SUITE IN A MINOR

[s2jennie]

the song
SUITE IN A MINOR by Telemann

what level of fluteplayers
play that? thank you

[flutepicc06]

It really ranges, and depends on how well they need to perform it for it to be counted. I've heard a barely proficient player attempt it, and it hardly sounded like the piece I know, but then some professional soloists have recorded it as well, and sound fantastic on it. Pretty much anyone can "play" anything, but to actually make music with it, you'd need an intermediate or higher player (at least according to me and my definition of intermediate).

[sidekicker]

I agree. This piece, much like most of our baroque repertoire, can usually be technically mastered well before a player may understand the musical difficulties of pulling it off. Just playing the notes is one thing; but playing this suite with the attention it deserves is quite another. With that in mind, I consider the Telemann Suite to require a pretty advanced player who not only can play all the notes, but also play the piece in a convincing baroque style. I personally hate hearing it butchered in contests by young flutists who, with the assistance of their teachers (usually), try to perform this piece with no concept at all of the style in which it should be played. It usually ends up sounding like just a bunch of notes.

SK

[FLflutist]

Hey, I'm actually playing this right now for All-State festival.

On fluteworld it's considered a grade 3 out of 5
In Florida it's considered a grade 5 out of 7

And I agree with the comments above. Not only is it stylistically challenging, it's also technically challenging... with double tounging and lots and lots of acidentals.

[sidekicker]

On fluteworld it's considered a grade 3 out of 5
In Florida it's considered a grade 5 out of 7

Personally, I do not trust any ranking given by FluteWorld for gauging the difficulty of music. The scale is far too narrow and seems to reflect only the technical, rather than full musical, challenges in a particular piece. That's too subjective for me, not to mention pretty unhelpful to someone really wanting to know how hard it will be to perform the piece correctly.

Similarly, state clinicians tend to do the same thing. In each of the several states I've lived over the years, the people in charge of flute clubs/organizations and/or band directors who normally develop these schemes for measuring difficulty often fail miserably to take into account the particular style in which a piece should be played. These lists are usually heavy-laden with baroque music at the lower levels, even though it's one of the most difficult, IMO, periods of music to pull off correctly. Technical difficulty is surely a relevant factor in ranking a piece, but it's not the determining feature of how hard music is to perform. Unfortunately, virtually all of the ranking systems I've seen seem to focus only on mechanics and pretty much ignore style.

Consider this in another context. Nearly all of us, given the correct tools (and a good memory ) can probably take apart our flutes and put them back together so that it looks like a flute again. Whether or not it will play correctly afterward, however, will be a huge gamble because it takes tremendous skill on the part of a technician to make the dozens of fine and detailed adjustments necessary to make that happen. Just like with the mechanics of flute building, it is not enough to simply have the "tools" (i.e. technical ability) to play music. Style is a critical component as well, and without it, the end result will be a bad one.

SK

[FltnPicc_David]

Hey, I'm actually playing this right now for All-State festival.

On fluteworld it's considered a grade 3 out of 5
In Florida it's considered a grade 5 out of 7

And I agree with the comments above. Not only is it stylistically challenging, it's also technically challenging... with double tounging and lots and lots of acidentals.

All-State? We don't play solos for All-State in Florida...are you talking about State Solo and Ensemble Festival? Anyways, GOOD LUCK wihtt hat! I went last week and got a Superior on Suite Modale. Hm...if you get Nora Lee Garcia as your judge, she can be quite...harsh, I heard. She tore a friend of mine apart but then gave her a Superior. [ex. She yelled at poor Samantha for picking mvts of the Hindemith Sonata that she personally did not like.] But I got Susan McQuinn! She had a knack for....getting out of her seat and trying to correct playing by grabbing me physically. But this is assuming you are heading towards the North State S&E site in Ocala.

[FLflutist]

Hey, I'm actually playing this right now for All-State festival.

On fluteworld it's considered a grade 3 out of 5
In Florida it's considered a grade 5 out of 7

And I agree with the comments above. Not only is it stylistically challenging, it's also technically challenging... with double tounging and lots and lots of acidentals.

All-State? We don't play solos for All-State in Florida...are you talking about State Solo and Ensemble Festival? Anyways, GOOD LUCK wihtt hat! I went last week and got a Superior on Suite Modale. Hm...if you get Nora Lee Garcia as your judge, she can be quite...harsh, I heard. She tore a friend of mine apart but then gave her a Superior. [ex. She yelled at poor Samantha for picking mvts of the Hindemith Sonata that she personally did not like.] But I got Susan McQuinn! She had a knack for....getting out of her seat and trying to correct playing by grabbing me physically. But this is assuming you are heading towards the North State S&E site in Ocala.

Yeah, that's what I ment... State solo and ensemble...I had Roloff/ Wexler as my judge... and I got a superior ^^

[I_<3_MY_FLUTE]

I played it a few years ago in high school. I think 10th grade? Maybe 9th. It's a fun piece. I got a superior on it.