November 2008 PETER BLOOM: LIVING HISTORY FLUTIST Interview by Andrew Sterman ANDREW STERMAN: How did you come to be giving this unique recital here? eter Bloom, the Boston flutist special- PETER BLOOM: Last year I did a lot of izing in performing on his large consulting for the Boston Museum of Fine Pcollection of early American-made Arts, on their instrument collection, , will be bringing some highlights and I did a lecture on the flutes of Alfred of his collection to the NYFC this Badger. Somehow the word got out that November for a concert of music from (Cont’d on page 4) 19th-century New York. His recital will include a selection of music that appeared IN THIS ISSUE in New York City on concert programs of the day, anecdotes about the virtuoso Peter Bloom: Living History Flutist by Andrew Sterman...... 1 flutists who performed those concerts, and performances of the pieces on a wide vari- From the President: The Flute in Gotham ety of flutes, all made in or near NY during by Nancy Toff...... 2 the same time. Though I am a collector myself, I have never known much about Member Profile: Karen Demsey...... 3 the flute makers or early players of NY. This Alexa Still Masterclass Report...... 7 interview, conducted by phone, gave me an introduction to both, as well as to the Anouncements very charming and erudite Peter Bloom Flute Happenings ...... 3 himself. Ensembles Program Update...... 7 Classified...... 7 In Concert Peter Bloom, Flute The Flute in 19th Century New York Sunday, November 23, 2008, 5:30 pm Yamaha Piano Salon, 689 Fifth Avenue (entrance on 54th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues)

The Ante-Bellum Years (conical flutes)

Variations on a Favorite Air F. Egan (fl. c. 1820-1840) Waltzes for the Flute “To the Amateurs of New York” J. L. Downe (fl. c. 1825-1850) Concertino, Op. 100, c. 1840 Anton Bernard Fürstenau (1792-1852) Salute to New York “A Song for the Flute” Louis Drouet Jr. (1792-1873) Studies on Taste and Style Composed Expressly for the Boehm Flute “To Philip Ernst” Louis Drouet Jr.

The Post-Bellum Years (cylinder flutes)

Danse des Moucherons “December 25, 1873 To Henry Clay Wysham” Sidney Lanier (1842-1881) Wind-Song Sidney Lanier Il Balen: Air and Variation (1876; air from Verdi’s Il Trovatore of 1853) Sidney Lanier Etude in B Major (from 24 Studies dedicated to Heinrich Gantenberg) William Schade (1850-1930) Nocturne William Schade/P.H. Bloom

Program subject to change Mr. Bloom will play the entire program on historical flutes by the New York makers Alfred G. Badger, Gustave Behrle, James W. Hoey, Allen R.Jollie, William R. Meinell, Charles Monzani, and Edward Riley. He will be glad to show the instruments to interested audience members after the concert. 2-- NYFC Newletter The Flute in Gotham by Nancy Toff

or many flutists, as for other musicians, NY has been the THE NEW YORK FLUTE CLUB INC. place to aspire to, what E. B. White memorably called F“the city of final destination, the city that is a goal.” It 2008–2009 was the immigrants to the city, White said, who accounted for NY’s “high-strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its Board of Directors dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements.”* Nancy Toff, President Yet proud as we are of the level of flute playing in our city, David Wechsler, First Vice President most of us do not think of NY as a magnet for instrument Ardith Bondi, Second Vice President makers. Since the early 20th century, Boston has been the Jeanne Wilson, Recording Secretary From the mecca of professional-grade flutemaking in this country, and Keith Bonner, Membership Secretary James N. Blair Treasurer President Elkhart, Indiana, the principal locus for manufacturers of stu- dent instruments. But in the 19th century, as Peter Bloom’s Susan Friedlander Karla Moe November concert will demonstrate, NY was a major center of Svjetlana Kabalin Fred Marcusa American flute making as well as of concert life. Nneka Landrum Seth Rosenthal We know that the flute was played in NY from colonial days, first by amateurs, Susan Lurie Rie Schmidt and by the mid-17th century by professionals as well. By 1800, some fifty musicians Stefani Starin in NY were able to eke out a living through some combination of teaching, selling Advisory Board music, and playing in theater and subscription concerts. An increasing Jeanne Baxtresser Marya Martin number emigrated from Europe; some time after 1830, Philip Ernst, for example, left Harold Jones Michael Parloff Germany to settle in NY, where he was one of the first flutists to adopt the Boehm Robert Langevin Jayn Rosenfeld system. The French flutist Louis Drouet met Ernst during a concert tour to NY in Gerardo Levy 1854, and the next year dedicated a set of etudes to him. John Kyle, Ernst’s colleague in the first incarnation of the NY Philharmonic (1842), was the first successful Amer- Past Presidents ican-born flutist. The late 19th century saw the rise of William Schade, an American, Georges Barrère...... 1920– 1944 and one of the great flutists in the German tradition, Carl Wehner, a Boehm student John Wummer...... 1944– 1947 Milton Wittgenstein ...... 1947– 1952 whom Theodore Thomas invited to NY to become first flute of the Philharmonic in Mildred Hunt Wummer...... 1952– 1955 1886. Frederick Wilkins ...... 1955– 1957 The flute dealers and makers who served this increasingly demanding clientele Harry H. Moskovitz...... 1957– 1960 followed much the same pattern: The 1760s and ‘70s saw the arrival in NY of profes- Paige Brook...... 1960– 1963 sionally trained European instrument makers, among them Gottlieb Wolhaupter, the Mildred Hunt Wummer ...... 1963– 1964 Maurice S. Rosen ...... 1964– 1967 first flute maker documented in the United States. In 1783, John Jacob Astor arrived Harry H. Moskovitz ...... 1967– 1970 in the U.S. with a consignment of seven flutes from his brother George, the London Paige Brook ...... 1970– 1973 flutemaker; he turned his instrument business over to colleagues when he found Eleanor Lawrence ...... 1973– 1976 the fur business more profitable. After the revolution, other Europeans immigrated Harold Jones ...... 1976– 1979 to escape restrictive trade guilds and expand their businesses. Tyically, the shops Eleanor Lawrence ...... 1979– 1982 Paige Brook ...... 1982– 1983 were owned by master craftsmen who employed family members and one or more John Solum ...... 1983– 1986 journeymen or apprentices. As NY-made instruments improved in quality in the early Eleanor Lawrence ...... 1986– 1989 19th century, imports declined. Sue Ann Kahn ...... 1989– 1992 The founding fathers of the American flutemaking industry, George Catlin of Nancy Toff ...... 1992– 1995 Hartford and Edward Riley Sr. of NY, spawned a veritable dynasty of flute craftsmen, Rie Schmidt ...... 1995– 1998 Patricia Spencer...... 1998– 2001 among them John Meacham and Sylvanus Pond, who first worked for Catlin and later Jan Vinci...... 2001– 2002 moved their business to NY. Another Catlin descendant, Asa Hopkins, was one of Jayn Rosenfeld...... 2002– 2005 several makers who set up shop in Litchfield, Connecticut (also known as Fluteville). David Wechsler...... 2005–2008 Riley came to NY from London about 1805; two of his workmen, John Firth and Wil- Newsletter liam Hall, each married the boss’s daughters. Ultimately these men came together to Katherine Saenger, Editor form the NY firm of Firth, Hall & Pond, which in turn bought out some of the Litch- 115 Underhill Road field shops and lasted until 1847, becoming one of the largest music merchandisers Ossining, NY 10562 in the United States. 914-762-8582 The Boehm flute arrived in NY around 1845 and was adopted by both Philip [email protected] Ernst and John Kyle. It was through Kyle’s patronage that the Connecticut-born Lauren Zavlunov, Designer Alfred G. Badger, a Catlin “grandson,” began manufacturing the Boehm flute here. 1108 Quail Ridge Drive More German makers came after that, among them William R. Meinell, who worked Plainsboro, NJ 08536 in the heavily-German Yorkville neighborhood (and made flute collector Dayton C. 516-317-2413 Miller’s first flute), and Arthur , who began on 10th Street in 1905 and [email protected] soon moved to Yorkville as well. (For those who are interested, several of us are working on a detailed genealogy of American flute makers.) www.nyfluteclub.org Peter Bloom’s program reflects the symbiotic relationships between these early NY performers and flute makers. His concert illustrates the salutary results of histori- Copyright © 2008 by The New York Flute Club Inc., cal curiosity, instrument collecting, and musicological sleuthing—not to mention fine unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. musicianship. This is historically informed performance at its best.

* This is New York, 1949. November 2008-- 3

FLUTE

Degree(s): BM in performance (Uni- HAPPENINGS Member versity of Maine, 1977), MM in music education (Eastman School of Music, Free to current NYFC members, this section lists upcom- Profile 1989), and DMA in performance (Rut- ing performances by members; flute-related contests, gers University, 1996). auditions, and masterclasses organized/sponsored Karen Demsey by members; and brief descriptions of members’ new recordings, sheet music, and books. Send submissions to Most notable and/or personally satisfy- the Newsletter Editor. NYFC Member ing accomplishments: As a performer: since 1995 commissioning and premiering new works for flute and marimba and for NOVEMBER ’08 Employment: Full-time professor of flute ensemble, including two works Thursday 1:30 pm flute and music history at William Pat- for UpTown Flutes by Peter Bacchus; Nov erson University in Wayne, NJ; member her three CDs with Uptown Flutes, on 6 The OMNI Ensemble, with DAVID of UpTown Flutes and various chamber which she has recorded the Bacchus WECHSLER, flute, will perform Elliott ensembles. pieces and UK composer Andrew Carter’s Cello Sonata, Olivier Messiaen’s Le Downes’s Sonata for Eight Solo Flutes. Merle Noir, Louise Farrenc’s Trio for flute, cello and piano, and flute sonatas by Joseph Recent performances: An UpTown As a teacher: researching successful Bodin de Boismortier. Flutes concert at Drew University and innovative “best practices” in the in February 2008, and an April 2008 college applied teaching studio for a • Center for the Performing Arts at the Col- lege of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Boule- recital at the Donnell Library with Ann book to be completed during a spring vard, Staten Island. • Admission is free. Roggen, viola; David Demsey, saxo- 2009 sabbatical leave. • Info, call 718 859-8649 phone; Nelson Padgett, piano. Favorite practice routines: Karen says, Thursday 8:00 pm Career highlight(s): Performing with “Singing and playing simultaneously is Nov UpTown Flutes at Weill Recital Hall central to my warm-up, my practice, 6 celebrates 50 at Carnegie Hall (2002) and the 2003 and my relationship with the flute. It years of playing the flute! Presented by the Pro Musicis Foundation, the program in- NFA convention in Washington, DC; addresses all issues at once: breath- cludes high points of his solo flute composi- recording her flute and marimba CD, ing, intonation, tone, muscle strength tions, including the world premiere of Air is Recollections of the Inland Sea (Cap- without tension, and expression. Until the Heaviest Metal, his flute and piano duo stone Records), with percussionist Greg recently, I often received blank looks Life Concert, and a special interview with Giannascoli; being a guest faculty per- when I asked new students about it, Eugenia Zukerman. former at the Eastman School of Music but thanks to the efforts of Robert Dick • Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 154 (2001 and 2002); and performing at the and others, singing and playing is now West 57th Street, NYC. • Admission: tickets Nanjing Arts Institute in China as part mainstream. My students are always are $20. of an exchange program with William amazed at their ‘before’ and ‘after’ Paterson University music faculty and sound; the tone is rich, resonant, full Friday 8:00 pm students (October 2008). of life.” Nov 7 The OMNI Ensemble, with DAVID WECHSLER, flute, in the program of No- Current flute(s): She’s played a Other interests: Family history and vember 6. Haynes for two decades, and still owns travel. one, but currently plays an Emmanuel • Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, 58 Seventh Avenue (at Lincoln Place) in Park flute (No. 22), a Weissman , a Advice for NYFC members: “Let go of Slope, Brooklyn. • Admission: $15 general, DeFord alto c. 1970, and a preconceived notions that improvisa- $10 students/seniors. • Info and ticket reser- previously owned by noted NY wood- tion is something belonging to a small vations, call 718 859-8649. wind artist Albert Regni. group of trained professionals and incorporate improvisation into your Wednesday noon Influential flute teachers: Bonita Boyd daily playing. Start with long tones on Nov (during high school and again as a a pentatonic scale or a Dorian mode; 12 Femmes Four, a with master’s student); Susan Heath, Claude when you become comfortable with AMY ZIEGELBAUM, Lauren Ausubel, Monteux, and Murray Panitz (as an un- that, branch out with other scales, or Anna Povich de Mayor, and Helen Richman, flutes, will perform music by Leo Kraft, Ed- dergraduate); and James Scott and Bart elaborate on familiar tunes. Follow ward Smaldone, Mikael Karlsson, and Allen Feller (during doctoral studies). where your ear and intuition lead. The Brings. main goal is to enjoy making it up as • LeFrak Concert Hall, Aaron Copland High school: Eastridge and Penfield you go along, like a child making up School of Music, Queens College, NY. High Schools in Rochester, NY; Prep songs in the back seat of the car on • Admission is free. Division, Eastman School of Music, long trips.” grades 5-12.

(Cont’d on page 7) 4-- NYFC Newletter

Peter Bloom (cont’d from page 1) Of course, in Europe variations on “God with foreign-born talent. There were other Save the King” were common in the day; virtuosos from Europe touring America as I was an expert on Badger flutes, which Nicholson, the great English flutist, made well. I was not, of course, but I got a call from his career playing his [own] version, and Andras Adorjan in Germany, asking if I Drouet and Fürstenau all played some AS: So when we say that you're giving a would write the Badger article for their version. recital of music from the flute world of NY soon to be published Lexikon der Flöte. in the 19th century, I was a bit wrong in So I did, then Nancy Toff heard about it, AS: Would it be fair at all to say that flute thinking that this was all a homegrown which led to an invitation to play and talk playing through most of the 19th century scene having yet to be influenced by the at the NYFC. had flashy, trashy, variation-type music as Europeans... a mainstay, which led to Taffanel's later PB: It started in a big way with Graupner, AS: And Badger was perhaps the most well promotion of music for the flute that was who had played in Haydn’s own known of the American flute makers before as serious as that of the best violin or piano Esterhazy in the 1790s, and Haynes, is that right? And he worked here repertoire? came to Boston shortly after that, and boy, in NY? people followed him very quickly. PB: Yes, that's right. His flutes are really superb. But I’ll be start- AS: Tell us more about what ing the concert at an earlier time you'll be playing on in November. frame, in the 1820s, around the PB: Sure. The Egan I’ll be play- time that American slavery ended ing on a flute by Riley, who was in NYC. That's about the time making flutes on Chatham Street that flute making began there in downtown NYC in the 1820s. in earnest, [about two decades It's a one-key flute. After that, I’ll before Boehm’s 1847 “modern” play on an 1837 eight-key Allen cylindrical flute, and the “Big Jollie flute something from a set Switch” that followed]. But these of 1840s waltzes by J.L. Downe guys not only made flutes, they that was dedicated “To the ama- were publishing music too, for teurs of New York.” virtuosos and amateurs. It was the only way you could have AS: So the Jollie flute would be a “record” of what the travel- conical, like a piccolo today, ing virtuosos were playing in tapering toward the foot? concert—there was no sound PB: Yes, it has ring keys, like recording or even radio at that do, and an ivory bush- time, so everyone interested, ing on the blowhole. even amateurs, would buy the music, and try to learn it. AS: How would you describe the sound? AS: Interesting! Were the flute PB: Depends on who’s playing makers publishing their own it, and what they’re trying to get compositions too, as we know out of it. Boehm did? PB: No. There was a lot of print- AS: I love that answer, it's open to ed music coming into NY from the player. Europe, from composers such PB: You have to read what as Drouet, Fürstenau, Nicholson, Tulou says a conical flute should even in the 1820s, but what I'm talking PB: Well, you could say that, but trashy sound like, and what Nicholson says it about was music mostly being written on stuff is always a mainstay (laughing)... should sound like, and it’s a totally differ- this side of the pond. For example, I’m however, there wasn't the line between ent ideal, and in fact, if you try their differ- planning to start my NYFC recital with a pop and classical stuff that we have today. ent approaches, as they described them, set of variations on “God Save the King,” you can kind of go toward those ideals as written by a fellow named Egan, who was AS: That’s a very important point, isn’t it? you play. It’s wild. a composer from Kingston, Jamaica. There PB: I think that a lot of these variation was active trade and interaction between pieces get a bum rap—it was a way to AS: So would you say that they are very NY and the Islands at that time. experience the glories of the in flexible-playing flutes? another setting, an instrumental setting. PB: Yes. [Getting back to] Drouet, he AS: How interesting. Do we know anything By the way, did you know that the great played regularly at the Crystal Palace [an about Egan? Louis Drouet, one of Europe’s preeminent exhibition hall in existence from 1853- PB: Not much. He was an organist, an flutists of the 19th century and known to 1858, adjacent to today’s Bryant Park]. He organ tuner, and repairman in Kingston, us for his etudes, lived in Manhattan for was considered French, but he was actu- and was also the publisher of a book of four years, in the 1850s? During that time, ally born in Holland, and spent his career lithographs of black Jamaican culture, of course, his style and abilities became for the most part in London, where he but I don’t know if he himself was white, well known in NY, became a part of the stood for the view “opposing” Nicholson’s. black, or mixed. His variations were pub- NY musical world, which has always been Nicholson was the pop star of the day, lished in NY by Riley around the 1820s. filled with immigrants, very comfortable and players today still follow his November 2008-- 5 style of flute playing. Drouet was a much trained modern flutist to have a harder more sophisticated player, with greater time listening to a concert of historical in- FLUTE diversity of sound and color, types of ar- struments than, say, a player ticulation and expression. He also played who is coming from an entirely different a more diverse repertoire. There was set of expectations? HAPPENINGS something transcendent in his approach. PB: It depends on their level of curiosity. The Nicholson approach was much more I think it’s all open. worldly. I’ll play this part of the concert After Drouet’s Salute to New York, to be NOVEMBER ’08 on an eight-key flute by James Hoey, a played on the 8-key Hoey, we get to the NY maker, working on lower Broadway, Big Switch. I’ll play a few of the Studies Saturday 8:00 pm near Maiden Lane, in the 1850s. in Style and Taste, composed by Drouet Nov Badger, by the way, the most famous of expressly for the Boehm flute, in 1855, for 15 The Palisades Virtuosi with the NY flute makers, could have tossed the great NY flutist Philip Ernst. I’ll use an MARGARET SWINCHOSKI, flute, will per- a stone from his shop to the site of the early style flute by Badger for this, if it’s form “West Meets East,” a program of Asian World Trade towers. in good playing condition that day, made and Asian-influenced works including the world premiere of a commissioned trio by around 1850. It is one of the earliest full the ASCAP award-winning composer Sunbin AS: And that would have been so close to American flutes, made in Kim and works by Maurice Ravel, Tan Dun, the water at that time, before any of the the ring key, conical style. Maria Grenfell, Godfrey Schroth, and Dan extensive landfill additions to Manhattan Ikuma. were made, such as Battery Park City. AS: Okay, so this model of flute has a • Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cot- PB: Right, but listen to this: Badger lived complete set of Boehm keys, but in the ring tage Place, Ridgewood, NJ. • Admission: in Brooklyn at that time, and he com- key style, which means it looks a little like $20 general, $15 students/seniors. muted every day on the ferry from Peck's a sideways . And by conical you • Info, visit www.palisadesvirtuosi.org. slip [right around the time] Walt Whitman mean that it tapers toward the foot joint, wrote his famous 1854 poem “Crossing like a piccolo does, so the bore actually gets Sunday 3:00 pm Brooklyn Ferry.” I would be willing to bet smaller as you get toward the end of the Nov that they rubbed elbows at least once. instrument. 23 CARLA AULD will perform works PB: Right. You've got to have a taper of Hoover, Pujol, Sierra, Merlin, and Beaser AS: What a wonderful connection! And somewhere, and on these, instead of hav- in a flute and guitar recital with Ana Maria that is a truly great American poem. Whit- ing a headjoint taper, there is a body ta- Rosado. man celebrates a special American-style per. They are really just a big piccolo, and • New Jersey City University, Ingalls Recital universalism, where you have a mix of some of the playing quirks are the same, Hall, 2039 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, people—working class, elites, everyone— like in the upper register, they tend not to NJ. • Admission is free. • Info, call 201-200- thrown together on the way to work. be sharp, but rather a bit flat…. 3151 or 201-200-2099. PB: It makes my hair stand on end. Amaz- ing. The whole idea of his Brooklyn ferry AS: So, this Badger is a switch to Boehm poem is “you see this now through me.” system, but to an early conical version DECEMBER ’08 having much the same acoustics as the Thursday Noon AS: And that’s what you’ll be doing, in earlier flutes. Dec a way, by playing music of this time on PB: Right. 4 The “Music at Noon” series pres- precisely appropriate flutes, here in the city ents a Christmastime flute and harp recital where that happened. But how should we AS: When did the first “modern style” flute with CARLA AULD and Merynda Adams. listen, accustomed as we are to shiny silver get to America, one with a full size cylin- • Morristown United Methodist Church, 50 flutes with shiny modern sounds? How do drical bore and a full set of Boehm keys, Park Place, Morristown, NJ. • Admission is we listen to early historic flutes? Do we go that a flutist of today would be able to just free. • Info, call 973-538-2132. in blankly, with an open mind, or do we pick up and play? need to know something that will open PB: [Cylindrical] Boehm system flutes doors for us? Friday 7:30 pm came to America very, very quickly after Dec PB: I’m reminded of a story of a compe- their introduction in Europe in 1847, with tition in Belgium for early music per- 5 PATRICIA (DAVILA) LAZZARA, Ernst being the main importer. The first flute, and Kimberly DeRosa, harp, will per- formance, some years ago, and one of one was probably imported from the form a program of holiday music and more. the judges was Frans Brüggen, the great Godfroy shop [in France] by a violist in baroque flute player. He insisted that they NY who was importing string instruments; • Don Bosco High School, 492 North Frank- include on the jury a shakuhachi player, lin Turnpike, Ramsey, NJ. • Admission: $20. we have a copy of his ad in the New York • Info, call Toni Cecere at 201-327-8003 who knew nothing of European flute Tribune. x188 or visit www.donboscoprep.com/arts. history or the fusses that might be made about style and historical authenticity. AS: And who was the first American According to the story, the shakuhachi maker of these flutes? Saturday 3:00 pm Dec player came down with the same opinions PB: Badger, I think, shortly after 1847. as the others on the jury, he just listened [Editor’s note: Badger had an advantage 6 UPTOWN FLUTES will perform a program of holiday classics and more. to the sound…. It's not about what you over the makers in England and France, learn in school…. since Boehm's patents did not apply in • New Jersey Eastern Star Homes, 111 the U.S.] Finderne Avenue, Bridgewater, NJ. • Admis- AS: Okay, let me turn that question on its sion is free. • Info, call Diane Baldwin at 908-722-4140. head. Would it be possible for a carefully (Cont’d on page 6) 6-- NYFC Newletter

Peter Bloom (cont’d from page 5) AS: I’ve always wondered about that, PB: (laughing) I can't think of a day I because we hear about the pinless mecha- haven't! AS: Let’s talk about the Badger flutes a bit. nism that the Brannen shop advertises I’ve never owned one, but I’ve seen a few, as such a modern innovation, but I have AS: I’m very curious about how and why and they’re exquisitely made, and usually an made by George Haynes, the you began collecting vintage flutes. have a crest, like a coat of arms, on the brother of William Haynes, and this flute PB: I think it’s a passion for pawn shops, head joint or the top of the body. was built in NYC in the 1920s, with a pin- back in my early days. A passion for look- PB: Yes, they’re beautifully made. Badger less mechanism. ing at old instruments. I used to love to had a whole firm, with a foreman and PB: Yup. American stuff, from the early go to Ponte’s [on West 48th Street] in NY. workers, in a building that also had jewel- 20th century. George Haynes, by the way, Look at that stuff! I just fell in love with ers and engravers, right there in his build- was working in NY, more or less, from the crazy things I would see, ever since I ing. There were people making was in college. retractable pencils from gold, and engravers of bank note plates…. AS: Are you playing with piano in the NY recital? AS: His flutes are heavy, unlike the PB: Maybe not, since some of these French flutes, which were really instruments are at differing pitches trying to be absolutely as light as from each other and some of these possible… pieces have accompaniment parts PB: Yes, they were seamed tubes, that are less than fully interest- but heavier than the French ing. [Incidentally,] we worry today flutes…. It had something to do about pitch rising, and it indeed is with the American industrial aes- a big problem, but there was a time thetic of the time—make some- when it was much, much higher. thing that would last, and would Early Steinway pitch was 460! The stay in adjustment very well, conductor Theodore Thomas [1835- something physically sturdy. The 1905, the first conductor of the Chi- Badger flutes I’ll be playing with cago Symphony] worked to bring came with two head joints. One American pitch down. is made from thinned wood with a raised lip plate, like was done AS: Another question about listen- a bit in London, and the other is ing. Listening to historic instruments silver, with a barrel lip assembly. is a kind of listening back, we might The embouchures are cut differ- say; we’ll be hearing something that ently: one is more square, pro- Walt Whitman might have heard ducing maybe a larger sound, and in his NY. Does this relate to what the other is more oval, producing might be called listening to the side, a rounder sound. to other types of music from around the world that may be happening AS: Did Badger play the flute well even now, like shakuhachi, or the enough to know fine points of Indian , the Arabic , the sound color, and so forth? Manuscript image from Library of Congress Chinese , even the Armenian PB: Badger probably played some, but he duduk, and so forth? certainly wasn’t playing concerto reper- 1905 through 1930. Top of the line instru PB: The duduk, I love it! I own one, but toire or anything. He was fascinated with ments. There was a Boston maker named I can’t play it yet! It’s an amazing sound. making flutes as a child. At 17 or 18 he Christensen, who split off from Haynes But I don’t know, a listener can just come went off to apprentice with a flute maker about the same time as Powell did, and to this concert, and enjoy what they enjoy in Albany, then had a partnership making developed a whole system of making from it. We’re all working as hard as we instruments in Buffalo, before coming to ribless flutes, which normally would be can, playing the kinds of music that we NY. But the great makers, like Badger, en- characteristic of a cheap flute, but these play. I don't follow the Early Music Police joyed being around players and liked the were wonderful. or anything like that. It’s music, there are challenges the players brought to them. no laws. What am I going to follow but AS: Can you tell us how big your personal my inner ear? Years ago, I played a Mozart AS: Just like much later, at the height of flute collection is? concerto with my [modern] conservatory flute making in France, when Taffanel PB: Hmm... In what I play on daily, I’ve orchestra using a Baroque flute at mod- and that circle of players were at the mak- got a [modern] gold Dave Williams flute, ern pitch. I had a great time playing that ers’ shops quite a bit. I was wondering... a Rudall Carte alto flute, from the 1950s, concert, but a friend said to me, “Yes, was there American innovation in flute probably made by Albert Cooper when he beautiful, but you know that isn’t how it’s design, or was it mostly copying the flutes was with Rudall Carte, and a modern bass supposed to sound.” It took me so many arriving from Europe? flute. In terms of the early stuff, maybe years to become free from that comment. PB: Innovation, absolutely! You look somewhere shy of a hundred flutes…. There is no “supposed to.” The instru- at the number of patents granted, for ment tells you how it wants to be played, American flute making, so many ideas, AS: Have you ever lost a flute, at home, and perhaps it’s not to all tastes. Historical and many of them very good. The pinless just not known where in the world one of knowledge is for information, not rules. mechanism, for example…. them was? After all, every historical book is full of November 2008-- 7 talk about the other great players who are Flute Happenings Deadlines labeled as “charlatans,” so we know there Issue Deadline Mail date were a lot of different things going on! December 2008 10/30/08 11/27/08 TRAFFIC ADVISORY January 2009 12/11/08 1/8/09 February 2009 1/8/09 2/5/09 AS: Is there any possibility of modern new March 2009 1/29/09 2/26/09 music for historic instruments? To avoid getting caught April 2009 3/12/09 4/9/08 PB: Absolutely, and it is being written. in traffic on concert days, May 2009 4/16/09 5/14/09 There are composers writing, and there please visit the NYC are new pieces for traverso, for example, Department of Transpor- that just wouldn’t work on modern flute. tation's weekend traffic CLASSIFIED Also, there are people improvising on advisory site: early flutes. www.nyc.gov/html/dot/ FOR SALE: Weissman cork-joint piccolo html/motorist/wkndtraf. with ebony body, exotic wood head, and AS: Is there a growing movement for shtml silver keys. Excellent playing condition, “original instrument” use in music for the $3500. Call Virginia Schulze-Johnson at period we’re talking about, around both 484-663-3674. sides of the Civil War, similar to what is well established for Baroque music? PB: I hope so. You know, we Americans have a strain of self-loathing, of put- ting down our own musical traditions as inferior to Europe’s. We shouldn’t think ENSEMBLES PROGRAM UPDATE that way. There's a lot here. We have tremendous resources we haven’t dug into by Annette Baron yet. It’s in our own attics and pawn shops. There was a lot going on here; look at The first get-together of the season was held on Sunday, October 19th at Shetler the 19th-century concert programs. Being Studios in midtown Manhattan. Sixteen NYFC members attended and played selec- patriotic can include bringing our musical tions by Oscar and Hammerstein, and works of composers Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart, traditions to the fore. Look at jazz–it car- Smetana, Jack Jordan, and a traditional piece arranged by Ann Cameron Pearce. ries everything American within it. When you look at American-made instruments, Next Ensembles Program Get Together you see such classical depth and beauty. Sunday, December 7th, 2008 It means that great things were definitely 1:00 to 3:00 pm going on here, or it would have been im- Shetler Studios, (Penthouse 4) possible to make these wonderful flutes. It 244 West 54th Street (between Broadway and 8th Avenue) couldn’t have happened without a thriving RSVP to Annette Baron, Ensembles Coordinator, [email protected]. culture around them. AS: When you’re not searching for a lost flute at home, what else gets your atten- tion?...Any hobbies? PB: Oh, my days are spent trying to learn ALEXA STILL MASTERCLASS REPORT how to play these things! When I’m not Four people played at the masterclass on Saturday October 11: playing flute, I’m thinking about playing • Gloria Yun: Reinecke, Concerto in D major, 3rd movement flute…. Of course, I’m a little nervous • Kimberly O’Hare: Taffanel, Fantaisie on Themes from Der about coming to NY, as a Red Sox fan, Freischutz but unfortunately I think it’s safe this year, • Erica Chung: Karg-Elert, Sonata Appassionata since neither team is going anywhere... • Elizabeth Saller: Nielsen, Concerto, 1st movement So that’s a hint. But mostly, I’d rather prac- tice, or play a performance somewhere. Karla Moe and Jeanne Wilson were kind enough to share their impressions: AS: Peter Bloom, thank you for taking the Alexa Still gave a thought-provoking masterclass filled with in- time to talk with me. I feel a new respect formation, insight, wit and inspiration. She had four students for the early flute traditions of NY, which under her tutelage, and each was given her very individual, I had barely known about. It will be undivided attention. With one student, she spoke of how the wonderful to hear them, and you, at your vibrato changes the embouchure; with another, she gave advice November concert. on the difference in producing a volume of sound for playing a concerto in a large r hall, as opposed to a sonata with piano in a smaller hall. The third student was given advice about hand position, and the fourth student was encouraged to play musical Musician and flute collector Andrew lines with a smoothness and beautiful sound connecting all of the notes.—KM Sterman (www.andrewsterman.com) performs and teaches in New York and The students were all enthusiastic and receptive to her ideas. As a teacher, I liked the internationally. way Alexa zeroed in on one major aspect of each student’s playing and addressed that: i.e. tone projection, color, pitch control and how best to pull off a potentially “boring” piece with an audience.—JW The New York Flute Club Park West Finance Station P.O. Box 20613 New York, NY 10025-1515

November 23, 2008 concert Sunday, 5:30 pm • Yamaha Piano Salon, 689 Fifth Avenue (at 54th Street) Peter Bloom, The Flute in 19th Century New York

th 89 Season Greetings! This month we will have a lecture/recital by Pe- 2008 -2009 Concerts ter Bloom on the flutes of mid-19th century New York. Andrew Sterman, himself a flutist and collector, did the interview. Their October 12, 2008 • Sunday, 5:30 pm lively conversation swept me up into the “living history” of the era ALEXA STILL (Masterclass Oct. 11) and led me to search the Internet for more about the topics they November 23, 2008 • Sunday, 5:30 pm covered. I learned that the manuscript for Walt Whitman’s “Cross- PETER H. BLOOM, The Flute in 19th Century ing Brooklyn Ferry” can be found in the digital collections of the New York NY Public Library (www.nypl.org), that the 1850s Crystal Palace December 14, 2008 • Sunday, 5:30 pm was located adjacent to what is now Bryant Park (but what was BONITA BOYD From the then the Croton Distributing Reservoir, the terminus of the first January 25, 2009 • Sunday, 5:30 pm Editor Croton Aqueduct, completed in 1842), and that the manuscript for JEAN-LOUIS BEAUMADIER, piccolo Drouet’s “Salut à New York” (located by Nancy Toff on a Library February 22, 2009 • Sunday, 5:30 pm of Congress website a few clicks away from www.loc.gov*) is available for free download. JIM WALKER, jazz and classical artist And I learned from the interview that the downside of being a collector owning more flutes March 15, 2009 • Sunday, all day than you can count: it’s often hard to find the one you want when you want it. FLUTE FAIR 2009 Nancy Toff gives an overview of this era of flute playing and flute making in her “From , guest artist the President,” and she promises more on this topic at some future date. Until then, she sug- LaGuardia High School (to be confirmed) gests taking a look at Nancy Groce’s Makers of New York: A Directory of April 26, 2009 • Sunday, 5:30 pm Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Urban Craftsmen (Pendragon, 1991). 2009 NYFC COMPETITION WINNERS This month’s profile subject is Karen Demsey, a New Jersey-based university flute teacher May 31, 2009 • Sunday, 5:00 pm and UpTown Flutes member. She had a lot of interesting advice on improvisation and sing- ANNUAL MEETING & ENSEMBLE CONCERT ing, and I’m hoping that she’ll give us a preview of her recent research on the characteristics All concerts and events (except as noted) at Yamaha of successful flute studios sometime this spring. Piano Salon, 689 Fifth Avenue (entrance between Anyway, all for now. See you soon. Fifth and Madison on 54th Street). All dates and pro- grams subject to change. Tickets $10, only at the door; Best regards, free to members. For more information, visit the NYFC website at www.nyfluteclub.org or call 732-257-9082. Katherine Saenger ([email protected]) * http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mussmhtml/mussmhome.html, click “search authors” and then Drouet and Salut.