New for flute
I’m sure that at some point you all encounter one of those teaching days… days when you wish that the Associated Board would instigate exams for correct music stand assembly so that some of the little treasures might start with something correctly set up! Days that end up with a rush to the car and a blast, in my case, of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run to ease the memory of some of the pieces that your ear drums have suffered.
Certain exam pieces have a tendency to become an unofficial sound-track to your life. Where would we be without that glow of satisfaction of mastering the Fauré Sicilienne or the first movement of the Poulenc sonata? Others, I’m sure, are guaranteed to provoke such extreme responses that family and friends will wonder if your sanity has finally deserted you for good. The Purcell Air, stalwart of Grade 3, List A will have me rushing to the nearest darkened room.
However, the new flute syllabus will, I hope, have the effect of both soothing and stimulating your palette. The syllabus aims to strike a balance between traditional repertoire, beautiful melodies, twentieth century works and more jazzy/pop styles. I am constantly staggered by how little classical music pupils listen to or know about. I do sense that I am teaching in a musical vacuum when Bach’s Badinerie is more familiar to my pupils as a mobile phone ring tone. As for my own knowledge of current pop trends, surely a garage is where one puts one’s car and as for rap…
Grades 1 and 2
We are fortunate that there is now a plethora of repertoire books to choose from for the early grades. We have come a long way since the days when the admirable Flute Fancies was virtually the mainstay of the syllabus. Certain composers have a real knack of knowing just what young performers want to play. Pamela Wedgwood’s Really Easy Jazzin’ About is full of delightful short pieces for young jazzers to get their teeth into. Terry Cathrine’s Easy Blues Tunes could provide a really good jumping off point for composition and improvisation.
Jazzy Moments for Flute by Sarah Watts is written in her usual witty style. For a more contemporary jazz feel, Jazz Routes by Malcolm Miles is a well-crafted and challenging collection of pieces with the added bonus of a practice CD.
Folk-song arrangements appear in List A at Grades 1 and 2. Part of the reason for this is an attempt to keep our heritage alive and also to develop a really cantabile style of playing. The arrangement of Speed, Bonny Boat is simple and exquisite. Duncan Reid’s arrangement of Portsmouth for Grade 2 is fun and challenging.
Where would young instrumentalists be without the compositions of Paul Harris? His latest offering for the flute is a collection called Chocolate Box, which I’m sure devotees of Clowns will avidly devour.
Grades 3 and 4
If 1950s style rock and roll is your thing, Steve Pogson’s The Way to Rock is a must. This is another good book for sparking off improvisation and composition. Several well-known jazz standards appear on the Grade 3 and 4 lists courtesy of The Magic Flute album arranged by Nicholas Hare. One unusual find at Grade 4 is Solitaire by Malcolm Arnold. It is a little gem of a piece.
Grades 5 and 6
Grades 5 and 6 are perhaps the most difficult levels for which to find suitable pieces. You are just on the cusp of discovering the bulk of the flute’s repertoire. The challenge is to discover interesting and stimulating pieces that are within the technical parameters of the level.
Old favourites remain on the Grade 5 list. Where would we be without Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits and the Fauré Sicilienne? They are true benchmark pieces in any flautist’s development. For a change you could try Duncan Reid’s arrangement of Mozart’s Dove Sono or Nigel Morley’s arrangement of the first movement from the Beethoven piano duet Sonata in A. For those little welcome Latin moments Tico Tico, from Play Latin, at Grade 5 is a must. There are some great arrangements by Alan Gout in this album. They are also good fodder for school concerts and GCSE performances.
An unusual set of pieces which I am very fond of is The Elements by Robert Hinchliffe. These are excellent for developing good ensemble skills with the accompanist.
At Grade 6 familiar pieces remain but the Hummel Sonata in A is a welcome addition. I also have to mention Kronke, whose pieces are, in fact, delightfully neo-baroque and present a number of technical challenges along the way. Any information about Kronke would be gratefully received as questions about him are bound to follow.
Grades 7 and 8
As flute teachers we are deeply indebted to the work of Simon Hunt and Pan Educational Music. Simon is constantly seeking out and commissioning innovative and enjoyable repertoire for our students to work on. He has recently published Pictures, a collection of flute studies by Hilary Taggart. Three of these have been selected for Grades 7 and 8.
Continuing the study theme, some new additions to the lists at this level come from the Jindrvich Feld 4 Pièces pour Flûte Seule. Hommage à Bartók has a haunting and lilting melody and provides plenty of technical and musical challenges that are well within the grasp of the Grade 7 student; Méditation and Caprice for Grade 8 demand an imaginative musical approach and technical fluency.
Old favourites abound on Lists A and B at Grade 8: the Mozart G major concerto, the first movement of the Poulenc sonata and the third movement of the Hindemith sonata to name but a few. If you don’t know the Kent Kennan Night Soliloquy, it is well worth an investigation, with its elegiac flute line and subtle, shifting harmonies. It might also be useful as an imaginative A level recital piece.
Still feeling that you need soothing? Try Mouquet’s sonata, La Flûte de Pan, on List B at Grade 8. Unashamedly romantic, it is most enjoyable to play and always delightful to listen to.
If, at the end of a long day’s teaching, you have that need to let off steam, go for Mike Mower at his best – his aptly-titled Grade 7 study Boiling Point. Take a deep breath – who cares about the neighbours – and enjoy!
Sally Adams is a freelance performer and teacher and has written a number of popular flute teaching books. These include the Music through Time series (Oxford University Press) and Tutor Flute Basics (Faber Music). Her most recent publications are two flute repertoire books and a recorder study book for Faber. She is currently working on a recorder tutor and a flute technique workbook. Sally is one of the Associated Board’s flute syllabus consultants.
The new flute syllabus
To download a copy of the new flute syllabus for exams from 2004, visit the Exams section.