1. Warm Up Exercises by Walfrid Kujala.
At Teresa Beaman’s CSU, Fresno Flute Festival last spring, the guest artist, Walfrid Kujala the Professor of Flute at Northwestern University and former
piccoloist in the Chicago Symphony, provided the master class participants with copies of a set of warm up exercises which were derived from the "Chromatic
Sequence Patterns" section (page 10-12) in his Flutist's Vade Mecum book, published by Progress Press. He says: “ In expanding the original chromatic
format through the addition of the whole-tone scale, diminished triad and augmented triad, the player now has a greater opportunity to exercise embouchure and
breath management as well as finger coordination." I have found these exercises to be very beneficial in my own daily practice and Mr. Kujala has kindly given
us permission to share this exercise with our readers. See the musical examples in on these two pages. (J.E.P.)
2. Clinton on Clinton; A CD recording by Andra Bohnet of music by John Clinton performed on flutes of his design. Released on Flying Frog Records.
PO. Box 177 Fairhope, AL. Price: $15 plus S & H. Available online from: www.clintonfluteproject.com or
from www.flyingfrog.com - or at retail sources, such as CDBaby or Flute World.
Nope, we are not promoting a political or family squabble: Andra Bohnet is Professor of Flute at the University of South Alabama, where she plays with the
Mobile Symphony and concertizes widely with her chamber group with strings, Silverwood, and a Celtic band, Mithril. She is equally adept with modern flute and
simple system flutes as can be heard on this very interesting recording in which she performs eleven works by John Clinton (1809-1864) on flutes made by his company.
She was encouraged and assisted in this project by the research of Australian flute maker and flute historian Terry McGee and Canadian folk musician and songwriter
Adrian Duncan, who located seven of Clinton’s instruments for her to play on. Each of the flutes heard here have different key systems and are made of
combinations of wood and silver, conical and cylindrical flutes. These flutes range in design from traditional simple ring-key systems up to an intriguing plateau
system Boehm system flute with graduated tone hole sizes. (You can learn more about Clinton and his flutes
here: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/clinton.html)
Having put together this representative group of Clinton flutes, Bohnet decided to explore his compositions. She was able to locate the music for a number
of pieces in a variety of original, tuneful and harmonically interesting styles. Some of the works on this recording are in the vein typical of 19th century
salon music with sentimental songs, popular dances, and character pieces, similar to those of Stephan Foster. Others are brilliant variations and fantasias on
well-known tunes and opera arias of the day. Also, included is one of Clinton’s Grand Trios for three flutes. All of his works seem fresh, lively, and
appealing even to ears jaded by hearing lots of 19th century flutist/composers. The performances on this CD bring out the color, shading, drama and mood that
make up such a large part of this Romantic style. Her accompanists on historic guitar, pianoforte, clarinet, and strings play with verve and sensitivity. An
excellent recording throughout. (J.E.P.)