The First Article in a Series based on
The Private Lesson Journals of September Payne, D.M.A
June 15, 2015
Preface
The scope of this article cannot hope to include ample enough information on the grand life and prolific output of Marcel Moyse, for that, there are many wonderfully written books by formidable scholars and leading flutists around the world and as for many other resources, the Internet is King. The goal of this article is to illuminate more of his precious teaching and to offer a unique glimpse into the intimate master class setting of lessons that were held at the home of Marcel Moyse in Brattleboro, Vermont.
As a short summary, for the generation of new comers, on Marcel Moyse’s importance, the scope here can acknowledge him as our most significant and important link, connecting his past era of flute playing to our the present day era. He was born at an important time in history, playing on the relatively recent, new Boehme system flute, which opened the path for greater virtuosity and expressive possibilities. This led to a new and modern way of playing the flute by Taffanel and Gaubert and was continued by Moyse, helping him to develop the first real flute solo career. Additionally, the new era of harmonies in the Post-Impressionistic compositions influenced Marcel’s most famous life’s work of tone color development on the flute. Lastly, his job with the Paris Opera Comique Orchestra would lead to a life-long love for melody through the best opera singing of the day and would eventually be the seed of his teaching at the Woodwind Seminars at Marlboro and partially responsible for the genesis for his unparalleled Tone Development Through Interpretation book.
We, as flutists, benefit by his principal associations with some of the great flute players of his time, whose books and teachings we use today: Hennbains, Taffanel and Gaubert, Andersen and we glean the information passed on verbally from their former teachers, such as Drouet etc. Added to that, we are very blessed by his innate strengths as a genius at organization, for his for his astounding attention for detail and moreover, for his uniquely inspired style of teaching. Jean-Pierre Rampal noted in one of his video taped interviews, that Marcel was the only one to lay down a complete pedagogy for the flute in all its aspects. How lucky indeed for us!
Background
I met Marcel Moyse in a rather story book fashion. In 1980 I had taken a year off from College and moved to Vermont to continue my studies with Louis Moyse, Marcel Moyse’s son. I say “continue” because I had been driving from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, once a month (a 20 hour round trip) since 1977 to take several lessons at a time. In order to partially pay for my stay, I taught figure skating at the local rink in the winter and traded teaching flute lessons for room and board with a family that lived in a house at the top of South Street in Brattleboro, Vermont.
During the fall of 1980, Louis received an invitation to teach in Europe, which he wanted to combine with a last chance to see his native home. While he was away, he left me with a stack of lesson assignments and pieces to memorize. One winter morning, as I was leaving the driveway where I boarded, to take my usual practice break walk, I noticed an old hand carved sign hanging from the mailbox across the street. It intrigued me because there seemed something familiar about the way the letters were carved. Upon taking a closer look I made out the name Moyse. Could it be I was living next door to the world’s greatest flute legend?
Looking again at the name on the mailbox, I thought perhaps it was the home of another Moyse family member. Louis had spoken at great length and with great admiration about his father and we practiced Marcel’s books and his exercises as staples. My early lessons with Louis were in the old Moyse family house on Western Avenue. It was there that Louis, Blanche, and Marcel raised Louis’ children, but Louis never mentioned exactly where Marcel lived in Brattleboro since his separation from the family.
The next day I gathered my courage to go across the street and knock on the door. From the driveway I could hear the sounds of flute practice coming from a window! A lady opened the door – it was Louis’ former wife Blanche Honegger-Moyse. I nervously said I was a flute player and asked that if this was the home of Mr. Marcel Moyse, would he possibly see me for a lesson. Blanche replied, “one moment” and then disappeared. When she returned she wasn’t smiling, which made me more nervous, but then she said to come back tomorrow with my flute at the same time, which I did. I couldn’t believe it…I was living across the street from Marcel Moyse!
My First Lesson, January 10, 1981, Allegretto and Idylle, by Benjamin Godard
Mr. Moyse’s studio was a plain room with wooden panels and a window over looking the Vermont forest. It was filled with many interesting things. There was a hand done framed painting of a church in a village on the wall, which I came to know as the famous steeple from his village in Sainte Amor which was on the front of the several of his McGinnis Marx published books, a bust of Nefertite, the wife of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, a stack of old LP’s, which he would later pull out from time to time of Caruso and Melba and so on to teach us about melody and color, a writing desk with manuscript paper, with a book he was writing at the time, a book shelf and his famous chair with a table for his pipe, flute and the occasional scotch.
When the lessons days became long or a student was in hot water, I would look at these objects and take them in, as if to reset my frame of mind. I also wrote in my journal a lot during those lessons to solidify what he said. We hung on his every word. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until thirty-five years later that I would open up the box of over 20 lesson journals and 30 recorded lesson tapes. All through the years I could hear Moyse words in my practice but the actual recordings were difficult to approach because the teaching exposed one’s vulnerable core and the playing was either right or wrong to him. There was a lot of repetition to satisfy him, and the down side (there were very few downsides) of that was it could be sometimes to the point of paralysis for the student. It was his way or the high way. There was no democracy. You had to be strong to thrive in his class and quick to understand the concepts and implement them or suffer his rather bad temper at times. He also had a thick French accent and had suffered a stroke by that time, so he was sometimes difficult to hear what he was saying and those who didn’t speak any French were the worst off. As students we tried to help each other out. I managed to do fine, thanks to some French in school and the superb and some-what similar teaching by his son, Louis Moyse all those years before I met Marcel.
I came into the studio to find three students sitting there. I was so stunned by the fact I was there, to this day I don’t remember who they were, except Nancy Andrew, a student who lived in the house. Years later, I met up with her at the Aspen Music Festival, we were to become life long colleagues and friends. Nancy introduced me to Mr. Moyse and the class. He asked me what I would like to play and I started with the Allegretto by Benjamin Godard. I knew from experience taking many of Louis’ master classes not to pick overly hard repertoire as it was considered showing off. If you had truly come to learn, pick a piece to be teachable on. In addition, both the Moyse’s were less interested in the technical (students were responsible for most of their own technique practice) and interested more so in the tone colors you were making, the beauty of the sound, having correct pitch, and foremost, that you said something well, with your flute.
After I played, Mr. Moyse didn’t offer any comment, but instead asked me to repeat the passage changing one thing. I could see he was testing my ability to be flexible. Here my notes say: “Show the function of the opening measure even more. It doesn’t start with a downbeat.” Then he continued to coach me very close in the way I had learned it from Louis (because Louis learned it from him!). “Play the scale {as the skeleton to this excerpt} with even fingers and as legato in sound as you can, and be careful connecting your sound. Don’t “break” your sound in the small intervals {leaps of a third. These are embellishments and should not stick out.} I complied. “Good!” Moyse said and offered further, “Don’t accent the second beats!” He started to talk about the image of the organ grinder on the street corner or hurdy-gurdy cranking the wheel over and over bringing continuous, unaccented, and uninterrupted flow to the music. In measures 8 and 10, and later at Letter C, “lie!” {Light} and “Disappear the last note-give the charactere!” The bar before Letter A, “Cedez!” Although the cedez is not written, it is traditionally played to emphasize the repetition of the theme in the next measure. Also not written, but traditional, is an accelerando at the end in the B♭ arpeggio figure of the last line of the movement.
In the second movement, Iydlle, Quasi adagio, molto tranquillo, my sheet music scribbles have Moyse saying “Bring the character right away to the first note and color the mood. Your playing must be tranquil like the sea in the doldrums – float like a leaf on the calm sea.” Marcel’s way with visuals and poetic language were inspirational and made it so much easier for me to interpret mood, character, and color! My next journal entry about this lesson says every measure has to have a different dynamic or color. “Never play the same twice.” He was referring to repetition in general and to the markings at letter B. Here, no two bars are alike because of the many different markings in this section. The rest of my notes conclude with: “Make a souvenir” (something very special at the rallentando before letter E to the A tempo. Notice the dynamic here is less than the opening measure in the flute part. Play like you are recalling a distant memory. Lastly, bring intensity to the cadenza. Heighten the expectation of the top (F3) by rushing to it and linger (tenuto) on it before starting the molto rallentando. Float away “on the sea” with the last four bars.
With that, he recounted a mini lineage story of which I was to learn there would be many more inspirational sidebars through stories, musical examples and recordings to come. Mr. Moyse said…”My teacher {Adolphe} Hennebains played this with {Benjamin} Godard as the pianist and I played it with Godard’s sister, so I know the tradition! I judged Joseph Rampal playing this in Paris in 1912”. He went on to say the Valse is a very good encore piece along with {Paul} Taffanel’s Scherzettino and {Johann Sebastian} Bach’s Sarabande.” At the end of the lesson he said he really enjoyed listening to the Godard. He also said “You have the potential to play well, where did you buy your lips?” Later I found out that famous “Moyesiana” phrase was code for: I like your tone! I said I need someone to push me and he replied, “We could do great things together.” I couldn’t have asked for a better reception. That special day is clearly etched in my mind.
Just before the next student’s lesson, as I was packing up my flute, came a rather sticky moment; he asked me who I studied with and I answered Per Oien (Oslo Philharmonic), Nick Fiore (Toronto Symphony). Silence. Finally, having to give it up, I said I’ve been studying with your son, Louis for four years–more silence and widening eyes. I had taken a big chance coming into his home and catching him off guard in front of the class by telling the truth regarding his estranged son. (Later the other students told me I was lucky to leave with my head still on my shoulders or to be invited back). I waited for the famous anger but it ever came. In the future, Louis would be mentioned only a few times between us again. He asked why I didn’t stay with Louis for lessons and I told him he was away. Without saying anything else he said, “Come back Monday.”
My Second Lesson, January 13, 1981, De la Sonorite´ and Andersen Etude, op. 15, #6
I warmed up with the first exercise in Marcel’s famous 1934 book titled De la Sonorite´: Art et Technique, which I had been doing for years with Louis. During this exercise, Marcel said little but did a bit of singing to show the volume and richness of the tone he wanted, and he moved his hands in supporting gestures telling me to play to the end. His beloved exercise never grew old for him or any of us. He reminded us of the importance of the homogeneity of the sound from top to bottom, especially at the cusp of moving to the next register. In his Preface of De la Sonorite´, he explains why keeping the homogeneity is difficult to maintain throughout the registers, and he gives a brief explanation on how to do the exercise. Those of us who studied with him know how particular he was with this exercise and remember how he taught us to hear the smallest subtleties and to correct anything abrupt or uneven in the sound from the top of the flute to the bottom. He taught us to search for the best starting note “B” which serves as the model to each of the consecutive notes. In Trevor Wye’s notes from one of the Moyse Woodwind Seminars he attended, he called it “preluding” to find the best “B”. I like this explanation because one should circle around the “B”, playing above, below, and filling in some small intervals, to finally arrive on a rich, warmed up, in tune “B”. I warmed up with the first exercise in Marcel’s famous 1934 book titled De la Sonorite´: Art et Technique, which I had been doing for years with Louis. During this exercise, Marcel said little but did a bit of singing to show the volume and richness of the tone he wanted, and he moved his hands in supporting gestures telling me to play to the end. His beloved exercise never grew old for him or any of us. He reminded us of the importance of the homogeneity of the sound from top to bottom, especially at the cusp of moving to the next register. In his Preface of De la Sonorite´, he explains why keeping the homogeneity is difficult to maintain throughout the registers, and he gives a brief explanation on how to do the exercise. Those of us who studied with him know how particular he was with this exercise and remember how he taught us to hear the smallest subtleties and to correct anything abrupt or uneven in the sound from the top of the flute to the bottom. He taught us to search for the best starting note “B” which serves as the model to each of the consecutive notes. In Trevor Wye’s notes from one of the Moyse Woodwind Seminars he attended, he called it “preluding” to find the best “B”. I like this explanation because one should circle around the “B”, playing above, below, and filling in some small intervals, to finally arrive on a rich, warmed up, in tune “B”.
I learned through this exercise that “supple” means flexible, and that the lower jaw, although a stabilizer, must not be rigid but remain flexible (free) and move when needed with cautionary degree, as “…the changes are so tiny”, Moyse says in his Preface. Flutists in different camps seem to debate moving the lower lip and jaw however, one thing I know from the teaching is that one cannot make color unless the lips are flexible! Many flutists today who have a nice tone and who don’t advocate moving the lower jaw, may facilitate their orchestral playing by matching core sounds with other instruments (especially those of the non-vibrating kind) but beyond those soft and loud dynamics, I don’t hear much color in their solo repertoire or their chamber music playing. The good singer always sings with color and varied vibrato, and so must we. This was Moyse’s constant message. Marcel Moyse closes his Preface by saying:
If the lesson has been learned, the battle will have been won. The tone will have every color you wish to impart to it, you will be able to play any interval you wish at the correct dynamic level, as your lips will be capable of undergoing all the necessary changes; it is a matter of time, patience and intelligent work.” (De la Sonorite´, Moyse, 1934, Preface).
After an amazing warm up lesson on the mighty opening exercise in De la Sonorite´, I played Andersen Op. 15, #6. I picked this etude because it was one I struggled to play well. The lesson went on for more than an hour. He talked a lot about articulation and the execution of grace notes. Moyse said it was a very hard etude. (Little did I know at the time, I would be made to play the first eight lines of this etude for six weeks!). At the end of the six weeks he said “Transpose it to six flats!” He believed transposition was an essential discovery tool for learning and improving a flutist’s playing. He did it himself while playing in the Opéra-Comique by notating arias from singers that moved him in performances he played in from the orchestra pit. This, and the hand copying of melodies from opera and symphony scores in the Woodwind Seminars (there were no convenient photocopy machines at the time) were to be, as we have learned from Robert Aitken and others, the genesis of his grand book Tone Development Through Interpretation. By playing a melody up a half tone, or a second or third, the inherent difficult qualities of the flute could be improved. The easier keys allowed one to perfect color, pitch, and do all the magical inflections with ease, after which one would transfer the improvement to the more difficult keys.
In the Op. 15, #6 etude, he was particularly insistent upon playing the trills and mordents well and in time. He wanted tight clean grupetti. He said, “Always play the graces, turns and grupetti in time and I want to hear every note well sounded.” On the former, he was referring to more than just playing in time. He said the turns could be melodic or rhythmic, depending on the character of the music. On the latter he meant play all the notes with equal sound. He didn’t want any of what I call “ghost tones” in which some notes were windy or almost inaudible. No matter the dynamic, all the notes in the turns must be sounded clearly and smooth. If a student didn’t play the first note of a piece or run clearly or articulate clearly after a breath, he would yell or stomp his boots and say…
“What you said? “I don’t hear what you said. I don’t hear your first note. Alors, give the tone!”
With so many turns in this piece, one poorly executed turn on the more difficult fingerings is easily heard. He reminded us our responsibility was to clean the technique. Vacuum it. I believe Trevor Wye said that a good teacher should vacuum a student’s playing. Moyse was the best at this because he never let anything go, no matter how long it took, even if the class was falling asleep by the end of the hour! My notes on this etude further say, “In the opening measure…to get a strong character, keep the space between the quarter notes. The more space you keep, the stronger the character.” And “Keep from creating tension in the tongue.” The marking is “barocco”, meaning “bizarre” (odd). Lastly, observe all dynamics and in all sequences build them gently to their climax (bring out the layers).
At the piu lento, con abbandono, my notes say “first, find and play the {skeletal} melody”. Marcel would sometimes say, “There is always a melody! Two notes are the seed of all music!” Moyse never said “skeletal” or other words of formal theory analysis, yet he knew by instinct what was extraneous and important and he knew so much about harmony and phrasing, and not just in flute music. Just when we thought we knew the music, he would illuminate something else fantastic about what we were doing and blow us all away. So here he points out the melody-the third line from the bottom (F#, (D), C#-B, to A, etc.). It is middle F# decrescendo to low D, then second octave C#-B crescendo to the second measure ending on the A half note, and fall away. This was one of his favorite requests, to fall off a note, but he never asked for it like that. He would gesture the request with his arms floating upwards and then he would suspend the motion suddenly and then move them back down. Or he would inflect his voice with tender sighs and bright, sparkly eyes. He drew us all in and coaxed us to play his way. His gestures were absolutely magical in their ability to explain, demonstrate, and convince.
In most lessons, we played from the 24 Little Melodies or Tone Development books. With the M.A. Reichert Seven Daily Exercises, we worked a lot to achieve special colors and dynamics, never playing them fast to be ale smooth and sculpt out the connections of the intervals. We also did Sousseman and a lot of the beloved Anderson etudes before we were allowed to play Bach, Mozart, or other works from the very difficult Golden Age. Of the Andersen Etudes, Moyse, in his preface to Op. 15, the Schirmer Edition, 1970, had this to say…
In the teaching programs in European conservatories, the works of Andersen were always given a special place. My 1st teacher, Hennebains, successor to Paul Taffanel at the Conservatoire, always spoke of Andersen with enthusiasm and admiration. He liked to repeat often the phrase: “Certainly the pianists are blessed by the etudes of Chopin, but we, the flutists have the unique privilege to possess the etudes of Andersen
It is very important to study these etudes employing a free interpretation of rhythm and articulation. (Moyse did not mean out of time but practicing each etude with many rhythm variations). By varying the rhythms, one learns to know the different aspects of each etude better. Changing the articulation frequently means to bring out the beauties of the melodic line in a most appealing manner. This not only increases the possibilities of mastering the difficulties inherent in each etude but it’s also an ideal way to discover and understand the reason which lead to the composition of each etude.
Marcel Moyse spoke about using rhythm variations as a practice to smooth out difficult finger combinations in solo works and etudes. In the Schirmer edition of the Andersen Opus 15 Etudes, Louis includes 24 rhythmic variations as practice suggestions (found in his Forward, after Marcel’s Preface to the etudes). Marcel went on to say, “This kind of study makes one reflect and helps one to understand and to progressively allow the musical wealth that each etude contains to unfold. All this is important for any etude, but is particularly important for the etudes of Andersen, for they are so beautiful and of such high musical quality.”
To bring out the particular characteristics of each rhythm, to execute the articulations expressively with spirit, suppleness and elegance means to become aware of the fact the music is definitely something more than just a perfect execution of a more or less rapid succession of notes. The French School has been so often spoken of that it would not benefit by the occasion offered me here to clearly reaffirm my opinion that the reason that the Flute school in the Paris Conservatory has acquired such a great reputation is that it has been entrusted to artists of an extraordinary quality. I permit myself to be so affirmative about this because I remember Paul Taffanel telling us the traditions came to him from his master Dorus, who was a pupil of Tulou. I had the unique opportunity to study the Andersen Opus 15 at the Paris Conservatoire with Paul Taffanel. When these were played by him each etude became a master piece of beauty and musicianship. The intelligence, clarity, and technical simplicity helped underline for us the musical riches of each one of them.
I will never forget the reaction of Andersen when he was present at a performance of the well-known 3rd etude in G Major at the Conservatory. He said, “I never knew I had written such a beautiful etude.” With this phrase I would like to bring this little preface to an end and I hope that all flutists will share in the joys and advantages which these etudes have brought me.”
-Marcel Moyse
Jan 14, 1981, Taffanel and Gaubert #1 and 24 Small Melodies, #9
The lessons were never private to my knowledge. Perhaps those who lived in the house helping him, like Nancy Andrew or Odille Renault, received some private instruction – I don’t know. But generally the teaching was in the form of a master class and it would go until all students played or he stopped the class. One was not allowed to leave early as I found out, having a conflict once with a figure skating rehearsal for a show. The music and delivering the teaching message was so important to him and he often wanted to teach all day! His energy and spirit were incredible. In his later years he sometimes forgot that those that lived in town had lives. Going to class, after all what I was there for. He didn’t speak to me for a week for that nor did I get my lesson that week. I never left early again. Students would drive up on a regular basis for lessons, either once a week or once a month or just once in a while. They came from New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Quebec and even flew in from Europe – there were always students in his home between 2 pm and 5 pm. Boarding across the street as I was, I had a daily front row seat and I enjoyed the parade of wonderful teaching and students.
This particular day, January 14, 1981, Amy Polliakoff was playing Taffanel and Gaubert #1 for even color, pitch, and smooth fingers. He admonished us to play all etudes and exercises like music. He said, “What if you had a scale in Mozart? Would you play so unmusically?” And he would often say, “Respect the harmony!” He wanted us to bring out the tension between the tonic and the dominant by using a crescendo towards the tension (C-G) and keep homogeneity of sound over the top. He harped on the low D in the beginning of this exercise until he got results in the first measure. For teaching exercise #2, I really love this saying I wrote in my journal: “Play brightly in major and caress in minor.”
On the 24 Small Melodies, in #9, he asked, “Why is the 16th in this dotted rhythm so often badly tongued?” He said to hold the dotted 8th to its full value then at the last second, and then make the space. This is to ensure the 16th note is played directly in its proper place. The staccato is short and spaced but where is the pickup feeling, he asked? Now play piano after the mezzo forte. Try to get the same articulated quality in both dynamics and when doing this rhythm in different note combinations that are more difficult. Don’t change the length of attack or the quality of the tongue on notes. He always had a lot to say about articulation.
In the 1st bar of variation #9, in regards to playing the 16th notes slurred by two, he said the first of the two notes is always more loud and you should fall away on the second note. “This is a basic rule!” The first note is more and the second note under the slur is always less, except sometimes in certain exceptions. In the second variation of #9, he asked for the syncopation to be emphasized each time and followed with, “The down beats are no longer important in this rhythm.”
Concerning articulation, Trevor Wye wrote an excellent commentary about articulation and shared some of Marcel Moyse’s teaching on articulation from his attendance at the 1966 Moyse Summer Wind Seminar. In the Marcel Moyse Society Newsletter, Vol. 14, January 2005, Trevor Wye’s “Marcel on the 50 Variations on the Allemande by Bach” is very emphatically written concerning articulation rules. The specific section on “Now for the {Articulation} Rules” is worth its weight in gold.
Andersen Op. 15, #5, Allegro animato
In this etude Marcel asked me to “play brilliantly, but not dramatic.” He explained this was difficult because the dynamic indicated consistently from the opening measure and almost through the 6th line is forte. He said, the lips must stay firm but not tight or they will tire playing forte for so long without a break. The tone should flow in a contiguous way no matter the register and all intervals should be well slurred. In measure 7, observe the marcato accents. Add and re-fortify energy in all the scale passages by giving a little crescendo and forward motion to propel the sound over the tops of upward gestures. On the downward gestures “pick up” the low notes (tend to them) as you pass by them like you dipped your finger in the “mayonnaise jar”. This was one of his oft-used analogies from a story he told.
Continuing he said, don’t be flat on the low notes. Maintain vibrancy throughout. Eight measures from the end bring out the scale sequence to high ‘A” by tenuto. All articulations should be well tongued, with much more on the accents. In its totality, this etude is difficult for intonation and the embouchure. If you listen to Beethoven’s 8th Symphony you will know how to play a beautiful forte.
Listening to Beethoven Symphony #8
We took a short break after a series of long and intense lessons then returned to class to listen to a part of Beethoven’s 8th symphony. This was the great education, right here. If you listen to the greatest music, the best players and conductors and singers, you will know how to play anything he said. In this symphony, he wanted us to listen for the majestic and heroic sound of forte, and the delicate but meaningful piano dynamics, and how the emphatic sforzando accents energized the character of the music. Loud is never rough, he chided. The tone, he explained, should not be ugly or frayed. Other Beethoven symphonies were listened to over the course of my studies with him such as The Eroica, and the Seventh for high ‘E’ vibrancy and dotted rhythms.
Soussman Etude in Eb+, #19 Amy Polliakoff
This two-page chop buster etude can be very tiring on the embouchure, even under the best of circumstances. The embouchure will tire more easily if the student doesn’t have flexible lips to begin with. It’s important to notice if tightness occurs or the tone will suffer in the highs and lows of the arabesques. The notes written in my score say, “In the slurred passages, be careful the third semiquaver (sixteenth note) in a group of four notes be emitted with suppleness.” This becomes increasingly more difficult the larger the leap to the third semiquaver unless tongued, as in articulations on lines 3-7. By the second page, the groups in the high register pose more challenging intervals to slur.
Moyse recognized these universal difficulties so he wrote 20 Exercices et Etudes sur les grand liaisons, les trilles, les points d’orgue, etc. pour la flute, first for himself and later published for students to practice these embouchure gymnastics. As a final note on this etude from Moyse, I have in my notes, “Practice the first note to the third note, then the second note to the third well before putting all four semiquavers together and, never clip the last note of any slur, unless indicated by the composer.”
January 15, 1981, Tulou Troisieme Grand Solo, # 3, Op. 74
In this lesson, Moyse said for the nerves, when you practice at home, play fast and brilliant without a care about making a mistake (of course he meant after you can play the piece). If it is ugly or not good you can always make it better by doing it again. But you must try and say something virtuosic with your flute. You must take a chance. Use a metronome and push until the speed becomes impossible. Then, at this point, pull back the tempo and work for the elegance.
He went on to say, most flutists can play Demerssemann but most lack understanding for the style of Tulou. It is a lighter, more elegant style, but still with virtuosity. Use this elegance with the appropriate use of rubato, for example measure 68, begin in tempo with the piano and then you can be free to use some rubato and rush toward the fermata through the descending sequences. At measure 75, come back to A Tempo. For elegance in the melody, soar, for example in measure 78, the melody is expansive with a generous vibrato in the “rf”. The character is more heroic in nature than aggressive. To achieve this, fall away from the long note after each “rf” and play with more colorful tenderness.
Use a good proportioned rubato in measure 83 on the high G to add elegance and rush the portamento. Here the grace notes must be played smoothly, their intervals well voiced but never hurried. At measure 156, Largement, stretch the melody (slightly slower, making all the lower notes rich). “Take care of the “peech” (pitch) on Db’s!” Stretch the melodies and finesse the notes with color and vary your vibrato. When falling off a note, use less vibrato depth or none (depending on note lengths) for maximum effect. “This is Tulou! It is brilliant but elegant. Do not make bravura for the sake of showing off; that is more for Demerssemann” he said.
After the Tulou lesson, we took a break and listened to some music from his Collection from the Boston Flute Club (I don’t have in my notes what we listened to, just that it was from that collection) and talked about two books, one, “Interpretation on Poetics” written by Stravinsky and Lorenzo’s “Interpretation of the Flute”, which Louis Moyse loaned me, for the purpose of getting a sense of what was happening in that era. Fascinating reading and perfect for long, cold Vermont winter nights!
Tone Development Through Interpretation, by Marcel Moyse
Aria # 11 “La lune sur une chateaux ruine-Taki, Andante
Marcel played his recordings for us and told us that his inspiration for writing this melody book partly came to him by sitting on a mountain top in St. Amor noticing how the sun illuminates everything and depending on how the light hits the leaves on a tree, for example it creates different colors. The same nature scene can be different in the light of different seasons: Winter, Spring, Fall and Summer. He reminded us that painters like Van Gogh painted many renditions of the same scene and the colors are all different because the light hits the land at different angles and intensity depending on the time of day and depending on the season. “The wind quivers the leaves but the sun gives warmth and color!” He said we should never play without warmth and color in our tone. “I wrote this book to give to students to learn expressiveness.” Marcel Moyse
In aria #11, use the expressive portamento articulation to create longing and sadness. Observe all dynamics and especially return to the dynamic of the opening of each crescendo for maximum effect. The tongue with its many articulations played well, can be expressive as well as the tone and the vibrato. Other places to use and practice portamento are in the 24 Little Melodies, numbers 1 and 2. My last written notes for this lesson were- transpose to A minor, F# minor, and F minor.
Tone Development Through Interpretation
Aria #10, La Traviata-Verdi, Andante mosso
It’s not as fast as quarter note equals112 he said, even though 112 is indicated.
Sound the 1st note of the 3/8 but diminuendo the rest bar, except when asked to crescendo. Between measures 6 and 7, keep the tone sonorous –no breathing here. You must sustain your tone. Three measures from the end use an expressive breath to the “sfz”. In the marked glissando, try to delay the top note and use the throat as much as you can (even if pretending) in between to create the feeling of glissando. Keep the vibrato to a minimum, except at the end of line 3. Play the 32nds in a melodic way rather than with rhythmic execution. Use a soft syllabled tongue under the slur to add feeling. Lastly he said about this lesson-transpose to two sharps and 5 flats.
Tone Development Through Interpretation Book
Aria #8: Moderato La Traviata-Verdi
Play with tenderness, dolcissimo and cantabile as in recalling a distant memory or happier days. Notice the many repeated quarter note Bb’s in this aria. Although not a recitative, remember the repeated Bb’s serve to support syllables in the text. Play them expressively and with a tender emphasis to move them forward. Notice there is only one mezzo forte and all other dynamics are subservient to that. Less volume lends more introspective expressiveness. The vibrato should keep flowing but be small, almost lifeless in places to create a atmosphere of hopeless grief, as if there’s no energy left to fight. The exceptions are to use the vibrato more in a few heighten places and the few rise and falls of the any crescendos indicated. For example, the poco crescendo at measure 13 can have more intensity and the climactic point (measure 20) represents the last triumph before death. Quickly “fall away” here to create a sigh, perhaps to signify–a memory of sad loss. Notice the word stentando is used twice within the span of a bar. The indication means drag the notes along with reluctance to let them go (as in letting go of life or saying a final goodbye forever). Play more heavily in the last 3 measures to show struggle. End pianissimo, as if nothing’s left. Death triumphs here.
In Closing
This article is from a series of articles written from Dr. Payne’s private lesson journal from lessons in master class with Marcel Moyse at his house in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1981. In further news letter issues, look for: Continuing Lessons with the Maitre, Marcel Moyse”, more to come on Marcel Moyse’s 50 Variation’s on J.S. Bach’s Allemande, Andersen and Berbiguier’s 18 Etudes for the Flute, Tone Development Through Interpretation, Debussy’s Syrinx, Popp, The Golden Age of the Flutists Vol.1, Chopin Nocturnes, Gounod, Reichert’s 7 Daily Exercises, Op. 5, Saint-Saens and Marcel Moyse’s 24 Little Melodies.
Marcel Moyse has influenced directly or indirectly, musical lives (flutists and other musicians) in almost all the corners of the world. The influence of his teaching and books continues to spread far and wide through his former students. I am indebted to my teachers, most of who came before me and studied with him. I am deeply indebted to Marcel Moyse and to his son, Louis Moyse for the way they illuminated music for me and for organizing the technical aspects of learning the flute in such a comprehensive and understandable manner. I also thank them for their generosity as teachers, always giving of their time to their students and for their patience over time to keep me on course when I stumbled.
For those of my colleagues that had the privilege to know Marcel Moyse personally and study with him as I did, I see their indebtedness to him as they keep the teaching on this essential and indispensable kind of pedagogy alive. Because his personality was so creatively different than most teachers, (he was a teacher’s pedagogue) one can never imagine it through the just the use of the books and his writings alone. To understand the essence of his teaching one needs to spend a good deal of time emersed in study with a person who studied with him for a period of time. For me and it has been said by others, nothing can replace that, although the quality and the thoroughness of his books do stand by themselves and can benefit everyone.
Lastly, the interpretation of and performing of art is not a dry mental task. While it behooves us musicians to know the score from many angles, analysis alone will not bring the composers music to life. Formal understanding of music must be enhanced by and come from a place of inspiration, and emotion from deep inside oneself through the depth of the music. Imparting this was Marcel Moyse’s true gift. Moyse said, “Respect the music, and those that came before you, respect your teacher. Cultivate awareness and mentally submit yourself to that teacher. Learn music in a charged environment with a strong teacher who embodies a whole school of teaching.”
September Payne, D.M.A., is Adjunct Professor of Flute and Associate Music History Lecturer at San Diego State University, Adjunct Professor of Flute at Grossmont and Mesa Colleges, Emeritus. She has played with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Boston Opera Company and soloed with her flute and piano Duo CanSonare (Canadian Sound) and Duo Patiche (Flute and Harp Duo). Currently, she is faculty at the Chen International Summer Chamber Music and Orchestra Festival in Dallas, Texas, Co-Founder of San Diego Coastal Flutes, and Founder of Music West Flute Studios in La Jolla and San Diego, California. She holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University, Doctor of Musical Arts Degree, Cum Laude, from The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Houston, Texas. Influenced by a concert she attended in Montreal by Jean-Pierre Rampal, September took up the flute in high school. From her flute teacher at the Montreal Conservatory, through her College flute professors, world renown mentors and studies in Nice France with Rampal, Larrieux and Marion, all have been French or French influenced. She studied with both Louis and Marcel Moyse for a span of over 10-years.
