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    TRANSATLANTIC PEDAGOGY

    THE STYLE AND PRACTICE OF FLUTE FROM PARIS TO AMERICA

    by

    Caleb Mitchum

    Oklahoma City University

    Music Research and Writing S01

    November 2014

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    The flute, like its fellow instruments in the orchestra, has evolved over centuries.

    The concept of the flute has its humble beginnings in prehistory, originally manifesting as

    various ocarinas and recorders the world over. The modern Western concert flute is the

    culmination of one of many lines of evolution, though certainly not a terminal point. In

    the same way that instruments themselves evolve over time so must their technique of

    playing and thus the pedagogical practices associated with them. The rich history of a

    particular musical instrument includes both the actual physical traits of the instrument

    and, perhaps more importantly, the legacy of the great players, composers, teachers, and

    literature of that instrument. Because of the interdependency of these factors it is

    advantageous, even necessary, for us as performers (particularly in the field of art music

    that is generally fixated on older music) to understand not only the current context of our

    instrument, but also where it came from. This contextual awareness equips us with the

    tools necessary to properly understand and interpret music originating in all relevant time

    periods.

    The physical form of the modern flute has remained relatively unchanged since

    the German metalsmith and flutist Theobald Boehm refined his attempts at recreating the

    flute in 1847. One might then assume the flute has its roots in Germany, but a more1

    thorough historical inspection reveals that at the time of its invention there were many

    competing designs of flute vying for supremacy in a booming marketplace. The final

    arbiters of which model would succeed were not the manufacturers or even performers,

    as many great flute makers devised a plethora of ingenious devices to improve the

    Ardal Powell, The Flute,(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002): 182.1

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    instrument, and many great players were successful on most of these competing designs.

    It was rather the teachers who influenced the bevy of students that passed through their

    tutelage that had the greatest influence on the uptake of these new instruments. Because

    of this phenomenon the modern concert flute is essentially the same physical instrument

    globally and is also played in a similar style all over the world. The universality of this

    particular instrument and style can be traced back to one of the first centralized schools of

    music, the Paris Conservatoire, which was founded in 1795 during the French

    Revolution. The Paris Conservatoire has for much of the history of the modern flute2

    been the center of flute pedagogy and repertoire for the instrument. The unmistakeable

    influence of the traditions and practices employed by the teachers of this school can be

    seen throughout the history of the instrument and around the globe, and particular

    influences on American flute style can be traced through very specific pedagogical lines.

    In this paper I will reveal the direct lines tying the teachers, instrument technology, and

    literature of the Paris Conservatoire to those of the modern American School.

    The term school is here used to refer to a set of parameters that loosely define a

    particular method of performing and teaching of a specific artistic literature. In his

    definitive history of the flute Ardal Powell provides readers with a succinct working

    definition of the French School,

    The notion of the French Flute School usually refers to a style ofteaching and playing the instrument that originated with Claude-

    Paul Taffanel and his pupils at the Paris Conservatoire around the

    Patricia Joan Ahmad, The Flute Professors of the Paris Conservatoire from Devienne to2

    Taffanel, 1795-1908, Order No. 1315649, University of North Texas. In PROQUESTMS ProQuestDissertations & Theses Global, https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194144275?accountid=12942: 1.

    2

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    turn of the twentieth century In [a] looser sense, we can easily

    list the styles main attributes: the use of the French-style silver

    flute, a preoccupation with tone, a standard repertoire, and a set of

    teaching materials in which the Taffanel-Gaubert method and the

    tone development exercises of Marcel Moyse hold a central place.3

    To understand the connection between the modern American School and late 19th

    century Paris one must look to the foundations of the Conservatoire. This venerated

    institution has its origins in the training of instrumentalists for military bands and

    vocalists for the Opra. The centralized nature of this school meant that all students (who4

    were admitted based on audition and at no cost) received a consistent education. It was

    typical for all classes to be taught in a seminar or masterclass fashion, meaning that large

    numbers of students would receive the same instruction simultaneously rather than

    private lessons.5

    A brief inspection of the techniques and reputations of the instructors of flute

    from the beginnings of the Conservatoire reveal a strikingly consistent model of teaching.

    Indeed, up to the present day every instructor of flute at the Conservatoire has been a

    graduate of the school and winner of thepremiere prix (a prize awarded at annual

    examinations to musicians of the highest caliber), meaning that every instructor has

    received the highest approval from their instructor, ad infinitum.6

    The first and foremost instructor of flute at the Conservatoire upon its founding

    was Franois Devienne. Devienne showed a propensity for music at a very young age and

    Powell, 208.3

    Edward Blakeman. Taffanel: Genius of the Flute(New York: Oxford University Press, 2005): 16.4

    Ahmad, 1-2.5

    Ibid., 121.6

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    by his early twenties he was employed as a flutist and bassoonist in many different

    concert settings as well as military bands and so was an obvious choice for the position.7

    His tenure at the Conservatoire is important for two main reasons. First, his promotion of

    new types of instruments set a precedent. He himself played on a simple, single-keyed

    instrument, which was fast becoming obsolete. Regardless he encouraged his students to

    use the new designs that included as many as five or six keys, which played better in tune

    and made the increasingly chromatic music of the day easier to execute. This8

    willingness to embrace the new and novel was continued throughout the coming century,

    placing the Conservatoire on the cutting edge of instrumental innovation. Secondly,

    Devienne also contributed to the written literature for the instrument, both through his

    many compositions and his method book,Nouvelle Mthode Theorique et Pratique pour

    la Flute. This comprehensive method book contains long sections of prose describing

    Deviennes technique, but also contains musical examples as well as many duets and

    teaching pieces. Many future teachers borrowed from this foundational text, and even

    though it was written with a single keyed flute in mind many of its exercises still exist

    today. This was the beginning of a tradition of creating comprehensive resources for use9

    in classes by almost all of the following flute instructors at the Conservatoire; resources

    that drew on the teachings of those who came before and altered them to suit the

    changing demands of new instruments and new music. The importance of the physical

    Ahmad, 8.7

    Mary Catherine Jett Byrne, Tooters and Tutors: Flute Performance Practice Derived from8

    Pedagogical Treatises of the Paris Conservatoire, 1838-1927, Order No. NN84290, University of Victoria(Canada). In PROQUESTMS ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/230664489?accountid=12942: 61, note 96.

    Ibid., 121.9

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    form of the instrument as well as the texts associated with its playing are quite significant

    in tracing the origins of the modern flute, and both play a central role in bridging the

    Atlantic gap.

    Many of Deviennes contemporaries and fellow instructors of flute at the early

    Conservatoire helped to lay the foundation of French flute technique, and more

    importantly the method by which it was taught. These methods emphasized two main

    aspects of playing. Antoine Hugot, a colleague of Devienne, who was known for his

    correct intonation, fine tone, and brilliant execution illustrated clearly the French10

    occupation with tone by saying that the flutes tone should be essentially sweet and must

    be nothing but that, but there is a brilliance, a strength, a fullness, a softness, relative to

    the possibility of the instrument... these are indispensable qualities that constitute the

    beautiful tone. This preoccupation with a sweet tone is a hallmark of the French11

    School and is somewhat peculiar to it in comparison to the practices of German and

    British flutists. One particular difference lies in the fact that most French flutists spoke12

    out, sometimes vehemently, against vibrato. This, however, may be a purely semantic

    issue, which will be discussed further later.

    The other primary concern of the French school was an almost obsessive use of

    repetitive patterned exercises in order to develop fluency in all figurations and keys.

    Almost all Conservatoire instructors of flute have contributed to the corpus of pages

    blackened with notation exploring every esoteric finger and embouchure movement.

    Ahmad, 23.10

    Ibid., 31.11

    Ibid., 37-38.12

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    Large portions of DeviennesMthode were devoted to this kind of exercise, and most all

    literature that follows in the French school embraces the same emphasis on the

    importance of attaining fluency.

    One teacher who contributed greatly to this tradition was Jean-Louis Tulou. Tulou

    was a son of one of the first bassoon teachers at the Conservatoire and at a very young

    age began studying with Johann Georg Wnderlich, a colleague of Deviennes. He was

    an uncontested prodigy and virtuoso, winning thepremier prixat the age of 15, though

    according to one of the teachers he deserved to win a year earlier, but the prize was

    withheld because he was so young. He won several high profile positions in orchestras13

    around Paris and was a sought after recitalist, known for giving flamboyant

    performances. Tulou soon joined the ranks of the great 19th century touring virtuosi in a

    small way, and the French sound began to be heard throughout Europe.

    In 1828 Tulou became the professor of flute at the Conservatoire, teaching for a

    total of 31 years and exerting great influence upon the future of the institution. One of the

    primary ways that he made his mark was through his compositions. His catalog consists

    of more than 100 published works including flute solos, concerti, and duets. Thepremiere

    prix (or first prize) mentioned previously was an award given to students who played at a

    most satisfactory level at an annual examination known as the Concours. One of the

    aspects of this examination was a performance of a specified piece. For every iteration of

    the annual Concoursbetween 1832 and 1860 Tulou composed a new piece that all

    students played as part of the examination, and these pieces continued to be used by his

    Ahmad, 47.13

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    successors for years to come. Many of these pieces are still played today, but their14

    primary influence was on the students of the time who began to reach new technical

    heights, pushing the envelope of what the instrument was capable of doing. The difficulty

    of these pieces is made all the more impressive by the fact that Tulou himself played on

    an older five-keyed flute. In the tradition of the school, however, he encouraged his

    students to instead use the more capable (though more complicated) twelve-key

    instruments of the day. His contribution to the literature and furtherance of technical15

    progress of the instrument make him stand out as a significant name in the early

    Conservatoire. In the words of Mary Byrne,

    Through composition, many of the flute professors have shaped

    our heritage, pushing for an instrument with greater powers of

    intonation and technical flexibility, shaping a generation of

    virtuosic flutists with their Concourspieces written for the

    students annual examinations.16

    The next teacher of flute at the Conservatoire, Vincent-Joseph Dorus, made one of

    the most important contributions to the modern flute and its continually improving

    dexterity and tone. Dorus was as admired a performer as those instructors who came

    before him, continuing the pattern of great performers as teachers at the Conservatoire.

    He was noted for his perfection of execution and purity of style, typical comments for

    the French style. Doruss revered playing was not only due to his great skill, however.17

    Kathleen Roberta Cook, The Paris Conservatory and the Solos De Concours for Flute,14

    1900-1955, Order No. 9209214, The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1991. In PROQUESTMSProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/303941850?accountid=12942: 145-46.

    Byrne, 61, note 96.15

    Ibid., 18.16

    Ahmad, 69.17

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    Almost 30 years before his tenure at the Conservatoire Dorus discovered and began

    practicing in secret on a new design of flute by Theobald Boehm.18

    In 1832 Boehm began to attempt to engineer a flute that was capable of all of the

    chromatic gymnastics that music of the day called for and which also had a more

    voluminous tone. This new instrument could compete with the other instruments of the

    orchestra and project in the increasingly larger recital settings that musicians had to deal

    with. He was inspired to do this upon hearing the great English flutist Charles Nicholson,

    who had modified a normal simple system flute to have much larger tone holes which

    allowed for greater volume and more expansive tone capabilities, though it made the

    playing of the instrument difficult for those with smaller hands. Over the next decades19

    Boehm devised increasingly efficient systems of keys, eventually creating a patented

    model in 1847 that is, save a few key innovations in the time since, mechanically

    identical to the modern system we use today. One of the innovations that was integrated20

    into the 1847 patent model was an invention of Dorus, an adopter of the earlier Boehm

    systems. Dorus changed the configuration of the G# key to make it closed in its resting

    position which made the fingering system for the 1847 flute much more manageable and

    similar to the older flutes that came before, but he did so in such a way that it was

    acoustically similar to Boehms previous system that included a G# key that was open in

    its resting position. This, in addition to Doruss fantastic reputation as a performer on21

    Ahmad, 69.18

    Ibid., 63.19

    Powell, 182.20

    Nancy Toff, The Development of the Modern Flute(New York: Taplinger Pub. Co, 1979): 64.21

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    the Boehm system, made the 1847 flute quite popular. After Dorus took over as flute

    instructor at the Conservatoire he instituted the Boehm flute as the standard for his

    students in 1838, though his contemporary Tulou continued using the older system in his

    own performances. This meant that the majority of the many skilled performers who22

    came from the Conservatoire and travelled around Europe took the Boehm flute with

    them and thus began establishing its dominance. By the mid-nineteenth century the

    Boehm flute had received numerous accolades at various trade fairs and was dominant in

    France and popular in England, though ironically German flutists tended to continue

    using simple system flutes and largely ignored the new system.23

    One of Doruss pupils, Claude-Paul Taffanel, would go on to become the rock

    upon which the modern conception of the French School was based. Though the concept

    of a French School is a necessarily fluid distinction it is a commonly held opinion that the

    roots of what modern flutist mean when they refer to that vague moniker is the tradition

    that Taffanel refined and employed with great success. Taffanel entered the Conservatoire

    in January of 1860 at the age of 15 and received thepremiere prixin July of that same

    year. By 1865 he had supplanted principal players in the most illustrious theater and24

    concert orchestras in Paris. His eminent career as a performer was supplemented by his25

    fame as a highly respected teacher, his position as the director of the Paris Opra where

    he conducted significant premieres as well as classics, and his directorship of the Socit

    Nancy Toff, The Flute Book: A Complete Guide for Students and Performers(New York:22

    Oxford University Press, 1996): 54.

    Ibid.,57.23

    Blakeman, 17.24

    Ahmad, 81.25

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    des Concerts du Conservatoire where he led regular concerts and developed a close

    working relationship with Camille Saint-Sans. Taffanel was a versatile and ambitious

    individual, and would most certainly have been a familiar face to patrons of the fin de

    sicle Paris music scene.

    Figure 1: Paul Taffanel demonstrating his embouchure and body position.26

    Taffanel launched a career as a solo artist to supplement his teaching and his

    regular playing positions, a rare opportunity as concertizing flutists were still few and far

    between. He took the French fascination with tone to fetishistic new heights and drew

    from his experiences at the Opra to imitate the human voice as an ideal. His total

    Powell, 217.26

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    fixation on tone (though he certainly did not lack technical facility) drew praise from all

    who heard. Because Taffanel belonged to the first generation that fairly universally

    adopted the Boehm flute he was presented with the opportunity to dictate the proper

    method of playing it. The older wooden instruments had a different character of tone

    simply because of physical construction. The new metal instruments fundamentally

    different tone had yet to be fully understood, and it seems Taffanel was one of the first to

    explore the full palette of its possible colors. Many critics of the day praised his playing,

    but Guy de Charnac provides probably the most succinct but complete distillation of the

    general perception of Taffanels accomplishments,

    I have a theory that certain artists draw from their instruments a

    particular quality of tone, so that they cannot be mistaken for

    anyone else. There could be a flutist of comparable virtuosity to

    Taffanel, but never one who sounded like him. I dont mean just in

    terms of the style of playing, but in the essence of the sound itself.27

    Taffanel perfected the traditional French tone, but he is remembered by most

    flutists today for his monumental contribution to the literature. Though it was not finished

    until after his death (by one of his students, Phillipe Gaubert), TaffanelsMethode

    Complte de Flte is probably the most venerated tome of flute knowledge,

    encompassing everything from the routine to the arcane. Affectionally referred to as

    Taffanel and Gaubert by most flutists today, it is used as a source for tone and

    technique exercises, containing material from previous methods as well as new

    formulations. It is multilingual and methodical in its layout, providing a clear and logical

    Blakeman, 35.27

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    pathway for improvement. Though the method is primarily focused on tone development

    there is significant technical demand, as many pages are completely coated with florid

    explorations of every remote key, as was common in method books from the

    Conservatoire. In addition to this monumental method book Taffanel is also responsible

    for bringing pieces such as the Bach sonatas into the standardrepertoire for the

    instrument, pieces which are today requested on every audition list.

    Figure 2: Page 112 ofMethode Complte de Flte, showing repetitive patterns. 28

    If Taffanel is the culmination of a French tradition, then he serves as a point of

    elision between the French and American styles. It is through direct students of his that

    the style is carried across the Atlantic. There are two students cum teachers in particular

    who are important in this transitional period: Georges Barrre and Marcel Moyse. Both

    Claude Paul Taffanel and Philippe Gaubert,Mthode Complte De Flte (Paris: A. Leduc, 1923): 112.28

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    studied with Taffanel (and others) at the Conservatoire, and both eventually made their

    way to America.

    Marcel Moyse took advantage of his pedigree and continued some traditions,

    while also starting some of his own. He published many instructional compositions and

    collections. HisDe la Sonorit is commonly paired with Taffanel and Gauberts work,

    and most flutist have some familiarity with it. His other contribution to history was

    extensive recording work, which Moyse did mainly to pay the bills. He, and others, came

    to America at least partially because it was much easier to make a living in America

    versus Europe during trying economic times. These recordings brought standard flute29

    repertoire into the living rooms of many people who would have otherwise never heard

    such music, blazing a path that was followed by many others coming after him. Moyse

    taught extensively and was known to be somewhat authoritarian, one of his students

    noting He didnt like it if you didnt play his interpretation. Moyses contributions30

    continue to influence players around the world, primarily by way of his published works

    and the draconian influence he exerted on his many American students.

    Georges Barrre was arguably the most important link between the French

    tradition and what would come to blossom in America. Barrre left an already successful

    career (he played the flute solo in the premiere of DebussysPrlude l'aprs-midi d'un

    faune, a truly enviable position) in France in 1905 to come play in the struggling New

    York Symphony. He was no prodigy, taking several attempts to achieve a premiere prix,

    Powell, 239.29

    Ibid., 223.30

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    but by the time he came to America he was very well respected. Not surprisingly he was

    regarded for his mastery of tone, which was probably unrivaled in color and variety.31

    One aspect of his playing that was not so typically French was his application of

    vibrato. As mentioned before, the French School generally panned the use of vibrato in

    their texts. In the recording age, however, we can hear several French flutists employ

    vibrato, including Barrre. Barrre is one of the first who verbally addressed vibrato in32

    a meaningful way and acknowledged his use of it, unlike Moyse, who simultaneously

    disparaged it and employed it, using confusing language. Barrre considered vibrato a

    necessary evil brought about by the tastes of the audience, as he remarked to his students

    for three hundred years flutists tried to play in tune. Then they gave up and invented

    vibrato. Contrary to that statement, vibrato is hardly a modern invention. In fact, many33

    French flutists who unambiguously spoke out against its usage in one place promoted the

    use of a natural vibrato in another. According to John Wummer, Taffanel, Gaubert,

    Maquarre, and Barrre have all concurred in the idea that the vibrato is not produced but

    is the resulting phenomenon of the naturally breathed tone. This perceived34

    mysterious natural property of vibrato makes it difficult to know exactly how vibrato was

    employed before recording technology was available. Nancy Toff dedicates a chapter to a

    discussion of vibrato, its roots in Baroque ornamentation, and how it came to be applied

    Ahmad, 111.31

    Christopher Steward, Early Flute Recordings, Robert Bigio Flute Pages, accessed September32

    15, 2014, http://robertbigio.com/recordings.htm

    Ahmad, 111.33

    Toff, The Flute Book, 107.34

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    the way it is today. This is beyond the scope of this paper, but suffice to say that Barrre35

    and his teaching influenced the uptake of a specific type of vibrato in America; a

    consciously applied vibrato, somewhat slower in frequency, and somewhat wider in

    amplitude, and which was used as an expressive tool.

    As part of the deal bartered to lure him to America Barrre was given not just the

    principal chair in the New York Symphony but also a teaching position at the new

    Institute of Musical Arts, the school that would eventually become known as Juilliard. It

    was through this teaching position that he was able to distribute the style and techniques

    he learned entirely in France to a generation of young American players. These students

    were the first generation of purely American flutists who were heavily influenced by the

    French tradition, a pedagogical approach to which they had previously not been

    introduced. Barrres greatest contribution to the future of the flute was through his

    teaching at this school, and through the influence he had over one student in particular.

    William Morris Kincaid was a student of Barrre, receiving his diploma from

    Juilliard in 1914. Even as a student he was a well respected performer and joined the36

    New York Symphony alongside his teacher shortly after graduating. In 1921 Leopold

    Stokowski (then the director of the Philadelphia Orchestra) was dissatisfied with his

    principal flutist and Barrre recommended Kincaid as a replacement. He was

    immediately offered the position. He took the job and spent the next four decades with

    Toff, The Flute Book,109.35

    Demetra Baferos Fair, Flutists Family Tree: In Search of the American Flute School, Order36

    No. 3093645, The Ohio State University. In PROQUESTMS ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text;ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/305318023?accountid=12942: 51.

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    the ensemble, being featured as a soloist in no less than 215 performances during that

    time. In 1924 Kincaid became the instructor of flute at the Curtis Institute of Music.37

    During his tenure many great students passed through his studio, and those students went

    on to inhabit positions in the many orchestras that were then being formed all over

    America. In this way Kincaids teaching was reliably spread by students who followed

    the typical career model of performing and teaching.

    Kincaid was trained by Barrre in a typical French way, preoccupied with tone

    and articulation, but also very technically capable. He had his own personal touches that

    set him apart from the typical French sound in a few ways, however. Almost every source

    that describes Kincaids sound (and either by extension or direct statement, the

    American flute sound) uses words like vigorous or even virile, while most typical

    French flutists were more like to be described as sweet or sensitive. What they are

    describing can be fairly clearly heard in recordings.

    Christopher Stewards collection of early flute recordings, available online, are a

    wonderful resource for comparing and contrasting the sounds of Old World flutists with

    those of Kincaids generation. Of course the quality of these recordings make it difficult

    to make concrete statements about the differences, but some obvious things can be heard

    even on the heavily cut recordings from the early 20th century. Recordings of players

    such as Gaubert, Barrre, Moyse, and other Parisian flutists are available, and all display

    similar characteristics. Even in these old recordings one can hear the sweet, refined tone,

    the careful articulation, and the natural fast vibrato that the French School typically

    Fair, 52.37

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    employed at the time. The slightly later recordings of William Kincaid and his student

    Julius Baker, for example, share some of these characteristics. The articulation is still

    quite crisp, and there are moments when the typical sweet French sound is heard, but

    other times a more aggressive kind of playing is quite obvious. Both Kincaid and Baker

    seem to have a fuller tone, though how much of this is due to recording technology and

    how much is real can be argued. The main difference is in the use of vibrato. In Kincaids

    recording it is obvious that the vibrato is being actively applied to the tone. In Bakers it

    is even more obvious and one can hear the way he uses vibrato to compliment, even

    enhance phrasing. In both cases the vibrato is slower, more controlled, and less constant

    than the earlier purely French examples.38

    Two of Kincaids most successful students were the aforementioned Julius Baker

    and Joseph Mariano. Mariano was the less intrepid of the two, remaining in one place for

    the majority of his career. In 1935, at the age of 24, he was offered the principal chair

    with the Rochester Philharmonic and the professorship at the Eastman School of Music,

    and he remained at these posts until 1968 and 1974 respectively. Marianos students39

    were numerous and talented. Included among them was the current instructor of flute at

    Eastman, Bonita Boyd, who was handed the post directly from Mariano and who has

    herself produced many of the great flutists of today. He was also Walfrid Kujalas

    primary teacher, making it possible for me to trace my own lineage (and that of all recent

    All recordings referenced in this paragraph were accessed through Stewards Early Flute38

    Recordings, http://robertbigio.com/recordings.htm

    Fair, 69.39

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    OCU flute students and alumni) back directly through my teacher to Kujala, and thus to

    Mariano and Kincaid.

    This strong link of most modern American flutists to Kincaid is furthered by the

    dominance of Julius Baker. Baker taught at both Juilliard and the Curtis Institute (and

    was later associated with Carnegie Mellon), with many of the most revered flutists of

    today passing through his studio at some point. Luminaries such as Jeanne Baxtresser,

    Robert Dick, Marina Piccinini, and Ransom Wilson flourished under his tutelage, among

    hundreds of others. Just the few students of Baker mentioned above have heavily

    influenced the modern American flute world. For example, Baxtresser literally wrote the

    book on orchestral excerpts for flute, as any flutist worth their salt will own her

    publication of standard excerpts and directions for performance gained from her

    experience in the New York Philharmonic. Baker, an active recitalist all around the world,

    also set about recording a bevy of classics, standards, and musical bonbons that have

    remained standards in flutists discographies through today.

    So it is in these men and their students that we see the true American tradition

    come to maturity and begin to dominate the landscape. In fact, 91% of over 8000 flutists

    in the United States surveyed by Demetra Fair can trace their lineage back to Barrre,

    87% of these through his American born student, Kincaid. These somewhat astounding40

    numbers show a remarkably strong connection between most American flutists today, and

    more importantly illustrates a strong connection, through Barrre, to the Paris

    Conservatoire and the French School. We can identify several characteristics that this

    Fair, ii.40

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    American School shares with the French, but we can also point out differences. American

    flutists almost exclusively use metal Boehm flutes just as in Paris, though since the

    beginning they have had a stronger preference for more exotic metals than silver (Barrre

    and Kincaid both played on platinum instruments) and have more readily embraced

    differing manufacture methods and various additions to Boehms basic system. Both were

    centered around institutions of musical education, though the Paris Conservatoire was

    quite centralized while the American schools were more geographically and

    institutionally diverse, leading to a more diverse community and practices in general. The

    French tended to teach in a masterclass format while most Americans work in private

    lessons. The American School shows a similar preoccupation with tone, but with the

    caveat of applied, intentional vibrato being a particularly prominent difference. The

    sweet tone of the French was supplanted in America by the more virile tone of

    players like Kincaid. Flutists in France relied on very specific playing and teaching posts

    to make careers, while American flutists were more creative in their pursuit of

    compensation, fueled by a timely American interest in orchestral music and music

    education as well as a marketplace less constrained by tradition.

    The previous discourse is a sparse timeline leading from the foundation of the

    Paris Conservatoire to modern American flute pedagogues and style. Though certain

    details and personages have been left out for the sake of brevity it is still relatively easy

    to trace the remarkably straight route of flute pedagogy that led to the modern condition.

    Of course there are subtleties not addressed here. There are entirely separate schools of

    flute playing that exist and compete with the predominant styles. There are mavericks in

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    every field, and this one is not an exception, with characters such as Greg Patillo and his

    flute beatboxing not falling neatly into the timeline presented here. Applying names like

    the French School or American School to any particular set of characteristics is difficult,

    and their definitions are necessarily broad. The usefulness and relevance of these titles is

    in their application as linear and geographic markers on a seamless progression of time

    and place in which we can trace the passing of ideas from one individual to the next. The

    French School, as defined earlier, is associated with particular teachers, instruments, and

    texts. The American School shares many of these identifiers, with some fairly significant

    differences. The individuals within each of these categories are infinitely more complex

    and nuanced than these titles can accurately describe, but an awareness of the connection

    between these individuals leads to a holistic knowledge of flute history, an awareness of

    ones context in a broad net of artists working in the same medium, and tools necessary

    for historically focused musicians to make informed artistic decisions as well as a

    perspective that leads to a more informed and likely more successful career in the future.

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    Bibliography

    Ahmad, Patricia Joan.The Flute Professors of the Paris Conservatoire from Devienne to

    Taffanel, 1795-1908, Order No. 1315649, University of North Texas. In

    PROQUESTMS ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, https://

    ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194144275?accountid=12942.

    Blakeman, Edward. Taffanel: Genius of the Flute. New York: Oxford University Press,

    2005.

    Byrne, Mary Catherine Jett. Tooters and tutors: Flute Performance Practice Derived

    from Pedagogical Treatises of the Paris Conservatoire, 1838-1927. Order No.

    NN84290, University of Victoria (Canada). In PROQUESTMS ProQuest

    Dissertations & Theses Global, https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://

    search.proquest.com/docview/230664489?accountid=12942.

    Cook, Kathleen Roberta. "The Paris Conservatory and the "Solos De Concours" for Flute,

    1900-1955." Order No. 9209214, The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1991.

    In PROQUESTMS ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text; ProQuest

    Dissertations & Theses Global, https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://

    search.proquest.com/docview/303941850?accountid=12942.

    Fair, Demetra Baferos. Flutists Family Tree: In Search of the American Flute School,

    Order No. 3093645, The Ohio State University. In PROQUESTMS ProQuest

    Dissertations & Theses Full Text; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global,

    https://ezproxy.okcu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/305318023?accountid=1294

    Grove Music Online, S.v. Paul Taffanel, by Edward Blakeman. http://

    www.oxfordmusiconline.com (accessed September 15, 2014).

    Krell, John C.Kincaidiana: A Flute Player's Notebook. Santa Clarita, CA: National Flute

    Association, 1997.

    Powell, Ardal. The Flute. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002.

    Steward, Christopher. "Early Flute Recordings." Robert Bigio Flute Pages. AccessedSeptember 15, 2014. http://robertbigio.com/recordings.htm

    Taffanel, Claude Paul, and Philippe Gaubert.Mthode Complte De Flte. Paris: A.

    Leduc, 1923.

    Valette, Rebecca M. "The French School: What is so French About it?"Flutist Quarterly

    36, no. 1 (Fall 2010): 22-35. Accessed September 7, 2014, EBSCOhost.

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    Toff, Nancy. The Development of the Modern Flute.New York: Taplinger Pub. Co, 1979.

    - - -. The Flute Book: A Complete Guide for Students and Performers. New York: Oxford

    University Press, 1996.

    - - -.Monarch of the Flute: The Life of Georges Barrre. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 2005.

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