with permission of Dr. Edwin Lacy, Eades Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Evansville (IN)
For the past two days, I have been a member of an audition committee, listening to auditions for the position of principal flute of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. This is a shared position, so the person selected will also be instructor of flute at the University of Evansville.
While listening to the candidates, several things came to mind which I feel I should share with the flutists on this list. We heard many good players with a great deal of potential. All of them were young professionals, with degrees from many of the most prestigious conservatories and university schools of music in the country. However, the majority of those who eliminated themselves from consideration did so by making errors that should be relatively easily correctable. For the most part, people weren't immediately eliminated because their technique wasn't flashy enough, or their tone wasn't impressive enough, or because they played unmusically. (Obviously, there would be some who would come up short in one or more of those categories.)
But, the most common and obvious deficiencies were in much more fundamental matters.
1. YOU MUST PLAY RHYTHMICALLY. As in the case of the other items I will mention, that ought to go without saying, but for quite a number of our candidates, it seemed to have escaped their attention.
If there are long rests (several measures) during an excerpt, or between two solo passages in the same work, you won't be expected to count these out. However, short rests must be observed and carefully counted. I suppose we spend so much time and effort trying to learn to play the notes that the rests may come to be thought of as less important. This will not be the case in an audition situation. It is surprising that more candidates exhibit faults in counting rests than in playing the notes. Still, I also should offer an admonition that the notes and other details also need to be carefully observed.
2. HOLD LONG NOTES FULL VALUE. You will probably have to play the solo from the Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3, which ends on a high D, held out for eight measures. While you are holding this note, several people on the committee, especially the conductor, will be counting along with you and/or conducting to see if you at least approximate the length of the note as written. Don't assume that because you have successfully reached the beginning of the last note that your brain can be turned off. Exactly the same situation exists if the required solo work is the Mozart Flute Concerto in D Major, in which the high D at the beginning must be held for four measures. There are many ways this note can be played, with regard to changing dynamics, the introduction of vibrato, etc. Many different possibilities are acceptable, but don't concentrate so much on this that you forget to count the length of the note.
3. TEMPOS CHOSEN SHOULD BE WITHIN A FAIRLY CONSTRAINED RANGE. Your tempo should be representative of the range of tempos at which the works might be played by a professional orchestra. For example, the famous solo in the finale of Brahms' Symphony No. 4 is ingrained in the mind of conductors and orchestral players at a certain fairly narrow range of tempos. To start a great deal faster than that, or slower than that, will be regarded negatively by the members of the committee. It is usually obvious which players have actually performed the works from which the excerpts are chosen. If you haven't had a chance to play the works, I would recommend that you at least listen several times to a recording or several recordings, while following the score or the flute part.
4. Again relating to tempo, one of the excerpts that almost always appears on audition lists is the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream." There are two solo passages for the flute in this movement, one at the beginning and one at the end. BOTH SHOULD BE TAKEN AT THE SAME TEMPO. There is no indication in the score that the tempo should change during the course of the movement. The passage most often asked for is the closing one. But, if you also are asked to play the beginning of the movement, it should be at the same tempo as you intend to take on the later one.
5. YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO PLAY C# IN TUNE. This is the problem that seems to most often afflict flutists. Undoubtedly, you will have to play the flute solos from Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and from Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. II. In both cases, there are multiple instances of C# in the middle of the treble clef, especially in the Debussy. Player after player will perform these solos, apparently oblivious to the fact that C# tends to be sharp on just about every flute made in the past century and a half at least. I think this problem must occur due to the fact that we learn to play on instruments on which this note is sharp, and our ears get attuned to it at a higher pitch. Eventually, the sharp C# begins to sound correct. But, realizing this fact, we have to compensate for the pitch discrepancy. On the committee might be players many instruments. Ours this week included players of the clarinet, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, and trombone. Such players won't be as aware of what the flutist faces when playing C#, and they should not be. We have to get it in tune. It was truly surprising how many players played every C# in their audition about a quarter tone sharp.
6. INTERPRETATIONS CAN'T BE TOO BIZARRE. On the one hand, you don't want to play mechanically and unmusically. However, that doesn't mean that you have to try to infuse every note with your own musical personality. We can make an interpretation "our own" by letting some of our musical instincts come through at important points in the music, but this can be overdone, so that the music seems stilted or distorted.
These suggestions are offered in the spirit of trying to be helpful. I hope some flutists will find them useful.
