Honegger's Danse de la Chèvre: Errata (from John Wion)

Greetings,

This list of corrections is reprinted from John Wion's website.
Food for thought...

Catherine

Honegger: Danse de la Chevre. There are two publications of this work, both "Editions Maurice Senart 1932" published by Salabert. However, with no indication whatsoever, the one is a corrected version of the other. A quick look at bar 7 will tell you which version you have. The corrected version is here marked T(emp)o Vif while the original has no such marking. JW
NEW - Jill Maurer Davis has a corrected copy from the time of her studies with René Le Roy to whom this piece is dedicated. Additional correctins in red below are from this source.
Major corrections:
M4: slur through tied E2
M5: slur through E2
M6: beat 3 is printed A# (from beat 2) in both editions. I have never heard anyone play A# . A natural sounds more correct to me. Geoffrey Gilbert claimed that A natural was correct. A natural is correct.
M7: Tempo Vif Marking is"plus rapide et lointain"
M8: Lent
M10: lines not dots
M12: accelerando
M14-16: There are discrepancies throughout the dance as to whether the downbeats have a line or a dot. Dots on downbeats.
M17- lines on beat 1 & 2.
M19- dot on downbeat
M27 & M29- dot on last F of slurred passage
M28: beat 2 F3 is natural (same as M29)
M35: Plus Lent
M36- lines on all notes on beat 3
M38: accel. to
M40: Vif
M46- rubato played on beat 3, first note slow, then fast & faster
leading to M47- Tempo vif
M48: Gilbert said E1 on beat 2 is Eb. E flat on beat 2 is correct.
M49: f
M53: en rallentissant
M54: Un peu plus lent - mf
M56: mp
M58- a tempo (vif)
M58: beat 1 p, beat 3 pp
M59: beat 2 p
M60: pp, beat 3 rit.
M62: p
M64: pp
M66: C2 is indicated as a harmonic (ie finger C1).

Flutorials™: Victor Herbert's Serenade

Greetings,

The Victor Herbert Serenade for Flute and Piano was first published in 1911, and is no longer in copyright. You can see the original edition online and print it, too, made available by the New York Public Library.

I hope my "Flutorials™: Victor Herbert's Serenade" is helpful for the middle school flute students in North Carolina Bandmasters Central District. This is their District Band audition piece for 2011-2012 school year.

Good luck!
Catherine

Honegger's Danse de la Chèvre: Practice Guide

Greetings,

All the best to my North Carolina High School student readers during their preparations for District auditions.

Good warm-ups for this piece:

Tongue the rhythm of m 4-26 on one note, keeping the air speed constant.
Chromatic scale exercises
"Fingers ahead" and varied rhythm patterns to create security on all the tricky passagework.


Opening section ( m 1-13)

In the passages with slow moving rhythms (m 1-5, 8-10, 62-66) change fingers in a smooth, gentle way to avoid bumps or accents and be sure to vibrate on all notes, avoiding lining up the vibrato with the note starts.

Differentiate between duplets and triplets, keeping the triplets flowing and unaccented.

Account for ties (m 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, and 12). You might practice tonguing the ties, then removing them, avoiding an accent on the tie.

A general technical consideration in this piece is the use of B-flat fingerings. Carefully consider which B-flat fingering you wish to use in each place (thumb B-flat, lever key, or 1 and 1) and mark indications in your music (it helps to have these written in for an audition--in case you lose your concentration. Experiment with using the lever key m 11-13. I actually decided to use the thumb B-flat in this passage until the last B-flat in m 13.

Danse

The obvious issues in m 14-34 and m 49-53 are the rhythm and articulation. This also applies to m 7 and m 60.

Double check your rhythm by inserting a note in the sixteenth rests and subdividing the quarter note into 2 eighth notes. Keep the rhythm steady in m 20-24. Add eighth notes in the eighth rests to double check yourself, and even subdivide all the rhythms into constant tongued sixteenths. The trill in m 23 and the first note of m 26 are often rushed.

Keep your tongue wide and air speed steady at the end of each staccato note, and listen carefully to your tone at the end of each note.

Plus lent
In the plus lent sections (m 35-38 and m 54-57) keep your vibrato going through the repeated tonguings. Crescendo to the grace notes. Listen to be sure pitch is the same on all the repeated notes.

Vif (m 40-48)
Carefully plan your breaths to not interrupt the rhythm and momentum of this section. Fingers ahead and varied rhythm patterns are especially helpful in m 47. Work for full, clear tone on each note of this measure. Demonstrating good tone through the register changes is important here. Wide tongue and relaxed upper lip help accomplish this. During your practice of this section, stop frequently and buzz a note to keep the upper lip loose. Also check to see that your head is balanced and mentalis muscle is activated (this helps focus the low notes when you arrive there.

The last note of the piece-- m 66 --is an overtone of the fingered low "C"

Rather than specifically focusing on the audition and winning, see how much progress you can make while practicing. Any contest we enter is really only worth the benefits of the work we do while preparing for it. Sometimes we win, sometimes we don't, but feeling good about our own efforts and progress, and playing beautifully--at least part of the time--is what is important!

All the best,
Catherine

Flutorials™: Honegger's Danse de la Chèvre

Greetings,

Here are Flutorials™ with tips for practicing Honegger's Danse de la Chèvre for solo flute. This is the 2011-12 District Band audition piece for the North Carolina Bandmasters Central District.

Best,
Catherine

Part 1

Part2