The Flute Book: A Complete Guide for Students and Performers / Edition 3

by Nancy Toff

Overview

Teachers and flutists at all levels have praised Nancy Toff'sThe Flute Book, a unique one-stop guide to the flute and its music. Organized into four main parts—The Instrument, Performance, The Music, and Repertoire Catalog—the book begins with a description of the instrument and its making, offers information on choosing and caring for a flute, sketches a history of the flute, and discusses differences between members of the flute family. In the Performance section, readers learn about breathing, tone, vibrato, articulation, technique, style, performing, and recording. In the extensive analysis of flute literature that follows, Toff places individual pieces in historical context. The book ends with a comprehensive catalog of solo and chamber repertoire, and includes appendices with fingering charts as well as lists of current flute manufacturers, repair shops, sources for flute music and books, and flute clubs and related organizations worldwide. In this Third Edition, Toff has updated the book to reflect technology's advancements—like new digital recording technology and recordings' more prevalent online availability—over the last decade. She has also accounted for new scholarship on baroque literature; recent developments such as the contrabass flute, quarter-tone flute, and various manufacturing refinements and experiments; consumers' purchase prices for flutes; and a thoroughly updated repertoire catalog and appendices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195373080
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/29/2012
Series:	Oxford Musical Instrument Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	560
Sales rank:	919,413
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Nancy Toff is the author of The Development of the Modern Flute, Georges Barrère and the Flute in America, and Monarch of the Flute: The Life of Georges Barrère. Highly respected as a writer, researcher, and lecturer, she has been a consultant to the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection in the Library of Congress and the Department of Musical Instruments of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was curator of an exhibition on Georges Barrère at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. She is a past president of the New York Flute Club. Toff is the 2012 winner of the National Flute Association's National Service Award.

Table of Contents

About the Companion Website
Figures
Plates
Terminology used in this book
Preface
Acknowledgments

THE INSTRUMENT
1. The Flute Today
What Is a Flute? / Manufacturing: The State of the Art
2. How to Choose an Instrument
To Rent or To Buy / Setting Priorities / Materials / Open or Closed Holes / C or B Footjoint / Mechanical Options / Testing an Instrument
3. Care and Maintenance of the Flute
Preventive Maintenance: Assembling the Instrument / Daily Cleaning / Storage / Polishing / Replating / Lubrication / The Headjoint Cork / Mechanical Problems
4. A Brief History of the Flute
Old System Flutes / The Boehm Flute / Other Nineteenth Century Flutes / Minor Modifications to the Boehm System
5. The Flute Family
The Piccolo / The Alto Flute / The Bass Flute / The Contr'alto, Contrabass, and Subcontrabass Flutes / The Flute Choir

PERFORMANCE
6. Breathing
Posture / Inhalation / Suspension / Exhalation / The Diaphragm / Exercises / Breathing and Phrasing / Circular Breathing
7. Tone
The Acoustical Basis / Tone Production / Focus and Projection / Homogeneity of Sound / Interpretation through Tone Development / Intonation / National Styles of Flute Playing
8. Vibrato
What is Vibrato? / The History of Vibrato / The Uses of Vibrato
9. Articulation
The Bowing Analogy / Single-Tonguing / Double-Tonguing / Triple-Tonguing / Flutter-Tonguing / Tongueless Attack / Legato / Note Endings / Practice
10. Technique
Position / Practice / Fingering / Harmonics / The B-flat Thumb Key / Three Fingering Tricks
11. Style
Virtuosity and Interpretation / The Theoretical Background: Basic Musicianship / Analysis / Phrasing / Performance Practice / The Early Music Movement and Questions of Authenticity
12. Performance
Opportunities for Performance / Planning a Recital Program / Accompanists and Assisting Artists / Choosing a Recital Hall / The Printed Program / Publicity / Preparation and Rehearsal / Stage Protocol / The Entrance / Playing the Program / Memorization / Breaks between Pieces / Encores
13. Recordings
Building a Recording Collection / How to Listen / Playing Along / Making Your Own Recordings

THE MUSIC
14. The Baroque Era
Flute Versus Recorder / Musical Forms / France / Italy / England / Germany
15. The Classic Era
Musical Forms / Paris / Germany / Spain / England / Vienna
16. The Romantic Era
Music by Nonflutists / Music by Flutists
17. The Modern Era
France / Great Britain / Elsewhere in Western Europe / Eastern Europe / The United States / The Avant-Garde / The Flute and Electronics

REPERTOIRE CATALOG
Introduction
A. The Baroque Era
B. The Classic Era
C. The Romantic Era
D. The Modern Era
E. Study Materials

APPENDICES
A. Fingering Chart for the Boehm Flute
B. Flute Manufacturers
C. Repair Shops
D. Sources for Instruments and Accessories
E. Sources for Music and Books
F. Journals, Societies, and Service Organizations
G. Flute Clubs and Societies

Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"I would recommend this book to every serious flute student, and it should be required reading by every teacher." —The Flutist Quarterly

"Accessible to every audience...[A] truly encyclopedic treatment. Libraries owning earlier editions will want to add this one for its new information and the author's insights into the current state of flutes and flute playing...Essential." —Choice

Praise for the previous editions:

"An indispensable source book for flutists on every level."—The Radcliffe Quarterly

"Toff's scholarship was impressive in The Development of the Modern Flute, and her latest effort reflects the same meticulous approach....a wealth of information about a fascinating instrument."Choice

"Nancy Toff's Flute Book is an excellent work of reference that should be on every flute player's shelf...I cannot recommend it too highly."—Pan

"A flute player's and teacher's bible."—Katherine Borst Jones, Ohio State University

"The veritable vade mecum for that instrument."—Ovation

"Simply the best one-volume book on the flute available....This book is a joy to read. A flute aficianado will devour it like a novel and come back to read it regularly for inspiration as well as reference."—The Flute Network

"Absolutely indispensable to everyone connected with the flute and flute playing, from the professional to every public school teacher."—The School Musician

"A landmark in the literature of the flute and a must for both professional and amateur flutist alike."—Pan

"The last section, which includes the orchestration and publishing information of flute literature from the Baroque to the present, is worth its weight in gold—not only for the flutist, but for the music librarian as well."—Library Journal

From the Publisher