Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-13

sublime Leonore music the instrument hal
q prominent part Mendelssohn's "Italiau
Symphony" contains q melodious passage
for two flutes, and witness the brilliant
staccato passage in the scherzo movement
Of his midsummer Nights Dream. y
Without doubt the most familiar and most
abused of all orchestral solos Is that con.
tanned in Rossini's lovely overture to ''Will.
lam Tell" Mozart's impression Of the
flute was unfavorable, as he dispenses with
it in his grandest works, and only gives il
prominence in the "Magic Flute" Even
with the improved flute at their command
it il not surprising that some of the old
masters used it sparingly. Its Imperfect
condition made it scarcely within the range
by the lips, ear and lingering of the per
former. By good judgment and thorough
knowledge of his instrument, the player
with an elastic lip and variety of finger
ing might not be very much out Of tune,
like a good piano-forte tuner, who can re-
duce defects by throwing them over the
whole Of his instrument
The German Flute Is Imperfect
The German flute, regardless Of what its
defenders say to the contrary, Is an imper-
feet instrument and only in perfect tune in
the key of +. Instrument makers of former
times ignorant of acoustical laws and key
mechanism, could only place the holes Of
the flute at such distances as the fingers
could reach then. The subsequent adoption
of chromatic keys did not improve its in.
tonation, as the old diatonio D major scale
remains the same, and the smalless of the
holes with their incorrect position lessons
the power of the instrument.
-, IL
invented a flute upon which he could play
in three different keys. Prior to his time
it was customary to have q flute for every
key, and our present German flute is so
generally out of tune it is almost to be
wished that that custom had continued,
only it would be as Boz would say, "decid-
edly inconvenient." Rossini is credited
with making the statement that 'tif there is
anything worse than one flute 1t is two
flutes" after having heard duo by futists.
His dissatisfaction was excusable, as he had
the misfortune to hear two of the old Ger
man tagonizers." However, be has given
the instrument prominent part in his
compositions, and could he but hear duo
by artists of to-day, unquestionably it
would be, cit there is anything finer than
one flute it is two flutes"
References to 1t in Literature.
Although the German flute has connected
with it some pleasant recollections, modern
writers and prejudice have placed it not un-
deservedly in rather an unenviable position.
Who has not smiled at Dick Swiveller
footing "Away With Melancholy" BuIwer,
in "What Will He Do With It." describes
Dick Fairthorn as ''the cleverest boy in the
school, who unluckily took to the flute and
untitled himself for the present century"
At the coronation of George III. very
handsome flute was presented as love gift
to the Countess of Eglintoune. On at
tempting to blow it unique stoppage pre-
vented its sounding. The blooming Su-
sanna (six feet six high, by the way) found
obstructing the bore 9 copy of verses ex-
pressing envy of the happy flute thus con-
versant by gentle pressure with the lady's
lips
But with all its faults composers for the
instrument have left us some rare old gems,
worthy of more frequent rendition, and no
futist's library is complete without the
works Of Bach, Kuhlan, Quantz and others.
One Of the most celebrated of German
futists was the great Frederick, and 1t is
universally known that he was passiona.ely
fond of his instrument. The natural infer
ence is apt to be that the standard of ex-
cellence of those days was not as elevated as
that Of the present, especially if we take
into consideration the faulty flute with one
key upon which Frederick performed
The Great Frederick's Skill
But as evidence of his skill as q f1utist We
have the testimony Of DR.. Burney, who Wis
tied Berlin while searching for information
for his "History of Music" and by the
courtesy of the English ambassador en-
joyed the privilege of attending one of the
royal concerts. Burney says: 81 was car
ried into one Of the interior apartments of
the palace in which the gentlemen OF the
Kings band were awaiting his COM
manda This apartment was contiguous
to the concert room where I could distinct
ly hear his majesty practicing solfeggi on
the flute and exercising himself in difficult
passages previous to his calling in the band.
The concert began with German flute con-
certo, in which his majesty executed the
solo parts with great precision. His en-
bouchure was clear, and even his lingering
brilliant, and his taste pure and simple. /
vas much pleased and even surprised with
the neatness of his execution in the allie
groes, as well as his expression and feeling
In the adagios. In short, his performance
surpassed, in many particulars, anything
that ever heard among the dilettanti, or
even professors His majesty performed
three long and difficult concertos success
sively, and all with equal perfection"
music with him during all of his military
fact that Meyerbeer utilized
in his opera, 'The Camp in Silesia," more
known as 81 'etoile du Nord."
WILLIAM MAXWELL