1:00 The ultimate renaissance traversa scholar is Philippe Allain-Dupré. He proved the 4‘ register of the traversa in his book Les flûtes de Claude Rafi, at Fuzeau 1999.
Isn’t the tenor flute very close to the voice, perhaps more so than an alto recorder? Wouldn’t it make sense that if the cantus was sung, the counterpoint of the flute would be happening above it, further distinguishing itself from the human voice?
Thanks David. We also love this combination of the tenor voice sung in the 4ft range with the flutes. It works so easily! By the way, the tenor voice is the only part texted in the Augsburg source for this chanson--even more inspiration to try it out in this version.
In my practical sense, maybe the repertoire of the time didn't like writing above outside the staff with ledger but still demanded the characteristic of the renaissance flute what is sounded at higher pitch. Even the recorder instrument is not notated to how it sounds. Not like I ever played early music though. If the line is expected to be doubled by the instrument then it would be 'economical' to share parts without writing each individual part out for each player. Why write out doubled parts when you can have musicians perceive and perform them with their judgment? You can take any excerpt and play above or below the line. This is called counterpoint however octaves are way easier to learn and double. In fact, it is required that a good musician has this feat as well as understanding clefs and intervals.
Loved the music and historical background that you provided! Is there any way to access your sheet music and could it be transposed for the modern C concert flute? Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication!
It wouldn't work on the modern flute, though, as the renaissance traverso has certain nuances (temperament, pitch) that can't be replicated on a modern instrument. In a renaissance consort (three tenor flutes in d' and a bass in g) they have different roles. The first one plays the highest register while the third one plays the normal tenor line. The modern flute is basically modelled after the tenor flute, but nowadays functions as a soprano. The modern alto would be the bass in reality, and the modern bass, a contrabass.
So in other words, the flute is being played an octave higher than the written music? This is something we often do with treble (alto) recorder when playing renaissance music.
What you say reminds me of the cornetto: for me it is so hard to start a low note but could start any high note as I please. I could approach a low note within a phrase but not start it, after playing higher notes. This made me remark that the low notes of the cornetto’s first octave are not used often…
Hi Andreas, we would love to offer some recordings of that in the future! For now, we are working on the edits of our upcoming CD with flute consort and voice. This will be an idea to look into for future content. Thanks for the suggestion.
