CHAPTER XIV.
BRITISH AND FOREIGN STYLES COMPARED.
Statistics—Style of performance—English, French, Italian, German—Böhm's opinion—Foreign players of note.
It is interesting to note the comparative numbers of flute-players produced by the various civilized countries.Statistics Out of a fairly complete list of 486 flautists of all times I find of German or Austrian birth, 201; French, 85; English, 54; Italian, 46; Dutch, 21; Belgian, 14; Hungarian and American, 12 each; Danish, 11; Bohemian, 8; Russian, 6; Spanish and Swiss, 4 each; Polish, 3; Swedish and South American, 2 each; Greek, 1. The predominance of those of German origin is very remarkable.
Flute-playing seems very frequently to run in families. Thus I find one instance of a father, son, and grandson; in three cases, a father and two sons; about twenty cases of a father and son; five cases of two brothers; and one of an uncle and nephew. I also find four players of the name Köhler and four Mullers, three Petersens, Wunderlichs, Gabrielskys and Fahrbachs, and two each of the following names: Günther, Heindl, Balleron, Bauer, Kuhlau, Maquarre, Voigt, and Sauvlet, whose relationship to each other I do not know.
As regards style of performance, there is a considerable difference between the various nationalities. The English school (founded by Charles Nicholson)Style of
Perform-
ance differs from that of most continental Style of players chiefly in its vigour and robustness of tone, especially on the lower notes. In the hands of unskilful players of this type there is a certain tendency to coarseness of tone, and a lack of refinement and delicacy of expression. The English players have also introduced much greater variety of articulation. The French and Belgian flautists aim chiefly at producing silvery purity and sweetness of tone rather than volume—quality rather than quantity. Their tone almost invariably sounds weak to British ears—Berbiguier himself termed them "joueurs de flageolet." They often seem to lack fire and dash; they are too tame. On the other hand, the foreign style is marked by refinement and delicacy of taste, and the phrasing is often exquisite. Moreover, they seem somehow more sympathetic in their playing. In pianissimo passages the result is often perfect; they will make a shake on the highest notes die away into nothing; but in fortissimo passages they seem, as a rule, afraid to bring out the full power of the instrument, especially on the lower register. The Italian players, whilst bold, full, firm in tone, and skilled in florid execution, are generally somewhat lacking in polish and delicacy, and often defective in tune. Mendelssohn in 1830, writing from Rome, says:—"I heard a solo on the flute where the flute was more than a quarter of a tone too high; it set my teeth on edge, but no one remarked it, and when at the end a shake came they applauded mechanically." The Germans approach more nearly to the English style, but are too fond of technicalities.
Böhm has some interesting remarks on the various players of his day—"As to your question about GermanBöhm's
Opinion flute-players, I am sorry to say there is not one like Dorus or De Vroÿe, if I speak of perfection in every respect." He speaks of some of his German pupils as being very good orchestral players; "and I think about as good solo players as your London players, with the exception of Mr. Pratten, whom I like very much. . . . As to fine taste, I consider Dorus and De Vroÿe as first; as to tone, Ott, Krüger, and several others are superior. When De Vroÿe had played here many said to me, 'De Vroÿe is a very fine artist; but if we remember your tone and playing, he seems little and weak in comparison.' . . . As to playing in a grand style, I never heard anything like Nicholson and Tulou. They play now [1866] much more, but less in quality." Again in 1871 he says:—"De Vroÿe is a first-rate artist, but his tone is too small for London, where Nicholson is still remembered. I did as well as any continental flautist in London in 1831, but I could not match Nicholson in power of tone, wherefore I set to work to remodel my flute. Had I not heard him, probably the Böhm flute would never have been made. . . . All Nicholson's immediate successors had, more or less, a powerful tone, but they made a trumpet of the flute. [This reminds one of Mrs. Browning's line, 'I am no trumpet, but a reed.'] Their tone was loud enough, but loudness alone is not what is wanted for singing."
Other famous exponents of the French style were Altes, Taffanel, and more recently Krantz, who is renowned for the softness and "flutey"Foreign
Players
of Note character of his tone and his observance of light and shade. Amongst present-day exponents of the German school the most prominent are Prill; Tillmetz, a pupil of Böhm, who in 1882 performed in Parsival at Bayreuth under Wagner himself, and is noted for his technique; and Büchner; whilst among the Italians—Negri, Rabboni, Boucher, Ciardi, and Briccialdi had an able successor in Ernesto Köhler, a native of Modena, who settled in St. Petersburg, and whose brilliant execution and fine tone were considered second to none in all Europe. He died in 1907.