Flute & Piccolo
Tuning of the flute: C
Piccolo Transposition: Sounds 1 Octave above written (8ve higher)
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The range of this instrument (from the lowest to the highest note)


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This instrument's repertoire
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This instrument's jokes
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Concert of Women (1530-40) MASTER of Female Half-length, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
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The history of these instruments
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Animation of the Instrument
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Notes of Part 1 of Bach's Sonata BWV.1020
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The Flute
The flute is played sidewise, unlike the recorder, held straight forward. The flute, first appeared in the 13th century, gradually driving the wooden recorder away from the symphonic orchestra, until Haydn finally excluded it. Its greater volume and clearer sounds made many composers favor it over the quiet, intimate recorder. An early known piece for this instrument is the Badinari, of Bach's Suite No. 2 for flute and orchestra.
Flute concert at Sans Souci (1852) by Adolf Menzel, Neue Nationalgalerie, BerlinIn the Classic and Romantic periods, the flute was very popular and many composers wrote solos for it. Haydn (sonata for flute and harpsichord) Mozart (Concerto in G, Concerto in D and Double Concerto for flute and harp) and Beethoven (the Serenade for flute, violin and viola) are only few of the composers who wrote for this instrument, yet the best known piece is Debussy's prelude "L'apres midi d'un Faune"Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - Debussy, in which the flute opens by playing the main theme. Debussy also wrote the "Syrinx" for solo flute.
A composer name Quantz accomplished, undoubtfully, the world record in flute composition - over 300 concerti for flute, written for Fridrich the Great, the King of Prussia (who was an excellent flutist).
The system of leverages and stops developed by Thoebald Bohm, a virtuoso flutist from Bavaria, made the instrument more comfortable for playing and enhanced playing options in different scales.



Composers


Bach


Haydn


Mozart


Beethoven


Debussy





Baroque Flute



Piccolo

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Piccolo Repertoire
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The Fifer (1866) Edouard Manet, Musee d'Orsay, Paris
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The piccolo
The piccolo is a tiny flute, and is in fact the smallest instrument in the orchestra. It plays an octave higher than the flute. Its sounds are high and bright, and it does not always play in the symphonic orchestra: when a piccolo is needed, one of the flutists plays it.
Bizet incorporated it in his famous opera "Carmen". A long time before him, Vivaldi composed a piccolo concerto.
The piccolo fills an important role in military marching bands, which march and play in parades and ceremonies. Its high bright sounds are carried above the roaring brass.

Composers


Vivaldi


Bizet




"...that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret,
and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy." (1 Samuel, chapter 10:5)

Paintings
Piccolo - The Fifer (1866) Edouard Manet, Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Flute - Concert of Women (1530-40) master of Female Half-length, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Flute concert at Sans Souci (1852) by Adolf Menzel, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin

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