Choosing a flute concerto

[kal26]

Hi All,

Just thought I would see if anyone out there had any suggestions about choosing a flute concerto...

I have been asked to play a concerto with one of the orchestras locally, but they are a happy amateur orchestra that have limited rehearsal time and who aren't so strong at 'passage work' in the violins. I had really hoped to do one of the Mozarts, but the conductor is not convinced that the orchestral passage work would be crisp enough to do them justice.

So... does anyone have any suggestions of a concerto that might be appropriate? Ideally something relatively accessible (i.e. tuneful!), given the local audience. No need for a concerto in the traditional sense - an orchestral poem or suchlike would be fine!

Also, something do-able in 4 months (on top of working full time as a psychology professor!).

All thoughts gratefully appreciated!

[fluteguy18]

Well, you could always do Chaminade's Concertino Op. 107.

Some people say it's over-performed. But, I would say that there is a reason for that. It is a piece that with a little elbow grease comes together quickly and is nice overall. It always seems to be a crowd pleaser.

[pied_piper]

Well, since you said it doesn't necessarily have to be a concerto, you might consider Doppler's Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy Op. 26. It's quite a lovely piece and a crowd pleaser too.

[sidekicker]

In addition to what all else has already mentioned, I'll add Hanson's Serenade, and Griffes Poem. I think it wise to avoid Mozart if the orchestra is not up to it.

Recently, I went to a performance of the Doppler piece just mentioned. The orchestra part is more challenging, musically, than you might think. There are many tempo changes, key changes, and places where the flute needs to go slower/faster for purposes of rubato. The perfomance I saw had a great flutist playing with community orchestra (perhaps like the one you will be playing with). The orchestra did not play well and it ruined the whole piece. Just an FYI on that piece.

The Hanson will require a harp, I think, so that may not work for you.

One piece that is rarely performed, but a very nice crowd pleaser, is the River Concerto. It is for flute and strings, though. I played it years ago when I won a college concerto competition and the university orchestra was used. They handled it just fine. The last movement is terrific and fun to play. My vote would the the Rivier, even if you just do the final movement.

SK

[kal26]

Thanks all - have ordered the sheet music for the hanson, griffes and rivier and will have a play through and see what I think!

All other concerto suggestions still gratefully received...

[fluteguy18]

The Griffes is really nice. But, the initial read through is always rough. There are a LOT of accidentals. But, once you get used to looking at it, it really isn't bad at all.

And I like the Hanson too. Mostly scales.

Have fun! There is some really great music there.

[sidekicker]

Regarding Griffes: If you perform this piece, make sure you do a little reading about the debate concerning at least one note that puzzles just about everyone who plays it. The note is an above the staff B (or B flat, depending upon your viewpoint), and it occurs in one of the flourishes within a small cadenza before letter H in my edition. Flutists have gone back and forth on this for years. It is written as a B natural; however, a B flat sounds more "correct" to some. Many flutists change it to a B flat, assuming it to be an error. I am not one of them.

I'm not sure anybody knows with certainty whether or not this was a publishing error, or whether it was intended by Griffes himself. But you will get to decide if you play it .

Just something to think about.

SK

[fluteguy18]

Oh yeah.....! I forgot about that! Definitely look up all of the errata in that piece. There are so many different opinions about what accidentals are right and wrong, your head will spin. There are all sorts of articles that compare the current editions with supposed manuscripts that Griffes left with the flutist the piece was written for/commissioned by [or copies that the originial artist to premier the piece used].

I for the most part play it as written [in my Schirmer edition]. I used to be a fan of the B natural version of the flourish, but after hearing a few recordings of the Bb edition, I think I might change my mind.....

[pied_piper]

Speaking of accidentals, a few years ago, when I was between teachers, I started working on Gaubert's Deux Equisses. I had worked it for a month or so when I decided to buy a recording of it to get some stylistic hints for a few phrases. I got a version that was recorded by the flute professor at a well known music university/conservatory. At one point while listening, I noticed that a few accidentals on the recording differed from what was printed in my score. I figured that this was a similar situation where the accidentals were in question. On a lark, I looked up the email of the professor and wrote an email inquiring about the passage and whether this was one of those pieces where the accidentals were in question. I really didn't expect a reply, but I figured it was worth a shot to ask.

The reply from the professor came back: "Boy, is my face red. I played the wrong notes on the recording." (Oops! ) It also said that I was the only person to notice.

I felt pretty good because it just goes to show that everyone is human and we all make mistakes - even well known/respected flute professors.

[fluteguy18]

LOL! I had a similiar experiance once. I was working on a piece called "Autumn Reflections" and I was listening to a recording by one of my favorite artists. I noticed that a few grace notes were different in her recording than in my printed part. So, I shot off an email, and boy did I get a suprise.

It turned out that the artist in question thought that she had played some wrong notes, and emailed the composer [who was a good friend]. In the end, they both emailed me, and it turns out there were errors in my part.

I felt awful for making the artist worry like that. I did mention that her grace notes were in the same key whereas the ones in my part were horrendously off.... Anyway, both of them thought the whole situation was funny and that I had a lot of gumption. What I didn't tell them was that I was scared to death that they actually responded. I guess it was a good thing that I was very polite!