Quodlibetudes for Solo Flute (1988); Thirteen Fantasias and a Coda Designed to Introduce the

Player - Young or Old, Student or Professional - To the Expanded Technical and Conceptual
Worlds of the New Flute of the Late Twentieth Century by Harvey Sollberger
Review by: Jane Gottlieb
Notes, Second Series, Vol. 49, No. 3 (Mar., 1993), pp. 1263-1265
Published by: Music Library Association
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Music Reviews 1263

and 4 selecting a different consecutive note terns are doubled by instruments of a dif-
from each of the three voices in canon, ferent timbre. The canons here, however,
giving an added physical reality to the pat- are simpler in texture, using only three
terns that naturally emerge from canons at voices. This provides an opportunity to
the unison. Violin II-1 also does this with thicken the texture with the quickly re-
violin 11-2, 3, and 4. In addition, the wood- peated chords, especially in the low winds,
winds and cellos double the "emerging pat- that we first heard from Reich in his Music
tern" voices after each of the sections gets for Eighteen Musicians (1977). The four sec-
started with the strings alone. The basses, tions of this movement build to a full or-
synthesizers, and brass (commanded never chestral texture, leading to the last section
to sound brassy) provide an harmonic un- for full orchestra. The repeated chords,
derpinning after the doublings begin, with which start in the woodwinds, gradually in-
extremely soft sustained chords made up of crease in instrumentation to include brass
notes taken from the scale used in the me- and, then in the last section, the strings.
lodic elements. Each canonic section has its Each of these sections has its own harmonic
own harmonic color and its own change- base. The first two sections are in 3, but the
of-meter pattern. As is the case in all of last two use multi-metered repetitive pat-
Steve Reich's music, the topography is clear terns. The last section also increases in
and systematic, and the technical proce- tempo, the acceleration accomplished by
dures used are in plain sight. Nonetheless, metric modulation.
something miraculous emerges in this The last movement, also divided into
movement despite its accessible processes. four harmonically different sections, is full
Reich achieves a very beautiful, refined of dance-like joy, constantly alternating be-
spiritual presence that is not easily defined, tween 3 and 2. The fast pulse is maintained
nor are there any specific places where it by two marimbas in a steady eighth-note
occurs, it simply accumulates. The music rhythmic pattern. Against this, two vibra-
has a quality so rarely found in contem- phones, doubled by the second violins and
porary works that I hope the composer violas, develop a two-voice repeated pat-
considers providing us with a version of tern. The first violins and winds build up
this movement which can stand alone (i.e., a sustained high melody that floats over
with a slightly different ending). everything. The trumpets develop a two-
The second movement is for two vibra- voice canonic dialogue that now and then
phones, two pianos, and two bass drums. cuts through the rest, adding a buoyant
Although Reich is best known for his work quality to the whole. Underneath, the two
with percussion instruments, this move- pianos, bass drums and low strings, and
ment is the shortest of the piece, lasting brass contribute a rhythmic punch that
only two-and-one-half minutes. It provides pulls the music in different directions,
a sharp contrast with the first and acts as sometimes reminding us of George Ger-
a perfect bridge into the next. shwin at his best-all in all a triumphant
The structure of the third movement, ending to a great piece of music.
featuring the woodwinds (with brass and
strings) is similar to the first. The canons
of each section are stated first in one set DAVIDBORDEN
of instruments and then the emerging pat- Cornell University

INSTRUMENTAL SOLO AND ENSEMBLE MUSIC

Harvey Sollberger. Quodlibetudes for score, 7 folded leaves (13 p.); acid-free
solo flute (1988); thirteen fantasias paper. Music and tape, $20.00; dura-
and a coda designed to introduce the tion: ca. 14'.]
player-young or old, student or pro-
fessional-to the expanded technical Harvey Sollberger (born 1938) is some-
and conceptual worlds of the New thing of a grass roots missionary for the
modern flute movement. A virtuoso flutist,
Flute of the late twentieth century.
pedagogue, conductor and promoter of
New York: McGinnis & Marx Music contemporary repertory (he cofounded the
Publishers, 1991. [Notes, pp. i-v; Group for Contemporary Music with

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 1264 NOTES, March 1993

Charles Wuorinen in 1962), and composer rary flute techniques: whistle tones, mul-
of instrumental, vocal, and dramatic works, tiphonics (with two or more notes in in-
Sollberger has worked throughout his ca- tervals of sevenths, ninths, and even some
reer to redefine the flute as a solo instru- larger intervals), key clicks, tongue clicks,
ment. humming, hissing, singing, and reading
In doing so he has looked both back- like a keyboard player from two staves at
ward-to flute composers of past centuries once. A semester's work, at least.
(his Grand Quartet for four flutes [1962] is The quodlibet of Quodlibetudesis in its use
dedicated to Friedrich Kuhlau, in honor of of one or more musical quotes in each fan-
his 1829 quartet of the same name) and tasia. Most of these quotes are from other
past decades of the present century-and flute works of recent decades and will only
forward-in his integration and expansion be recognizable to those well versed in this
of contemporary techniques. Presently Pro- repertory. They include quotes from flute
fessor of Music at Indiana University, Soll- works by Sollberger's contemporaries Ka-
berger studied flute with Samuel Baron zuo Fukushima, Harley Gaber, Donald
and Betty Bang Mather. At Columbia in Martino, Charles Wuorinen, and Roger
the 1960s he studied composition with Otto Reynolds, and quotes from the three "mon-
Luening and Jack Beeson. Although he has uments" of twentieth-century flute reper-
received numerous awards and commis- tory: Luciano Berio's Sequenza (1958), the
sions and recorded widely both as flutist first solo flute piece to include multiphon-
and conductor, much of Sollberger's no- ics; Edgard Varese's Density21.5 (1936), the
toriety seems to reside in the world of ed- first to make use of percussive key clicks
ucated flutists and followers of "uptown" and extensive intervallic leaps; and, of
composers. His works are primarily pub- course, Claude Debussy's Syrinx (1913).
lished by the American Composers Alliance (The quote from the latter work is par-
and McGinnis & Marx Music Publishers, ticularly obvious.) Quodlibetudes also in-
both of which have had relatively limited cludes some other distinctive (and acknowl-
distribution networks in the past. McGinnis edged) quotes from music of earlier
& Marx, founded by oboist Josef Marx in periods, and thus serves as a good listening
1945, has recently expanded its operation test as well as a practice etude. Sollberger
and promotional efforts, so one hopes that states in the preface that he mostly ignores
we can look forward to the wider avail- the "humorous" aspect of a traditional
ability of Sollberger's published scores. quodlibet, but a careful listener can find
Quodlibetudes, commissioned for flutist some amusement in his judicious sprin-
Judith Bentley by her students, is designed kling of musical references.
as a true "concert etude." As Sollberger Each of the thirteen fantasias is given a
explains in the introduction to the score: descriptive title: Jumping; Undulating;
"My aim in composing Quodlibetudeshas Drumming; Intuiting; Ticking; Humming;
been to create both and at once a concert Balancing; Echoing; Negating; Tuning;
solo piece and a set of etudes designed to Lingering; Extending; and, Yes/Sing. (Yes,
introduce flutists to contemporary playing the first letters of the titles do spell Judith
techniques and notation. As the former, it Bentley.) These titles also serve to char-
will, I hope, stimulate and reward even ad- acterize each fantasia according to its most
vanced players and their audiences. As the obvious musical materials. For example,
latter, it can serve as a text for self-study "Jumping" contains large leaps; "Undulat-
or work with a teacher. (Teachers may find, ing" uses different vibrato speeds; "Drum-
in fact, that the piece's thirteen fantasias ming" is comprised primarily of key clicks
lend themselves well to a semester's work.)" (mostly dotted rhythms in a jazzy style);
The approximately fourteen-minute piece "Intuiting" is comprised of whistle tones.
succeeds on both counts. The thirteen fan- Although the musical material is intention-
tasias and coda evolve seamlessly, and the ally based on the particular technique to be
listener is granted a full musical experience mastered (form following function), the
of technical virtuosity without awareness of composition as a whole moves beyond its
the didactic nature of each section. And as acrostic construction to provide a satisfying
a teaching piece, it certainly challenges the musical experience to both the performer
student to master a myriad of contempo- and the listener. It also exhibits more than

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Music Reviews 1265

a sprinkling of theatricality: the final fan- Dan Welcher. White Mares of the
tasia ("Yes/Sing") requires the performer to Moon for flute and harp (1986). Bryn-
intone a short Japanese poem titled "Such
Mawr, Penn.: Elkan-Vogel (Presser),
Is Life." Sollberger explains his use of the
1987. [Set of two performance scores,
poem in the introduction as follows: "[it] 15 p. each. 164-00178. $14.00; dura-
implicitly suggests virtues performers need tion: ca. 7'.]
to cultivate: patience, tenacity, a positive
attitude toward finally overcoming prob- A recent renewal of interest in the rep-
lems. Indeed, I see it as a paradigm of a ertory and performance collaboration of
musician's existence. It is, as well, an ex- the flute and harp has spawned a signif-
hortation to she or he who would master icant increase in the number of these mel-
this piece-or any other." Such is life. In lifluous duos. Historical evidence substan-
spite of its theatricality, the "Yes/Sing" fan- tiating the popularity of the harp and flute
tasia certainly challenges the performer ensemble dates from early in the eigh-
to intone these words in an unpitched whis- teenth century and includes compositions
per. from the pen of a plethora of lesser-known
The score is published as seven individ- European composers, culminating in the
ual leaves and requires either a versatile sonatas of Ludwig Spohr and Johann Bap-
page turner or seven music stands ar- tiste Krumpholz. Neither the harp nor the
ranged side by side for performance. Like flute saw substantial progress in the area of
many other contemporary scores, it rep- instrumental development until well into
resents a binding challenge for libraries. It the nineteenth century, and this lack has
is neatly printed with performance notes been seen as a contributing factor in the
and fingering charts provided within the paucity of interest on the part of the more
musical text. Sollberger's preface also in- serious composers to provide repertory for
cludes detailed instructions for each fan- either instrument. Harpists and flutists
tasia, and a study tape of his performance have taken on the challenge of developing
of the work is available from the publisher a repertory to sustain this instrumental
to assist the student in the learning process. combination, by actively seeking commis-
Sollberger's Quodlibetudesshould become sioned works from contemporary compos-
a staple of every flutist's etude diet, along ers. The two highly evocative works dis-
with the standards by Joachim Andersen, cussed here are the results of just such
Louis Drouet, Marcel Moyse, and Paul Taf- efforts and, as such, have become welcome
fanel and Philippe Gaubert. The technical additions to the available original repertory
demands of twentieth-century flute reper- for this most popular of ensembles.
tory are quite different from those of the Toro Takemitsu has reworked his own
nineteenth century, and flutists have not original Toward the Sea (for alto flute and
been provided with a new instrument that guitar) in this new guise for harp and alto
will easily produce these new sounds with flute, and the effect is quite stunning. To-
the press of a key. Quodlibetudescertainly ward the Sea III is divided into three sec-
fills the bill as a fun and engaging concert tions, titled "The Night"; "Moby Dick"; and
etude to aid in the mastering of these tech- "Cape Cod." Unifying compositional fea-
nical challenges. Libraries will also want to tures (the end of each movement is ap-
acquire scores of all of the works quoted proached in similar rhythmic, harmonic,
in Quodlibetudesand expand their holdings and melodic fashion) link the three frames
of "standard" flute repertory. of music, and performers are encouraged
to move attacca throughout the work. The
JANEGOTTLIEB
The Juilliard School hollow and austere opening to "The Night"
establishes the eerie calm associated with
each section of this work. Long hollow
Toro Takemitsu. Toward the Sea III tones in the alto flute project the aural
for alto flute and harp. Tokyo: Schott equivalent to a cool and empty seascape.
The harp is introduced in its most resonant
Japan (European American), 1989.
register performing arpeggios carefully
[Score, 18 p. SJ 1049/ISBN 4-11- marked with crescendo/decrescendo from
899576-X. $12.00; duration: 14'.] pianissimo to piano and back again. This

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