The Chaminade Concertino is a flute fan favorite and, for many of us, one of our first forays into the virtuosic world of the French Flute School. Commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire in 1902, the Concertino is dedicated to the long-time Conservatoire flute professor and infamous Father of the French Flute School, Paul Taffanel. Legend has it that Chaminade wrote the piece to punish a flute-playing ex after he left her to marry someone else, creating a piece so difficult that he could not possibly play it. Oh, snap! Compositional revenge. The Concertino is a beautiful and virtuosic piece that lets us strut our best tone and technique in one place. But don’t let the opening melody fool you – there are more than a few technical hurdles to unpack! In today’s blog, we will look at various ways to address these details in the practice room. Armed with a good plan of attack, we can transform the tornados of notes into simple intensity trails connecting each iteration of the melody to the next.
The opening melody requires a big sound (but don’t go too overboard). In my own copy of this piece, I have the words “BIG SOUND” written across the top of the first page. To really develop the intensity and resonance required of this BIG sound, I often turned to Trevor Wye’s Practice Book on Tone, particularly the exercises written in the high register. While we do want a strong, heroic sound with lots of Frenchy vibrato in this opening melody, we don’t want to go too overboard too early. Save your very best, biggest sound for later in the piece.
Try not to get too bogged down by the runs (especially on the first page). Remember: most of these are based on basic scales (such as D, Eb, C, and a chromatic scale). To simplify, write the name of the scale above all of these passages. Give your brain a bit of a break and make your fingers do the work.
The very best thing you can do for yourself in this piece: Add in some breath kicks. A breath kick is simply a little extra something that you place on a note falling on a downbeat. Perhaps this is an added pulse or two of vibrato or a slight elongation of the note. This shows your accompanist, your audience, and your brain where the beat is, even amongst a long trail of sixteenth note triplets or thirty-second notes.
Keep those staccato passages light and fluffy (like a yummy French croissant). There are staccato passages interspersed with long lines of scales and melodies. A great example of this occurs in measure 23 and later in measure 84. It is not easy to make the transition from sweeping scales to short and light playing, so these passages often end up with an accidental heaviness. To counteract this heaviness, practice these sections using a “coo” articulation to strengthen the back of your tongue. This will give better muscle control to your double tonguing. Also practice these passages using an airless articulation (or a “chirp”). Practicing chirps helps take the pressure off your articulation to create lightness with your airstream.
Find the accents. Floating above those long strings of scales and arpeggios are very specific notes that include accent marks. Finding them can be like a Where’s Waldo mission as these can easily be missed in the shuffle of notes. Make a copy of your music and circle these notes with a red pencil to bring them out of the texture. You’ll never miss an accent again!
Create a tone color plan. There is a lot of intensity in this piece but there are also opportunities for variations in tone color to convey quieter, more introverted moments. Create a tone color plan and literally color in your music (remember to make a copy - no colored pencils on originals!). The opening melody might be an orange (vibrant sound, lots of vibrato) but perhaps the Piu animato e agitato is more of a docile green (sweeter sound, thinner vibrato).
Practice harmonics to really add power to your low notes. Several of the scales in this piece dip down into the lower register. Don’t let these notes get lost in the chaos. Practicing harmonics will keep your low notes big, bold, and booming. Check out Eric Ruyle’s Fun with Flute and Piccolo Harmonics for some great exercises to add to your daily routine.
Add a little sparkle to notes marked with tenutos. Like accent marks, these can sometimes get lost in the shuffle of notes. A great example of this appears at measure 84. Help tenutos stand out from the surrounding notes with an extra sparkle of vibrato.
There are several examples of “melting” scales (measure 25 is a great example).This seems to be an important recurring theme throughout the piece. It sounds almost like bubbles of lava erupting and melting down the side of a volcano. Highlight these melting moments with decrescendos. The sound and volume can melt in the same direction of the scales for a full musical melting effect.
When the melody moves into the low register, keep the pitch up with adequate air support. This can be found in the Stringendo beginning at measure 62. It is super easy to let these notes fall flat (literally and figuratively). While it is tempting to finally relax in a moment of musical peace, the line still needs to retain its underlying vibrancy.
Don’t let that Tempo Vivo in measure 73 catch you off guard. Remember: breath kicks are your friends. Use them in this section. Trill fingerings here will also save your fingers from unnecessary gymnastics. Simplify whenever possible.
Measure 83 gives us all nightmares. Instead of stressing over the awkward pattern of fingerings, turn this passage into a long tone warm-up exercise. Slow it waaay down (and then slow it down some more). Play each note with your clearest, most vibrant sound. If you play it every day, speeding it up will not be such a difficult challenge.
There are sneaky passages requiring a super flexible embouchure. These include arpeggios in the cadenza and scales beginning in measure 94. Add lip flexibility exercises, such as Taffanel and Gaubert’s 17 Daily Exercises, Exercise #10, to your daily routine to smooth out these passages and strengthen your embouchure.
Don’t sell those low grace notes in the cadenza short. These can get lost in the cornucopia of notes in this section. Yet, they add important dimension and act like a musical shadow. Bring these out by placing more emphasis on the lower tones.
The Presto at the end of the piece often gets quite heavy. You are at the final boss screen, ready to wail on the final climatic high B, but first you need to perform a little tap dance at the dungeon door. Lighten up the line by practicing this section in “coo”s and remember to triple tongue those triplets.
Try not to reinvent the wheel at measure 141. It is totally okay to use harmonic fingerings beginning on a C for these sixteenth notes. Save your energy for the next phrase.
That final low D requires the same intensity as the surrounding concluding middle and high Ds. If your low D could use a little TLC, try lightly tapping the G key as you finger the low D. This helps pop that low note out with a little more force.
How do you practice the Chaminade Concertino? What are your favorite techniques to use on this piece?
Happy fluting!
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About the Author, Rachel Taylor Geier:
Rachel Taylor Geier holds a DMA in Flute Performance from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, an MM in Flute Performance from San Francisco State University, and a BM in Music Performance from DePauw University. Former applied instructors include Immanuel Davis, Linda Lukas, Anne Reynolds, and Rhonda Bradetich. Dr. Geier currently teaches and freelances in Davis, California and hosts a popular Flute Friday Blog Series.
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