The Story of the Flute/Chapter 12

by Henry Macaulay Fitzgibbon

Layout 2

CHAPTER XII.

FLUTE IN CHAMBER MUSIC.^[1]

"The neglected wind"—Chamber pieces by great composers—Spohr's Nonett—Pieces for wind and pianoforte—For wind and strings—For wind alone—Larger combinations—For flutes alone.

"The neglected wind" — one frequently meets this expression, and certainly in former times the phrase was amply justified as regards chamber music. In this respect the flute was even worse off than the oboe, clarinet, horn, or bassoon; Mozart and Beethoven have each written a fine quintett for these instruments with pianoforte, but neither has included the flute in any chamber work for wind alone. On looking down the list of compositions by the great writers of chamber music, one cannot fail to be struck by the comparatively small number in which the flute takes part. Cherubini, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms are not represented by a single item. Modern composers, however, are at length turning their attention to this hitherto untilled field, and there is now a very respectable amount of excellent chamber music for wind, either alone or in combination with string's or pianoforte, or both.

It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that no flute music of this class has been bequeathed to us by the famous composers of the past. Bach, Handel,

"WIND 1"

Brown having unguardedly confessed to being musical, his friend Wiffles offers to come and bring three other fellows and play some beautiful Flute Quartetts in his rooms. Poor Brown says he never sat for hours in such a thorough draught in his life.—(Reproduced from Punch, April 30th, 1870, by the kind permission of the Proprietors.)

Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart have each contributed two or three items. The last named assigns the leading part in two of his quartetts to the flute, humorously heading the finale to one thus: "Allegretto grazioso, ma non troppo presto, pero non troppo adagio, cosi, cosi, con molto gaito ed expressione." He was onceBy the
Great
Composers commissioned by a Polish Count to write a trio with a flute part; the writing was delayed and Mozart sent the Count the MS. of the pianoforte quintett to pacify him. Meanwhile the composer had received fifty louis from the Count, who, finding that the trio was not forthcoming, demanded back his money, which was duly returned. But the Count held on to the MS. of the quintett nevertheless! Spohr has written several chamber works which included the flute. He favoured large combinations, and his characteristic nonett (op. 31) for five wind instruments and four strings—first produced in London by the Philharmonic Society, April 1817, with Ireland as flautist—is the finest work of the kind ever written in which the flute participates. Hummel has written a couple of septetts for wind (including flute), strings and pianoforte; one (op. 114) is termed "Military," owing to its introducing the trumpet. In both, the pianoforte has a very brilliant and prominent part; the other instruments being relegated to the position of mere accompanists—a very usual defect in works of the kind.

The works I have mentioned include practically all the chamber music for the flute written by any of the great classical composers; they include—with the possible exception of Spohr's nonett—no great work of the highest order. Many minor composers of the past have left trios, quartetts, and quintetts for the flute, chiefly with strings; much of which is mere "mechanical" music. Modern writers have tried almost every possible combination of instruments, one of the finest examples is the striking and original Sextett (op. 6) for wind and pianoforte by L. Tuille, a Tyrolese composer. Many interesting works have been written for wind alone. The effectFor Wind
Alone produced is peculiar, and differs much—especially in homogeneity and "closeness," as it were—from that produced by strings alone. Each of the wind-instruments has a distinct tone-colour and individuality which cannot be obliterated, whereas with the strings the exact contrary is the case. Each forms a separate entity; and the ensemble, even in the hands of the most skilful performers, never attains the perfection and flexibility that is possible with strings. But a much greater variety is obtainable, and there is a certain attractive quaintness in well-written dialogue passages between the various "winds" not met with in strings. Works for wind alone pall quickly on the ears of the listeners; they fail to satisfy somehow. A critic has remarked concerning a concert entirely composed of wind pieces, "At first I sat in pleasurable thraldom, and then a sense of weariness overcame me. I was conscious of a monotonous iteration of tonal effects, and I found myself gradually succumbing to a gentle melancholy and thinking of life-insurance and wills, wondering whether I should be much missed." Reicha (Beethoven's colleague in the Bonn orchestra) composed twenty-four quintetts for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, which were once fashionable in Paris, says Berhoz, who terms them "cold." When one of them was performed in London not long ago, it was described in the programme as "one of Reicha's best works," which (said a critic) made one shudder to think what his inferior compositions might be! Taffanel has written a delightful little quintett for these five instruments, and many other modern composers, including Joseph Holbrooke, have adopted this form.

Larger combinations are, however, more effective, especially if composed of both wind and strings, whichFor Wind
with
Strings affords scope for fuller harmonies and greater variety of tone-colour, and also relieves the monotony of wind alone. Spohr, Hoffmeister, Pleyel, Onslow, and Lachner amongst older composers; and Hoffmann, Rheinberger, Reinecke, Novacek, Raff, Dubois, and Richard Strauss amongst the moderns, have all written works for a number of instruments (varying from eight to thirteen), including one or two flutes. Strauss' melodious work (op. 7), in a single movement, shows no sign of his later style of polyphonic writing, and is remarkable as including the contra-fagotto, which unwieldly instrument had already been used in chamber music by Mozart and Dvořák. I have met with the piccolo in only one chamber work—namely, Dubois' Suite for seven wind instruments.

There is a mass of concerted music for two, three, or four flutes, some of which is of a high order of merit. Beethoven wrote a characteristic Allegro and Minuet for two flutes for his friend Degenhart in 1792. Four flautists stand out as the leading composers ofSeveral
Flutes
alone music of this kind: Berbiguier, Kummer, Gabrielsky, and Kuhlau—whose quartett for four flutes is the best ever written. It will probably surprise the ordinary reader to learn that over twenty quartetts for four equal-pitched flutes are in existence. The music for flutes alone is lighter in character than that written for strings; though of great interest to flute-players, it is never likely to become popular with the general public. The lack of bass or even tenor tone is an insuperable defect. Several attempts have been made to obviate this objection by using flutes of different pitches. In November 1868 a quartett by S. Laville for an E♭ flute, a concert flute, an alto flute in B♭, and a bass flute in G, was performed with such success that Sir George A. Macfarren said, "A new and glorious era for the flute has commenced, in which the present and future masters of the art will be delighted to embody their inspirations in the flute quartett"—a prophecy which, notwithstanding Mr. Fransella's recent revival of a similar quartett, unfortunately still lacks fulfilment.

1. All the works mentioned in this chapter include a part for the flute.