Orchestra Excerpts That I'm Working On

Learning orchestral excerpts are just as important as learning concerti and sonatas! If you're going to play the flute, you've absolutely got to learn orchestral excerpts and have them down to perfection. You can't just flub your way through auditions, these excerpts are so important.

And you can't just play the notes beautifully and accurately, you also have to know the context of the piece. Listening is just as important as playing. Know the context of the selection, and apply it to your playing! Know what else is going on in the orchestra, and tailor it to be your own! 

Ahem, so yes. I always get very excited to learn new orchestral excerpts. I had a lesson with my teacher recently, and she assigned me some new excerpts for flute and piccolo. Here is a list, with a little run down!

Beethoven: Leonore Overture no. 3

I love these solos! The first important spot is right at the beginning and requires great breath control and accuracy in counting. The second solo occurs around 9:00 minutes in, I think. This solo is joyful and full of energy. The dynamic is piano, and since there isn't much happening in the orchestra, you can observe that dynamic marking. I love the beautiful, heroic sound of this solo. Remember, the opera this is an overture to is about a woman who rescues her husband from a prison. Try to keep that loving and heroic feel in your playing!

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Scherzo)

I was really lucky, and got to see a performance of the complete Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music with actors on the stage, too! Mendelssohn's incidental music is magical and fits perfectly with the play. The 'Scherzo' represents the faeries in the forest, and it sounds mischievous and enchanting. The orchestration is woodwind intensive, which makes it sound very nature-y. The flute solo is especially challenging, because there are only two places to breathe! You need to have really stable rhythm, and you also need to be able to conserve your air while still creating a beautiful tone. I like to think of Puck when I play this, and I think the solo should have a sneaky, playful feel. 

Dvorak: Symphony no. 8

This is exciting for me, because my college orchestra is actually performing this piece! My teacher tells me that Dvorak was friends with some flutists, which is why his writing for flute is so nice, and also why he gave second flute things to do too! Symphony 8 is full of beautiful solos for the flute, with the most famous (and hard) one in the last movement. My favorite flute solo is actually a little descant that goes over a string melody. This descant is very playful and sweet, which is one of my favorite things about Dvorak- how charming his music is! One of the hardest solos in the symphony is this recurring motif in the first movement, which many people think represents a morning bird call. It's kind of hard, because it prominently features the high-E on the flute, which is a tricky note to slur up to. But with lots of practice, you can figure out the best way to compensate.

Brahms: Symphony no. 4
I um... haven't listened to this one. My shame is great. But I'll get to it, give me time, I just got off finals, haha.

Ippolitov-Ivanov: Procession of the Sardar (Piccolo)
Aaaah, yes. Ippolitov Ivanov is a great composer. He's overshadowed by his teacher, none other than Rimsky-Korsakov (!!!!), but he is a good composer in his own right! He borrows a lot of subject matter from his teacher, most notably music dealing with the 'exotic'. Procession of the Sardar from Caucasian Sketches is a wonderfully lazy and regal piece. The piccolo is paired with the bassoon, and the two always make an awesome duo. The timbres compliment each other well, and they are paired together fairly often. 

Bizet: Carmen Suite, Avec la Garde Montante (Piccolo)
I feel like there's kind of a sub-genre of woodwind excerpts that I like to call the Piccolo duet. These happen rather infrequently in orchestral music, but often enough that I feel like there's some kind of pattern. Usually, these duets are light and chripy (is that a word?), and they move pretty fast. Anyway, I got off topic. This is a very cute little duet for two piccolos from the opera Carmen by Bizet, and while it's not very challenging, it has this rather impish and character, and the dynamics are so important!