The other two pieces of music have chosen are called, ‘Badinerie suite in b minor’, composed by J.S Bach and ‘Andante in G major’, composed by P.E Bach. They are both linked to the piece I performed because they are both in the style of baroque and are both grades 6. Basso continuo is used as an accompaniment for the two pieces but only one flute is required, unlike ‘Sonata in G’, which requires two flutes. The pitch and melody for the two are again alike the piece I performed the notes go up and down in steps, to build tension in the areas when needed. The ‘Sonata in G’ is in a major key. This creates the piece to be cheery. The piece I performed was a slower tempo to the other two pieces; there were also many trills for the main flutiest to play. These trills create a more expressive sound, in a delicate way. They are added to make the piece sound interesting without them this piece would sound very plain and boring. The main parts of this piece had to be played gently and the breathing was important, this is because the flutiest has to try not to take short breaths, but long and expressive breaths. This is not that hard for the reason that there are many rests in this piece. This also applies to many parts of ‘Andante in G major’. Many of the notes in the piece, ‘Andante in G major’ have slurs over them, this makes the flutiest aware of the fact that they have to play the notes without tonguing, they also will have to control their breathing to breathe before and after the slurs, not in the middle of playing them. This piece is quite a lot harder to play than the one I performed because there are not that many rests, so the breathing is tricky. A few notes have 3 printed under a set of three joined notes; this is to signal the flutiest that they have to play the three notes on after another very quickly. The usage of these 3 joined notes creates a cheery sound. F# is used throughout this piece this created a serious side to the lively, jumpy notes. However in ‘Badinerie’ the flutiest is required to take short and quick breathes to create a sharp sound. Many of the notes in Badinerie are dotted, this makes the flutiest aware of how the notes should sound, (quick short). Some specific notes that the flutiest plays are meant to be played tongued and; this again creates a more sharp and precise sound. There are no rests in this piece so it makes this piece the hardest to play out of all three. The flutiest needs to be familiar with the piece to know when to take a breathe in the appropriate place. ‘Badinerie suit in B’ is in a minor key; by this piece being in minor the mood is portrayed as sombre and serious however the jumpy, tongued notes form this piece to sound very lively. The usage of sharps in this piece also adds to the serious mood and creates a more cheerless sound.
In all of the pieces I have chosen the composer has used the role of the flute to lead the main melody and ensure the right mood is being conveyed.
Overall, the three pieces I have chosen demonstrates the strengths of the flute really effectively. This is because the flute is excellent at reflecting and expressing different moods, for example, if the piece of music is romantic, then the flute can play softer and create a more smooth sound and on the other hand if the music is jolly and exciting, the flute can produce a more louder, bouncy sound.
When I performed ‘Sonata in G’ on the flute, I thought it was effective and showed the mood of the music well, however I made a mistake in the recording by playing an f natural instead of an f sharp. I thought this was a silly mistake but recovered quickly and played the rest of the music well.
I played at an accurate tempo and increased the expression of the music by varying the dynamics when it was appropriate. I also used the correct techniques, e.g. slurring and tonguing when necessary. The piece I performed was a duet. Whilst I played with another flutist I made sure I was sin tune with her and was in the right timing with her.
In all I think I conveyed the composer’s, G.F Handle’s, intentions well, by creating a happy and relaxing impression whilst playing. However if I had the chance to do my performance again, I would have made the dynamics clearer to add more effect into the music and I would have made sue to play all the notes correctly.
