Ardal Powell: Publications

Publication details

Abstract, if any

The Virtuoso Flute-Player by Johann George Tromlitz (trans. and ed.), Cambridge University Press (1991)

The most comprehensive of the eighteenth-century flute tutors, Tromlitz's (1791) covers all aspects of flute-playing, including intonation, articulation, flute maintenance, posture and breathing, dynamics, ornaments, musical style, cadenzas, and the construction of the flute. REVIEW EXTRACTS

The Keyed Flute by Johann George Tromlitz (trans. and ed.), Clarendon Press, Oxford (1996)

A translation and study of Tromlitz's tutor for his 8-keyed flute, first published in German in 1800. An accompanying study of late 18th-century flute-making and -playing analyses extant flutes by Tromlitz and by the most important contemporary makers.
REVIEW EXTRACTS

The Flute, Yale University Press, London (2002; winner of the American Musical Instrument Society's 2005 Nicolas Bessaraboff Prize)

A new history showing how the flute, its music, and its performance technique have changed along with musical styles and performance situations, commercial and economic concerns, education, personalities, and taste over the past 800 years.
REVIEW TEXTS

The Baroque Flute Fingering Book by Margaret N. Neuhaus (ed., second edition), Hudson NY (2002)

‘Flute’—A.D. 1100 to 1800, and ‘historical revival’, ‘Dülon, Friedrich Ludwig (1769-1826)’,‘Traverso’, ‘Tromlitz, Johann George (1725-1805)’, Revised New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie (2001)

‘Flute Tutors: Records of the Methods, Taste and Practice of Earlier Times’, The Cambridge Companion to the Flute, ed. J.M. Thomson, Cambridge University Press, (forthcoming)

'Flute' and 'Fife', New Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition, ed. Don Michael Randel (2001)

‘Traversflöte’, Bachs Orchestermusik, ed. Siegbert Rampe and Dominik Sackmann, Bärenreiter, 1999 (with Michael Zapf)

Publication details

Abstract, if any

‘A Technical Database-manager for Wind-instrument Makers’, FoMRHI Quarterly 47 (April 1987), 51-53

‘Some Thoughts on the Flute and its Music in the 18th and 19th Centuries’, The Flutist Quarterly 12.2 (Spring 1987), 26-30 (with Catherine Folkers)

‘Ivory’, FoMRHI Quarterly 54 (January 1989), 58-63

‘Plastic, Ivory, Gold and South Africa’, FoMRHI Quarterly 55 (April 1989), 23-24

‘TRAVERSO Newsletter’, FoMRHI Quarterly 56 (July 1989), 41-42

‘Urgent Communication on Ivory’, FoMRHI Quarterly 54 (January 1989), 64 (with Bruce Haynes)

‘Responses to Comm. 903 on the Subject of Ivory’, FoMRHI Quarterly 56 (July 1989), 40

Traverso or Traversa?’, FoMRHI Quarterly 57 (October 1989), 19-22

‘Update on Responses to Comm. 903 on the Subject of Ivory’, FoMRHI Quarterly 57 (October 1989), 12

‘Baroque Flute Maintenance’, Pan 8.1 (March 1990), 30-31

‘Throwing Ivory Overboard’, FoMRHI Quarterly 59 (April 1990), 31-37

Reviews of Musical Instruments’, FoMRHI Quarterly 60 (July 1990), 15-17

‘A Controversial Issue’, FoMRHI Quarterly 61 (October 1990), 27-29

‘" Fixing" the Baroque Flute’, FoMRHI Quarterly 61 (October 1990), 30-32

‘Flute Chronology [1647-1800]’, TRAVERSO 2.3, 3.1, 4.1 (1992-94), reprinted as ‘Cronologia del Flauto’, Il Flautotraverso 2, 7-8 (January-April 1991), 153-60

‘The Single-minded Pursuit of Perfection’, TRAVERSO 3.3 (1991)

‘J.G. Tromlitz/J.J. Quantz’, TRAVERSO 3.3 (1991)

‘The Rottenburgh Flutes’, TRAVERSO 4.2 (1992)

A transverse flute by G.A. Rottenburgh is the most copied one-keyed flute of the 20th century. What little is known of the Rottenburgh family has been discovered by Stefaan Ottenbourgs, whose writings on the subject are summarized here, together with listings of surviving flutes by I.H. Rottenburgh and G.A. Rottenburgh.

‘Flutes in St Petersburg’, TRAVERSO 5.4 (1993)

‘Science, Technology and the Art of Flutemaking in the Eighteenth Century’, The Flutist Quarterly 19.3 (Spring 1994), 33-42

FULL TEXT ARTICLE

‘Die Eichentopf-Flöte: die älteste erhaltene vierteilige Traversflöte?’, Tibia 1/95, 343-50

A unique transverse flute by Johann Heinrich Eichentopf (1678-1769) in the Bachmuseum, Leipzig, has a strong claim to be considered one of the earlierst four-joint flutes to survive.
FULL TEXT ARTICLE in English

‘Information on Tromlitz Flutes [by J.G. Tromlitz]’, TRAVERSO 6.1 (1994)

Tromlitz explains the reasons for the difference between his flutes and others: tone and intonation; his published compositions are listed.

‘Well Under a Thousand Words for the Ivory Ban’, FoMRHI Quarterly 70 (Jan. 1993)

‘Flutes in Stockholm’, TRAVERSO 6.2 (1994)

‘Bach and the Flute: The Players, the Instruments, the Music’, Early Music 23 (1995) (with David Lasocki)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) knew flautists of all levels of ability, who used a wide variety of the diverse instruments being made during his life. Bach's flute works reflect his familiarity with the whole range of composition styles considered suitable for the flute in the period. The players Bach met are listed in Appendix 1, and the surviving flutes from his lifetime in Appendix 2. This article is available from the UnCover database.

‘The Grenser Flutes’, TRAVERSO 7.1 (1995)

Under August Grenser (1744-1796) and his nephew Heinrich (1764-1813), the Grenser woodwind workshop in Dresden became one of the most famous in Europe during the eighteenth century. The shop's output of flutes is categorized and dated.

‘An English Six-keyed Flute, circa 1755’, TRAVERSO 7.3 (1995)

A keyed flute stamped SCHUCHART/SENIOR probably made between 1753-58 appears to be the earliest extant keyed flute of the classical era.

‘Minestra di Stockport Powell’, Gourmet 40.12 (December 1995), 34

‘Les méthodes pour flûte des XVIIIe, XIXe et XXe siècles’, Traversières 18/52 (January 1996), 22-36

CURRENT FLUTE METHODS BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘The Tromlitz Flute’, Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 22 (1996), 89-109

Johann George Tromlitz (1725-1805) invented an eight- keyed flute with exceptionally even tone and intonation by combining innovations from several sources. His writings between 1781 and 1800 detail the development of his ideas; six surviving instruments illutrate them; and his tutors of 1791 and 1800 provide voluminous detail on how he intended his flutes to be played.

‘The Hotteterre Flute: Six Replicas in Search of a Myth’, Journal of the American Musicological Society 49 (1996), 225-63

Three instruments attributed to "Hotteterre" are considered the earliest baroque flutes. But two of these, once in the collection of César Charles Snoeck, prove to be copies, made at different times in the nineteenth century in La Couture-Boussey, Normandy. These, and other replicas made for the Brussels Conservatory and Dayton C. Miller collections, have fostered the growing myth of the "Hotteterre flute."
     This article is available from the UnCover database.

‘Flute Methods, 1511-1832: A Bibliography’, TRAVERSO 8.2 (1996)

Books about how to play the flute are our most important source of information on early technique and performance practice. This article is a list of them. FULL TEXT ARTICLE expanded from the printed version and covering the period 1511-present.

‘The Replica Hotteterre Flutes in Berlin and St Petersburg’, TRAVERSO 8.3 (1996)

The trail of instruments and documents that led to Ardal Powell's JAMS article on the Hotteterre flutes, and to the conclusion that two of the most famous examples were nineteenth-century copies of a lost original.

‘A Fake Grenser Flute by J.G. Otto, dated 1798’, TRAVERSO 9.1 (1997)

The methods and workmanship of 18th-century flute makers can be read as a kind of "signature" which identifies the builder as clearly as a maker's mark. In the unusual case described here, a flute falsely stamped with the name of August Grenser (1720-1807) is shown to have in fact been made by Johann George Otto (1762-1821). FULL TEXT ARTICLE (with 7 figures and 2 tables) in PDF format.

‘Colloqy [a reply to Ronald M. Laszewski’s remarks on ‘The Hotteterre Flute’]’, Journal of the American Musicological Society 50 (1997), 234-38

‘More on the Hotteterre Flute’, TRAVERSO10.2 (1998)

‘The Hexachords and the Renaissance Flute’, TRAVERSO 11.1 (1999)

‘Select Music Facsimiles from Italy’, TRAVERSO 11.3 (1999)

‘Celebrating Flute Collectors and their Collections’, TRAVERSO 12.1 (2000)

‘Bach and the Flute’, Pan 19.2 (June 2000), 22-26, reprinted in The Flutist Quarterly (August 2000) and Flute Federation of South Africa Newsletter 12.3 (November 2000)

'Mozart und die Tromlitz-Flöte', Tibia 26.3 (2001), 549-56

W.A. Mozart, J.J. Quantz, J.G. Tromlitz and other educated musicians of the 18th century relied on a tuning theory more complex and more precise than today's equal temperament. This article briefly describes a flute announced by Tromlitz in 1785 that allowed strict adherence to this system in all 24 keys. Quotations from Mozart's flute music illustrate how using the intonation practice he advocated can dramatically alter the expressive effect of his music. Full text article in an English version.

'A French encyclopedia of 1761 on the flute', TRAVERSO 14.1 (January 2002), 1-2

'Renaissance Flute Renaissance', TRAVERSO 14.4 (2002)

Report on the Renaissance Flute Days/Renaissanceflötentage, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Basel, 6-8 September 2002

'Baroque flute masterclasses', TRAVERSO 15.3 (2003)

A discussion of what is taught in baroque flute masterclasses, and how, with reports on teaching by Janet See, Wilbert Hazelzet, Barthold Kuijken, and Kim Pineda.

'Renaissance Flute Renascence', Early Music 31.1 (2003), 145-47

Report on the Renaissance Flute Days/Renaissanceflötentage, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Basel, 6-8 September 2002

'Musique de Joye', Early Music 31.4 (2003), 636-7

Report on the STIMU Renaissance flute and recorder symposium, Utrecht, 29-31 August 2003

'John Gunn's Art of Playing the German-Flute (1793)', TRAVERSO 16.2 (2004)

Summary of an important but little-known late 18th-century English flute method

‘Traces of the Late Medieval Flute in Brittany’, TRAVERSO 16.3 (2004)

A carving of 1475-94 representing a peasant flute-player in the Chapel of Notre-Dame du Loc in Saint-Avé, Morbihan, Brittany, France.

‘Better to be sharp than out of tune?’, TRAVERSO 16.4 (2004)

The physics of how pitch is related to air temperature, and the practical consequences for early flutists.

‘Before Nicholson: Origins of a Flute School in 18th-century Britain’, TRAVERSO 17.2 (2005)

An investigation of when the so-called "English flute school" began and what its early characteristics might have been.

‘Early Flute Performance in the Age of Recording’, TRAVERSO 18.2 (2006)

How the existence of recordings changed how music was heard, and some effects of these changes on the way we do historical flute performance.

‘Early Musc Performance in the Age of Recording', Early Music America Magazine 13.3 (2007): 34–38

How the existence of recordings changed how music was heard, and helped give rise to the way we do early music performance.

‘Nations and “Art Worlds”: Reframing Instrument-making Societies', Proceedings of the 27th Symposium on Musical Instrument Building, 74th Michaelstein Conference Report, Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein – Music Institute for Performance Practice, D-Michaelstein, October 2006 (Michaelstein, forthcoming, 2007)

Jeanne R. Swack, ed., Douze Solos, à Violon où Traversière,(Madison WI: A-R Editions, 1994), TRAVERSO 7.1 (January 1995), 3

Steven Zohn, ed., Georg Philipp Telemann, Twelve Trios (Madison WI: A-R Editions, 2000), TRAVERSO 13.1 (January 2001), 1-3

Tula Giannini, Great Flute Makers of France: The Lot and Godfroy Families, 1650-1900 (London: Tony Bingham, 1993), Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 23 (1997), 153-58

Johann Joachim Quantz, On Playing the Flute, 2nd ed., trans. Edward R. Reilly (Boston: Northeatern University Press, 2001), TRAVERSO 13.3 (July 2001), 9-11, reprinted in Flute Australasia (Spring-Summer 2001), 8-9

Jane Bowers, François Devienne's "Nouvelle Méthode Théorique et Pratique pour la Flute" (Aldershot and Brookfield VT: Ashgate, 1999), Rien de Reede, Die Flöte in der "Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung" (Amsterdam: Broekmans & Van Poppel, 1997), TRAVERSO 13.1 (January), 1-3

Rachel Brown, The Early Flute (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), TRAVERSO 15.2 (2003) 5-7

Claudio Paradiso, ed., Il flauto in Italia, (Rome: Libreria dello Stato: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 2005), TRAVERSO 18.1 (2006), 1-3

Edward Blakeman, Taffanel: Genius of the Flute (Oxford University
Press, 2005); Nancy Toff, Monarch of the Flute: The Life of Georges Barrère (Oxford University Press, 2005), TRAVERSO 19.1 (2006), 1-3

David Lasocki, ed., Musicque de Joye: Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Renaissance Flute and Recorder Consort, Utrecht 2003 (Utrecht: STIMU Foundation for Historical Performance Practice, 2005)], TRAVERSO 19.2 (April 2007): 5–7

Federico Maria Sardelli, trans. Michael Talbot, Vivaldi's Music for Flute and Recorder (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), Early Music (forthcoming)

Rob van Acht, Jan Bouterse, and Vincent van Ende, Niederländische Traversos und Klarinetten des 18. Jahrhunderts/Dutch Traversos and Clarinets of the 18 th Century, Collection Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (Bergkirchen: Edition Bochinsky, 2004), Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society (forthcoming)

www.flutehistory.com, companion site to The Flute (Yale University Press, 2002) and CD compilation The Flute on Record, 1902-1940

www.baroqueflute.com  Folkers & Powell, Makers of Historical Flutes

www.pendragonpress.com Pendragon Press

TRAVERSO, Historical Flute Newsletter, 1984- http://traverso.baroqueflute.com

'The Virtuoso Flute-Player by Johann George Tromlitz', National Flute Association, Los Angeles CA, 20 August 1992; British Flute Society convention, London, 4 September1992

'One of These Things is Not Like the Others: Identifying Forgeries and Copies of Eighteenth-century Flutes', American Musical Instrment Society, Washington DC, May 1997

'The Hole in the Middle: Transverse Flute Bores in the late 17th and early 18th Centuries', American Musical Instrment Society, Elkhart IN, 20 May 1994

'Powerful Tone and Perfect Intonation: Tromlitz and his "Superlative Instrument"', National Flute Association, Phoenix AZ, 13 August 1998

'The Flutes of Johann George Tromlitz', American Musical Instrment Society, Salt Lake City UT, 20 May 1995

'Military Flutes of the Sixteenth Century', American Musical Instrment Society, Poughkeepsie NY, June 1999

'Everything you Always Wanted to Know about the Origins of the Keyed Flute, 1760-1805', National Flute Association, Orlando FL, 17 August 1995

'Interpreting Bach's Flute Sonatas in the 20th Century, and the 21st', National Flute Association, Columbus OH, August 2000; also at Dutch Flute Society meeting, Amsterdam, March 2002 (both invited)

'The Tromlitz Flute', Flanders Festival Brugge, 2 August 1996; also at Rencontres Internationales de Musique Ancienne, Paris, November 1996

'Long Military Flutes of the 16th Century', Renaissance Flute Days, Basel, Switzerland, September 2002 (invited)

'Bottoms up: How the basso continuo shapes baroque flute music through genre, phrase, and emphasis' British Flute Society Convention, York, 20 August 2004 (invited)

‘Performance Practice Studies: Where They Are Going and What Teachers Need to Know’, National Flute Association Convention, San Diego, 11 August 2005 (invited)

'Change Lays Not Her Hand: Organology and the Museum', Joint Meeting, American Musical Instrument Society, Galpin Society, CIMCIM, Vermillion, SD, May 2006

'Nations and "Art Worlds": Reframing Instrument-making Societies', 27th Symposium on Musical Instrument Building, Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein - Music Institute for Performance Practice, D-Michaelstein, October, 2006 (invited)

'Performing English Taste: Charles Nicholson's ‘Gothick' Style', Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts, Gothenburg University, 19 February 2007 (invited)