CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
Graduate Recital in Flute
An abstract submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Music
Flute Performance
by
Sandra Kipp
December 1994
The abstract of Sandra Kipp is approved by:
Geraldine Rotella
Dr. Daniel Kessner
David Whitwell, Committee Chairman
California State University, Northridge
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ABSTRACT
Graduate Recital in Flute
by
Sandra Kipp
Master of Music in Flute Performance
John Poppy, a music lover, once said, "Discipline and focused
awareness ... contribute to the act of creation."l Anyone who has prepared a
recital has experienced this. Although careful and diligent preparation
preceded my graduate recital, I wanted my audience to sense I was creating the
music and its expression at the moment, just for them. This is the spark that
makes live performances magic.
Joanne Pearce-Martin, pianist, and I began my recital with the rarely
performed Sonatina for Flute and Piano by Eldin Burton (1913-1985). This
three movement work, which won the composition prize of the New York
Flute Club in 1948, is dedicated to flutist Samuel Baron, who was a fellow
student of Burton's in a composition course at The Juilliard School.
According to Samuel Baron, the Sonatina began as a work for solo piano. The
lLaurence .T. Peter, Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (Toronto and New
York: Bantam Books, 1980), 122.
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professor of the composition class recognized in the sketches the making of a
duo for solo instrument and piano. The relationship between Baron and
Burton influenced his choice of flute.
The Sonatina has three movements: Allegretto grazwso, Andantino
sognando, and Allegro giocoso; quasi Fandango. Although composed in the
twentieth century, the work uses mostly traditional harmonies and expansive
romantic melodies. The Allegretto grazioso is unified with a long, lyrical
opening melody, which is repeated and slightly altered throughout the
movement. Triplets coupled with dotted rhythms create a contrasting
rhythmic and melodic line, and produce tremendous drama. The movement
ends with contrasting rhythms in the two instruments, leading to a dramatic
descending scale in the flute, and ending with a surprisingly humorous
cadence. The Andantino sognando begins with a beautifully lilting melody,
then boldly introduces wild scales in the flute part. Similar to the end of the
first movement Burton uses conflicting rhythms in this section which build
and arrive on a high B in the flute and a strong statement of the opening
melody. The movement quickly calms and ends with a light and airy
harmonic in the flute. The Allegro giocoso; quasi Fandango is a sassy, quick,
and dance-like movement testing the technical capabilities of the flutist.
Double tonguing is a necessity and alternate or trill fingerings sometimes a
preference. The piece ends on a D4 (D above high C) concluding the work
with fire and excitement.
The Partita in a minor for Solo Flute by Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750), is often surrounded by uncertainty. Tempos, accidentals, and even the
title are debated by performers and music historians. The only surviving
manuscript of the work was discovered during World War
t
and therefore
was not included in the Bachgesellschaft 19th century publication of Bach's
2
complete works.2 The manuscript lacks a title page; however, above the
Allemande appears "Solo pour la Flute traversiere par
J.
S. Bach." It has
falsely been called a sonata by many, including Wolfgang Schmieder in his
thematic catalog of Bach's works. Quite clearly, this popular work is unlike a
sonata. "Bach uses the term 'sonata' for his church and chamber sonatas with
Italian abstract movements (allegro, andante, etc.) and reserves the terms
"suite" and "partita" for those works which consist almost solely of dance
movements. Furthermore, Bach's sonatas usually contain one movement m
a contrasting key, whereas his suites and partitas are all in the same
tonality."3 Though some refer to this work as a suite, partita is more
appropriate.
The Partita, most likely originally written in part for keyboard, has four
movements: Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, and Bourree Anglaise. The
Allemande is not an example of idiomatic flute writing. The uninterrupted
sixteenth-notes, which would be better suited for a string or keyboard
instrument, create a dilemma for flutists. The breathing problem creates a
movement rarely performed the same way twice. Perhaps this was Bach's
intention. The Corrente is virtuostic with extended sixteenth-note passages,
the longest being fifteen continuous bars; usually the passages are broken
with occasional eighth, quarter, and dotted-quarter notes, which aid in
breathing. There are intervals as large as a fourteenth and melody notes
hidden in complex sixteenth-note figures. The Sarabande is a beautiful
2 John
Solum, "Bach's Partita for Solo Flute: Forty Years of Discovery", in Woodwind
World, (1960); quoted in Richard Trombley, "The Allemande from Bach's Partita in A
Minor for Solo Flute Revisited." The Flutist Quarterly (Winter, 1985), 17.
3 Richard Trombley, "The Allemande from Bach's Partita in A Minor for Solo Flute
Revisited," The Flutist Quarterly (Winter, 1985), 17.
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movement, slow but moving. It appears that Bach may have left out four
measures at the restatement of the theme, beginning in measure 35. Rather
than restating measures one through eight, Bach begins a restatement of
measure five, leaving the listener feeling as though something was left out. It
is common practice to insert the first four measure at bar 35 and it is usually
published this way today. The last movement marked Bourree Anglaise is a
fast, charming movement often a favorite of listeners.
The third work on the program was the Sonata for Flute and Piano by
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963). This Parisian composer captured many moods
throughout this work including romance, satire, sentiment, and humor,
creating a work loved by performers and listeners alike. The work, written in
1956, was commissioned by the Coolidge Foundation and inspired and
influenced greatly by Jean-Pierre Rampal who worked closely with Poulenc
on the piece. The first performance was in June 1957 with Rampal and
Poulenc at the piano. It is unknown, except to those involved, if markings
added by Rampal to Poulenc's original manuscript were done so with
Poulenc's approval.
The three movement work begins with an Allegro malincolico,
usually misspelled "malinconico." This movement begins and is unified by a
four-note grupetto, found no less than fifteen times throughout the
movement. The contrasting theme, consisting of dotted rhythms, is stated at a
faster tempo. The second movement is entitled Cantilena, which means a
vocal melody with lyrical character. This movement is emotionally moving
and lyricat and borrows vocal motives from Poulenc's opera Dialogues des
Cannelites, written shortly before the flute sonata. The flute is predominant
in the Cantilena unlike the outer movements where the two instruments
share melodic presentation. The last movement, Presto giocoso, is brisk and
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exciting. Its themes are stated and restated in many keys and a short
remembrance of the second theme from the first movement is heard before
the last section of the work.
Following the Poulenc is the Quartet in D Major, K. 285 by Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). It was written in December of 1777, partially
fulfilling a commission for the Dutch physician and amateur flutist
Ferdinand de Jean. At this time, Mozart was not interested in composing an
instrumental work for an amateur musician. He reluctantly accepted the
commission because of financial instability. This quartet, written for flute,
violin, viola, and cello, is a beautiful work, demonstrating idiomatic flute
writing. It has three movements: Allegro, Adagio, and Rondo with the first
and third movements in D major and the Adagio in B minor. The Allegro is
in a well composed sonata-allegro form, with unifying motives used and
varied throughout the movement. The Adagio in this quartet is charming
with a cantabile flute melody accompanied by pizzicato strings. Alfred
Einstein said that this movement is perhaps "the most beautiful accompanied
solo ever written for flute."4 The Adagio leads directly into a 2/4 seven-part
Rondo. It is quick, light and full of surprising expanded and truncated
phrases. Though the flute is dominant throughout both the first and third
movements, the violin carries the melody in several sections, and the viola
in the Rondo has an extensive sixteenth-note passage which often determines
the speed of the movement in performance.
This work, like many classical pieces, offers the performer the opportunity
to improvise an eingang between the second and third movements. An
eingang is a group of five to eight notes connecting an inner movement of a
4 Alfred Einstein, Mozart: His Character, His Work, trans. by Arthur Mendel
and Nathan Broder (New York: Oxford University Press, 1945), 178.
5
work to the next movement. It is only appropriate when the inner
movement ends with a fermata, and the chord has a dominant function. I
choose a scale-like figure in D major for my eingang.
Completing the program was the Fantasie pastorale hongroise, opus 26, by
Albert Franz Doppler (1821-1883), commonly known as the "Hungarian
Fantasy." This work is a fantastic blend of virtuostic demands and musicality.
If played simply as composed, it will have an academic nature, obviously
falling short of Doppler's intention. The flutist's character and personality
must be brought to this work, which takes the listener on a fantasy ride
through Hungarian folk songs.
Performing a recital which requires tremendous work and preparation
should bring personal pride and satisfaction. It did for me. l hope each
member of the audience walked away not only having enjoyed a recital, but
also knowing more about my passion for music and performing.
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California State University, Northridge
Department of Music
presents
Sandra Kipp
in her
*Graduate Recital
Featuring Joanne Pearce-Martin
Sunday
November 20, 1994
5:00p.m.
Northridge Seventh Day Adventist Church
*In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the Master of Music Degree
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Program
Sonatina for Flute and Piano .......................................................... Eldin Burton
(1948)
Allegretto grazioso
Andantino sognando
Allegro giocoso;quasi fandango
Partita in a minor ............................................................. Johann Sebastian Bach
Allemande
Corrente
Sarabande
Bourree Anglaise
Sonata for Flute and Piano ......................................................... Francis Poulenc
Allegro malincolico
Cantilena
Presto giocoso
Intermission
Quartet in D Major, K. 285 .................................... Wolfgang Amadeus. Mozart
Allegro
Adagio
Rondo
Thomas Tally, viola
Lisa Monte, violin
Helen Taylor, cello
· pas t ora1e h ongr01se
· ...................................... ...... Albert Franz Doppler
F an t as1e
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