather than the scholarly style of
Bach, in Handel’s sonatas adopt the Gallant style, the solo melody
becoming more important. The allegros are livelier and the adagios more
leisurely. The Bouree Anglais and Minuetto were part of the new
emerging style, ‘Sonata de Camera’- styled dance movements. A Bourree
is a traditional French dance, commonly in binary form (AB). The Minuetto
was still a popular social French dance, while most other dances had
passed out of style and favour. As a German composer working in
England, although being influenced by English composers such as Purcell,
this forward looking trend shows his Germanic influences.
A lot of Handel’s writing in the sonata gives
little more than a skeleton for the player to work
with. In accordance with the practice of the time,
performers must balance harmony and dissonance
by the use of ornamentation. The best guides we
have are Hotteterre’s, ‘L'Art de préluder sur la flûte
traversière’ (1719) and Quantz’s ‘Versuch einer
anweisung die flote zu speilen’ (1752). Quantz was
recognised as the finest flute player in Europe at
the time, describing flute performances as
containing ‘Setzmanien’, which the composer
wrote, and ‘Speilmanien’, where the improvised embellishments were
inserted by the performer.

Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963)

Sonata for Flute and Piano (1936)

Sonata for flute and Piano is the

third of four flute pieces by Paul
Hindemith. The Sonata was written
when he became interested in
neoclassism, which contrasted with
his previous experimental styles.
Although Hindemith didn’t train as a
flautist, his flute repertoire exploits
the full potential of the instrument,
coining the term Gebrauchsmusik
(music for use). This was meant to be
music accessible socially, and able to
be played by non- professionals. His
style was built on strong German foundations, yet experimented with the
spirit of the 1930s.

The first movement is marked Heiter Bewegt (Cheerfully flowing). It is full

of 3-part writing, the flute and both hands of the piano having their own
equally important individual melodies. For this reason, the piano lid is
generally left open for this sonata. Structurally, this movement is based
on the classical sonata style, reflecting Hindemith’s Germanic influences.

Sehr Langsam (much slower) has an aching melodic line which must be
maintained from the first bar to the last. This movement also contains
seeds of European music of the future: for example, there is a striking
resemblance to the 2nd movement of Poulenc’s flute sonata (1948). The
ostinato section is marked ‘Ruhig’ where there is no straight translation
into English–soft, calm and quiet are just some of the words that can
apply.

The third movement, Sehr Lebhaft (more lively) is in a more humorous

style, with a bouncing piano and an often chromatic flute melody. The
flute line is a collaboration of sustained lines, mixed with accents and
twists and turns which could conjure up a wind-up toy. Hindemith plays
with the tonality in the
calmer sections, where there
is a suggestion everything
may not be as it seems;
before the wind-up toy goes
zipping off again!

The finale to this sonata is a

Marsch (March), which is a
joyful, impressive coda. The piano is bell-like with strong chords until the
flute’s entry. The flute part is in an improvisational style which shows an
influence of the baroque fantasia, which is also reflected in the piano’s
counterpoint. A major feature of this movement is the magnificent triadic
resolution, which is affirmative and yet again, shows us evidence of Paul
Hindemith’s strong Germanic roots.

Claude DEBUSSY
Hindemith (1862-1918)
often
illustrated his scores.
Syrinx (1912)
Syrinx was originally written as incidental
music to the play Pschye, by Gabriel Mourey. It
was intended to be played behind a screen,
possibly to increase the enigmatic atmosphere.
Syrinx depicts the story of the mythical God,
Pan, who was infatuated with the water-
nymph, Syrinx. After trying to escape his
advances, Syrinx’s sisters turn her into a water
reed. Pan, grief stricken, took seven reeds
from the river and joined them together to create ‘pan-pipes’.

Original scores show exactly what happens on stage at certain

points in the music. He uses chromaticism to give a sense of restrained
emotion. Debussy uses the technique he himself called the ‘microscopic
focus’, using minimal gestures, lots of repetition and development of a
limited amount of thematic material.

Although Debussy did not write many flute pieces in comparison to

orchestral and piano pieces, it is his flute music that arguably can be said
to be some of the most important music of the time. Debussy’s music was
termed ‘impressionism’ which is a term that the composer himself didn’t
like. However, it is an accurate term for the style of music which defines
the change from the romantic era to 20th century music, and yet is
completely different to either.

Syrinx was dedicated to

Louis Fleury, an important
figure of the French Flute
School at the time. Fleury was
a pupil of Paul Taffanel, for
which Hue’s Fantasie was
written for. Another thing
linking this piece to the Hue Fantasie is that both composers won the Prix
du Rome.

François Marot (1666-1719)

Pan and Syrinx

Georges HÜE (1858-1948)

Fantasie (1913)

Although only written a year after Syrinx,

George Hüe’s Fantasie is far from the
realms of impressionism; illustration of
how differently two contemporary French
composers were exploring the
possibilities of music at the turn of the
20th century. While Syrinx was to be
performed as incidental music to a play,
the performer tucked away behind a
screen; Hüe’s Fantasie was a competition
piece to be performed in a Grand concert hall, placing the performer’s
artistry at the fore.

Although not being as famous as his contemporaries, Hüe gained the

admiration of more noted composers, including Debussy and Faure.
Despite their differences in style, these
composers shared a fascination with
fantasy and fairy tale. This is evident in
the vocal work Médéé, which won Hüe his
Prix de Rome in 1879.

This piece is a “competition” piece: each

year a piece was commissioned from
leading composers for the end of year
exams at the Paris Conservatoire. The
piece is hence dedicated to Taffanel, one
of the professors and founders of the French flute school as we know it
today.

Around this time, the flute was to all intents re-invented by Boehm,
allowing the flute increased expression and facility. This is reflected in the
technical demands of these pieces, in the speed and yet intricacy of the
cadences, especially in the finale of the piece. Taking the freedom of the
musical form of a fantasy the composers had no boundaries, and could
take advantage to test the students technically and musically. In Hüe’s
Fantasie in particular, he uses the flutes flexibility to make grand gestures
in the form of runs and jumps in pitch to show the flutes range. Fantasie
still presents a challenge for the modern-day player.