Bach Flute Sonatas

cflutist · Post by **cflutist** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:26 pm

After I returned from my Master Class, I have a renewed love for the Bach Flute Sonatas which I studied back in the 1970s.

Could someone rank them in order of difficulty please?

Thanks

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:26 pm

From what I have gleaned from various professionals, the B minor and E minor tend to be the most technically challenging. The B minor is more of a "journey" piece, and the E Minor gets straight to the point. In terms of auditions, B Minor is played a bit more, but you get 'more bang for your buck with the E minor.' (that quote according to Bart Feller).

cflutist · Post by **cflutist** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:37 pm

FG18,

Thanks for the info.

Just got a reponse from Patricia Harper which said:

There is nothing more wonderful than playing the Bach sonatas. Why don't you work on the E Minor Sonata and the G Minor ones. The E Minor is a continuo sonata with moving first and third movements. The second and fourth movements are technical, but I think with your level of technique you can do them. The G Minor is an obligato sonata. If you can find a pianist, then you can get a sense of how satisfying it is to play this chamber music work. Save the B Minor and the A Major sonatas (also obligato sonatas) until later. Pat

I guess she thinks the E minor is easier than the B minor or A Major.
One of the students did present the first movement of the B minor, which I really liked.

The Eb Major seems relatively easy, and I had studied the E major in the past with Paul Renzi.

BTW, Pahud's recording of the Complete Bach Flute Sonatas is fabulous.

When I presented the Partita in a minor at the class, I at first played with no vibrato because that is what I read somewhere. Pat said, no, you are supposed to play with vibrato. Pahud uses very little (if no) vibrato, so I don't know what I'm really supposed to do with Bach.

MissyHPhoenix · Post by **MissyHPhoenix** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:58 pm

The vibrato issue is another thing with the baroque music that seems to be very highly debated. There are the purists who say absolutely no vibrato at all, and then there are the ones who say the composer(s) would want the performer to do whatever is necessary to make the music beautiful; i.e., the modern flutes can do so many more things that the baroque flutes could not do.

I tend to think that there is no "right or wrong" way to play it and believe that the musician should be free to make the music respond in the way that is best for them.

Arianna · Post by **Arianna** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:52 pm

I think(this is remembering a while back) when I worked on them my teacher ranked them in this order:
E Major (easiest)
C Major
Eb Major
A Major
E minor
B minor and the A minor Partita about the same
We never worked on the G minor in lessons, but I have worked on it some and it doesn't seem difficult.
I kinda think the E Major and the C should be flip flopped because the key of E is harder for people to handle. Also, I don't know if you wanted the 'inauthentic' ones thrown in there.

cflutist · Post by **cflutist** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:02 pm

Now that's interesting as I think the Eb Major is a lot easier than the E Major.

MissyHPhoenix · Post by **MissyHPhoenix** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:54 am

I have not studied the Bach Sonatas with a private teacher -- I just work on them by myself. What do the teachers emphasize about these specifically?

MissyHPhoenix · Post by **MissyHPhoenix** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 10:06 am

Anybody?????????

Zevang · Post by **Zevang** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 3:36 pm

Apart from technical or fingering problems (besides breathing that is one of the most important issues in J.S.Bach sonatas), there are some choices you and your teacher can make concerning the style of playing. There are lots of recordings in which you can hear flutists playing modern flutes using a rather romantic style, with lots of vibrato and a bright and loud tone. Others choose doing the authentic baroque style using old instruments or copies of known old "traversi". Or you may opt for the most difficult mission of all, IMHO, that is trying to play in an old style, but using a modern flute. This is really challenging (besides playing a traverso being really difficult) because you must try to change your tone to a more dark and woody one, use very little or none vibrato, and altering the color of certain notes, mostly the long ones, to emphasize them.

Zevang · Post by **Zevang** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 3:41 pm

In my particular case, I've studied all of them, many years ago, and actually played all of them in a series of recitals devoted to the music by J.S.Bach. At that time I played all the flute works by him. All in the same week

It was long ago, in 1985 and now I'm sure I would play each of the sonatas much differently from what I did then.

Zevang · Post by **Zevang** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 3:57 pm

Just receive a good example of a "modern" style of playing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zSW6vJq8KU

Enjoy

MissyHPhoenix · Post by **MissyHPhoenix** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 9:42 am

Thank you! I had not heard that one before.

It does amaze me how there are so many different interpretations of the various Bach pieces for flute. I enjoy listening to all of them and then trying it out for myself. I tend toward the "purist" point of view -- I usually play Bach using my wooden headjoint to attempt to get the original sound. And then I'll put my Sankyo headjoint on and get a wholly different feel. Fun!

Thanks for your comments.

Zevang · Post by **Zevang** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 4:44 pm

You're welcome

You see, the Sonatas are so rich that let us do whatever we want and even so they sound so beautiful. That's the genious of J.S.Bach that would not be among us if another genius had not brought him to us. I refer to F. Mendelsohn. This man was responsible for taking Bach's music to the level it deserved, after being almost totally forgotten.

I must confess that the Sonatas are daily practice for me. It can be in a form of warming up, or when I need to "clean" my ears from the heavy repertoire that sometimes I have to play at the Symphony Orch.

The recording by Claudio Barille, this excelent argentinian flutist, is very bright and modern. I would do something a lot more simple and with not much vibrato. But you see, it's just beautiful the way he plays!

MissyHPhoenix · Post by **MissyHPhoenix** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 9:09 am

Bach is my favorite. I play some of his music just about every day. I remember reading about Mendolsohn (is that the correct spelling?) so I am grateful for him bringing these beautiful pieces back. I'm like you (except that I'm not in a symphony!) -- when I work on other pieces that frustrate me, I immediately pull out the Bach and am happy again! I like your phrase -- to "clean your ears". Have to remember that one!

So many of the contemporary pieces don't seem to have a real "soul" to them like the Bach does. I guess I am primitive, because I much prefer to play a piece of music that SOUNDS like music instead of just a bunch of noises put together. I can always find the center of the Bach pieces and flow along with them, every single time.

Zevang · Post by **Zevang** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 3:10 pm

I missed an "s" actually. It's Mendelssohn. Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy to be a liiiitle more specific

I completely agree with you. To me, Bach's music is the essence of the soul. Interesting that all his work was devoted to god. He worked almost all his life at churches, being the organ player, directing the orchestra and choir and of course being the official composer.