Improvising on the Flute in Nineteenth-Century Italy: Pedagogy and Performance Practice
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Improvising on the Flute in Nineteenth-Century Italy: Pedagogy and Performance Practice by Luca Manghi A thesis submitted to The University of Otago in part fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance Practice) Department of Music School of Performing Arts The University of Otago June 2019 ABSTRACT Improvisation has always been a key aspect of musical practice. In Western classical music improvisational practices have varied considerably from place to place and have evolved with time. Flautists have included forms of improvisations in their performances. Because aspects of Italian life and arts involved improvisatory elements, improvisation tended to be a more prominent feature of Italian music than that of other European countries. Italian musicians were especially renowned throughout Europe as great improvisers. In the nineteenth century, however, for a variety of reasons, the importance of fidelity to the notated score increased. Performers emphasized the accurate rendition of a printed “work,” and while performing standards increased, the musician's scope for personal expression became more limited. However, as I will show, non-prepared aspects of music performance survived into the twentieth century, by which time improvisation was no longer a thriving practice, and had become, at best, a highly specialised art. The practice of improvisation among singers, and string and keyboard players has recently attracted some scholarly attention. Despite the continuing importance of flute improvisation in the nineteenth century, we find relatively little critical examination of its contexts and practices in this period. My research reviews the performance contexts in which flute improvisation was applied in the nineteenth century, a time that saw many changes in the lives of musicians, which had an impact on the practice of and attitudes towards improvisation, and the forms of improvisation and techniques that flautists had at their disposal. In what follows I explore the basics of improvisation pedagogy as applied to the flute in nineteenth- century Italy. I demonstrate how students learned to improvise and how they shaped their improvisations. A variety of formulas was available to them; these formulas were learned and memorised from flute methods, but students were also taught how to incorporate them into a coherent, yet spontaneous sounding form. From a variety of sources we learn that flautists, in the nineteenth century, acquired improvisational skills in a similar way to jazz or blues musicians. A more detailed comparison of nineteenth-century pedagogical strategies with those used in the twentieth century is included in the second chapter of the thesis, which I use to draw out parallels and differences between the various approaches of teaching improvisation. Throughout this thesis it will also be obvious which techniques and aspects of improvisation are particular to the flute. The comparison of flute improvisatory techniques with scores written for other instruments helps to focus on aspects particular to the flute, which techniques flautists used and how flautists exploited their available tools to attract the attention of the audience. Published scores and historical recordings provide documentation of how performance practice was applied by professional flautists. In comparing these sources with flute methods, etudes and daily exercises, I look for parallels which might point towards a more precise understanding of the art of improvisation in this context. The insights gained from this research are put into practice in the recording included with this thesis. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people who have helped me and encouraged me throughout my doctoral journey. In particular, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Andrew Deruchie for his help and guidance during my research and in the preparation of this dissertation. I also thank him for finding the time to read my drafts and for fitting our video calls (from various parts of the world) into his busy schedule. I would also like to thank all the University of Otago staff, particularly Professor Anthony Ritchie, Alexander Ritchie, and Dr. Jennifer Cattermole, who assisted me in matters such as funding applications and library requests. My grateful thanks go also to Professor Terence Dennis for sharing his knowledge on nineteenth- century opera, and for performing with me in my first recital. I also thank Tessa Petersen, Dr. Heleen Du Plessis, Helen Bevin, Matthew Marshall, for playing in my recitals, and the members of the Quartetto Fonè, Lorenzo Gabellini, Maurizio Trapletti, Andrea Leasi, Claudio Carta for playing on the CD included with this dissertation, as well as the recording engineer Carlo Cantini. In addition, I also wish to extend my gratitude to the following people: Gianni Lazzari for opening his private flute museum to me and sharing his knowledge on the flute; My former teacher, mentor, and friend Roberto Fabiano for instigating the idea for this doctorate and for his constant advice and support during our lessons; Philippa Harris for including one of my recitals in the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra 2017 season and Michael Vinten for orchestrating Briccialdi's Flute Concerto in F major for that occasion; Susan Nelson for her help in locating historical recordings; All the librarians in the Italian and French libraries, and in particular Roberto Catelli (archivio sonoro Roma), Dott. Cesare Corsi (Napoli), Alessandra Presutti (Parma/Adria), Prof.ssa Elena Zomparelli (Firenze), Dott.ssa Laura Plazzi (Roma), Elisa Superbi (Greggiati), Sofia Fattorillo (Modena); The John Steele Bequest for granting me the funding which helped me with the recording in Italy; Alessandro Pelli e Sara Rasori for their help and for allowing me to organise the recording in the Teatro “Bonifazio Asioli” in Correggio; Bridget Douglas for kindly listening to some of the works I have performed in my recitals; Dr. Michael Weiss, for helping me in the first stages of my research; Dr. Nichola Voice and Febriani Idrus for proof-reading parts of my thesis. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their constant support and David for being so encouraging, and for his constant patience in proof-reading my writing in the making. ii CONTENTS Preliminaries: Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Contents iii Examples iv Introduction 1 Improvisation in the Western Classical Tradition 2 Improvisation in Italy 6 Review of Literature 8 Sources 11 Chapter 1: The Contexts of Improvisation 18 A Brief History of the Transverse Flute in Italian Musical Culture and the Role of Improvisation in its Performance Practices 18 Performance Contexts for Improvisation on the Flute in the Nineteenth Century 21 Generic and Formal Contexts for Improvisation 25 Ornamentation 25 Preludes 27 Cadenzas 29 Fermatas 35 Theme and variations 37 Chapter 2: Basic Techniques of Improvisation 40 Ornamentation 46 Cadenzas and Fermatas 57 Preludes and Fantasies 80 Theme and Variations 92 Facilitation and Complication 101 Conclusion 104 Selected Bibliography 106 Appendix A: CD details 116 iii EXAMPLES: Chapter 1 EXAMPLE 1 Franz Liszt, Un Sospiro, 3ème Étude de Concert S. 144 mm. 53 EXAMPLE 2 Giorgetti, Ferdinando. Concerto in E minor for flute and orchestra, Op. 9 mm. 195-96 EXAMPLE 3 Giorgetti, Ferdinando. Concerto in E minor for flute and orchestra, Op. 9 mm. 24-26 EXAMPLE 4 Mercadante, Saverio. Concerto in E minor for flute and strings EXAMPLE 5 Gariboldi, Giuseppe. Melodie de Schubert No. 2, Les plaintes de la Jeune Fille for flute and piano EXAMPLE 6 Toja, Giovanni. Serenata in Re maggiore Op. 8 for flute and strings mm. 45-49 EXAMPLE 7 Briccialdi, Giulio Danza delle Streghe di Paganini Op. 138 for flute and piano EXAMPLE 8 Bianchini, Maria Fantasia Fantastica per flauto solo sull'Aria “Casta Diva” di Vincenzo Bellini mm 7-19 Chapter 2 EXAMPLE 9 V. Michel, Air de Boyeldieu from Nouvelle Méthode de flûte Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France EXAMPLE 10 De Michelis, Vincenzo. Cantabile all'antica, studio n. 8 Op. 158 mm. 1-4 EXAMPLE 11 De Michelis, Vincenzo. Cantabile all'antica, studio n. 8 Op. 158 mm. 32-34 EXAMPLE 12 Nicholson, Charles. General Scale of all the Shakes from School for the flute pag.91 EXAMPLE 13 Krakamp, Emanuele. Delle note di abbellimento from Metodo Op. 103 EXAMPLE 14 Drouët, Louis. Des Trilles from Méthode pour la flûte Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France EXAMPLE 15 Krakamp, Emanuele. Delle note di abbellimento from Metodo Op. 103 EXAMPLE 16 Drouët, Louis. De ce qu'on appelle broder from Méthode pour la flûte Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France EXAMPLE 17 Drouët, Louis. De ce qu'on appelle broder from Méthode pour la flûte Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France EXAMPLE 18 Drouët, Louis. Etude n. 61 from 72 Studies on Taste and Style composed expressly for the Boehm Flute EXAMPLE 19 Drouët, Louis. Prelude in a minor and Prelude in f major from Dix-huit Préludes et six cadences. EXAMPLE 20 – 20a – 20b De Michelis, Vincenzo. Studio n. 5 Op. 25 iv EXAMPLE 21 Briccialdi, Giulio. Il Carnevale di Venezia Op. 78. Cadenza EXAMPLE 22 Briccialdi, Giulio. Il Carnevale di Venezia Op. 78 Cadenza by Leonardo De Lorenzo EXAMPLE 23 Gariboldi, Giuseppe. Point d'orgue n. 3 from L'Art de Préluder du flûtiste EXAMPLE 24 Gariboldi, Giuseppe. Point d'orgue n. 8 from L'Art de Préluder du flûtiste EXAMPLE 25 Ciardi, Cesare. Cadenza n. 6 from 50 Punti Coronati e Cadenze per flauto solo EXAMPLE 26a Krakamp, Emanuele. Esercizi di accordi arpeggiati from Metodo Op. 103 EXAMPLE 26b Gariboldi, Giuseppe. Point d'orgue n. 3 from L'Art de Préluder du flûtiste EXAMPLE 27a De Michelis, Vincenzo Altra progressione semitonata from Metodo Op. 89 EXAMPLE 27b Gariboldi, Giuseppe. Point d'orgue n. 19 from L'Art de Préluder du flûtiste EXAMPLE 28a De Michelis, Vincenzo Progressione di terze minori from Metodo Op. 89 EXAMPLE 28b Ciardi, Cesare. Cadenza n.