flashy concert peice

[TheScarecrow]

We have our spring concert coming up and I was asked by our director to play a solo on the concert. Originally I was going to play an oboe solo, but now we have Italian in Algiers which is basically an oboe solo with band accompanament. Instead he is having me play a flute solo. I'm not sure what I want to play.

It can't be an incredibly long peice (I am not against cutting it down) but it needs to be flashy, fun or impressive. Something to keep an audiences attention.

To give you an idea of my skill level, last year (my sophomore year) I played the Chaminade Concertino for contest and got a perfect first at both district and state.

Does anyone have any ideas of a good peice for me to play? (with piano accompanament)

Thanks,
Matt

[flutepicc06]

Since you're looking for something flashy, you're probably going to want to limit yourself to Romantic era music and onward, as Baroque and Classical (difficult as both genres are) don't usually come across as horribly flashy to a non-flute audience. There are plenty of theme-and-variation type pieces, which would allow you to cut out any variations you wanted to provide a piece of the proper length. The Carnival of Venice and Borne's Carmen Fantasie both would be suitable, but it's doubtful that either would be ready in time for your concert (incidentally, how long do you have to prepare?). You can also look in the French book...There is lots of standard repertoire in there, some flashier than others.

[TheScarecrow]

I don't think preparation will be a big problem. The concert is at the end of may, and I will certainly learn the music very well, but because it isn't competition not every single detail has to be perfectly ironed as usual. (Not saying I won't play it well, or learn it by any means.)

I happen to own a copy of Flute Music by French Composers and enjoy playing out of it frequently. I know most of them fairly well, and would be able to work out any problems in time for the concert. Is there a particular song from the book you would suggest?

Also, thanks a lot for the speedy response. I really appreciate the help. My flute instructor moved about a month ago and there are no more in my area. Also my band instructor is all about brass and has no opinion on the matter. All I know is it has to be flashy for a bunch of people who have little taste for classical music.

[flutepicc06]

I can't really make a recommendation as to one particular piece since I'm not familiar with your playing, but I can advise you to choose something to that plays to your strengths and hides your weaknesses. For instance, if you have fast fingers, but your articulation is a bit rough, don't stack the odds against yourself by choosing something with lots of double tonguing (though lots of fast slurred notes certainly could come off flashy in that case). I would advise you to stick to something that you're at least somewhat familiar with, as given the somewhat limited time you have to prepare, too much flash (which seems to be synonymous with lots of notes, at least to the non-musical public) could end up being out of reach.

[TheScarecrow]

I won't deny that my favorite peice from the book of French music is Cantabile et Presto. While I have no doubt Presto will hold the audiences attention, I fear that that Cantabile will bore them? Would you agree, or do you think this would be an appropriate choice?

[flutepicc06]

I won't deny that my favorite peice from the book of French music is Cantabile et Presto. While I have no doubt Presto will hold the audiences attention, I fear that that Cantabile will bore them? Would you agree, or do you think this would be an appropriate choice?

Once again, I can't say for sure, since I'm not familiar with what type of audience you'll have, but it's an excellent piece (the whole thing), and certainly worth having performed all the way through...I would encourage you to do the Cantabile section as well as the presto if you choose this piece, but you'll have to make the final call on that. You may also be able to make a cut or two in the cantabile if you want to play the Enesco, which would limit the audience's boredom (if any), but allow you to play the piece.

[fluteguy18]

I really like Cantabile et Presto. The only issue in the first part is keeping it musical. If it has a lot of musicality in it, and is very expressive, then you should still be able to keep the audiences attention.

Everything I have heard played out of that book seems to come off particularly well if you sort of have this feel of push and pull [but not neccessarily with the tempo]. So, when I heard the Chaminade, an example I am thinking of is at the bottom of the second page. The first time I heard it played, the artist had what ended up being the usual interpretation, and had almost a feeling of the music 'leaning back'. Whereas when I heard another person play it about a year ago, she had a whole new take on the piece, and that section had a feeling as if it was leaning forward, and leaning towards something to yet to come. So, it immediately caught my attention, and kept things interesting.

So, as long as you keep things musical, and have the music actually moving and going somewhere, you should be fine with the first movement.

As for other pieces....

Charles T. Griffes 'Poem' is quite nice. The beginning and ending are quite slow and pretty, but everything in the middle is quite flashy if played well [there is everything from slow but scary sounding to HIGHLY impressive *but crazy difficult* runs, to an 'irish jig' to a part that just seems to swirl higher and higher and ends with a very technical double tongued passage in the upper end of the 3rd octave before the final conclusion]. But, you have to have the music feel as if it is actually going somewhere, and not just a bunch of notes.

However, this piece is about 10-11 minutes long. But, you can easily cut sections out.... but it will take some creative work on the Pianist's part to get the piano part to sound right.

Good luck with this!

I know I held the audience's attention fairly well when I played Mozart's G major Concerto.... but that is saying that it was probably the first time a lot of those people had ever heard classical music performed live.....

[Buttercup]

How about the Chaminade? You could talk to your band director about having the band accompany you- I'm sure there's a wind band arrangement of it somewhere. It's definitely got crowd-appeal.

[sidekicker]

Hopefully, I don't sound too dumb here, but is there even a flute/band arrangement of the Enesco?

I can't imagine that piece played with that arrangement considering the importance of the piano part in the Cantabile section. If there is an arrangement of it for flute and band I would avoid that because the beautiful character of that piece will certainly be lost, IMO, with that sort of ensemble. It's a fantastic piece everyone should learn at some point, but I wouldn't do it with band accompaniment.

I agree with flutepicc that it's impossible to actually name a particular piece for you to play without first knowing how versatile a flutist you are. Not that you are one of them, but many flutists sluff through Chaminade; so having performed it before is not always the best measuring tool. But assuming you have the chops, Borne (Carmen Fantasie), Genin (Carnival of Venice), Flight of the Bumblebee (although it's pretty short), Kennan (Night Soliquouy; although not as flashy), Hanson (Serenade; ending is not really flashy though), and, I believe, one of the Malcom Arnold concerti (but I'm not sure), all have decent flute/band arrangements and are show off pieces to some extent.

Good luck!

SK

[sidekicker]

I think I may have misunderstood your post, sorry. It looks like you will be playing with piano and not band accompaniment. In that case, the Enesco is a wonderful choice (or any of the pieces in Flute Music by French Composers collection). Another really great piece with a lot of audience appeal not mentioned already is the Taktakishvilli Sonata. The third movement is, IMO, quite a jewel in our repertoire. It's fun to play and also to hear (the whole sonata is, actually). The last movement of the Burton Sonatina is also a good choice. Both have reasonable lengths, are flashy, and are very pleasant to most ears. Again, though, it all depends on your personal skill level.

I also wanted to clarify my remark regarding Chaminade. It was not my intent to imply that your level is beneath that required to play that piece effectively. Having read again what I wrote, I can see how it might be taken that way. I really was just trying to make a point that, in general, it is difficult to gauge someone's flute expertise merely by a listing of pieces one has "played" before and by contests. Many people claim to have played/performed/won awards with pieces, but there's no accounting for how well done that actually was. It has been my experience that different teachers/judges, especially at the high school level, have widely variable standards; many, IMO, are overly impressed by flying fingers and under-impressed with musicianship. And state-wide contests often have judging panels that include non-flutists (i.e., non-flutist band directors, clarinet teachers, etc.) who are not well equipped to differentiate what is really difficult on the flute and what is not. In any case, I did not mean that to be directed toward you personally because there's no way for me to have that knowledge. I apologize if it came across that way. It was mainly just an aside.

SK

[TheScarecrow]

I certainly took no offense at all. I can completely understand where you were coming from. I only listed the Chaminade as a reference to the difficulty of music I am used to playing.

Thank you all for great suggestions, many of which I have taken into consideration. I toyed with the idea of Griffes 'Poem'. However, it is a very long peice and I don't want to lose to much. I'm hoping to keep the performance to 5-6 minutes if possible, and that would be cutting over half the peice with Poem.

I have also thought in the line of Flight of the Bumblebee, because while it is certainly not as challenging as many peices I could play it is always an audience favorite because it sounds impressive.

Now that I have some more peices in mind, and your helpful suggestions I figure I can probably have one chosen by the end of this week and really get cracking down on it.

Thanks again,
Matt