| Note: This audition has now passed. However, the list, parts and my tips are still posted for your use. Houston Ballet Orchestra Piccolo/Third Flute audition LIST: Solos: Excerpts: DELIBES, Coppelia, Danse Automatique mm =132 BRAHMS, Variations on a theme of Haydn, Variation V mm =138 This excerpt must be very rhythmic, lightly articulated and never harsh. I single-tongue it for clarity and evenness. Give the sf weight but do not overly accent it. Make the dynamic changes very subito. I would recommend counting all of the three measures rest at H, but not the later 6 measures. Cut directly from 8 after H to the Flute I cues. Count the final 5 measures rest. STRAVINSKY, The Rite of Spring, 1 m. before 11 - 12 mm =60 This is a section that asks for one solo line to elide directly into another. The rhythm must be absolutely accurate. Keep the final notes short. STRAVINSKY, The Firebird, 14 - 21 mm =69 Known as the Firebird’s dance this excerpt requires absolutely impeccable rhythm with no variation to the tempo. In addition, play with large dynamic contrast and control. I can almost guarantee the audition committee will be counting as you play and singing (to themselves) their parts as you perform. I would count all of the measures rest in this excerpt. PROKOFIEFF, Aubade and Juliet's Death mm =72 This is a lovely little solo for piccolo accompanied by mandolins. The townspeople awaken with hope for the new day and have no idea that Juliet has taken the death potion. It is printed pp, but I would recommend playing a solo pp with good presence. This solo should be very short and lightly articulated with good direction leading to the printed accents. Be careful not to play too secco. The high b should sound inevitable! Hold the last quarter full value. mm =88 I have performed Romeo and Juliet many times and still find this melody moving and tragic. Juliet finds that Romeo is dead and knows no way out, so she takes her own life as well. The melody in the piccolo shows the innocence of the young Juliet (she was 13) juxtaposed with the depth of her love and decision to end her life. It is a true mf so play out with good expression, color and evenness in the large interval leaps. PROKOFIEFF, Cinderella, The Fairy Godmother mm =56 The piccolo should sound magical. Play p with good rhythm, but sound almost improvisatory. It would help to slightly breathe pulse the ties to give a rhythmic impulse. TCHAIKOVSKY, The Nutcracker, Chinese Dance and Mirlitons on FLUTE! mm =112 Play with good rhythm, intonation and color. The Houston Ballet sets very ornate choreography on the dancers who do flips and cartwheels balancing themselves with large poles. The actual beat is slow while the moving notes are fast. I therefore interpret the lines over the quarters and eighths as stress marks and not as the length of the notes. Play them with bounce and direction. mm =58 This is the only excerpt we are requesting on flute. I think it should be obvious what we are looking for in our audition! In the Houston Ballet presentation we play the Mirlitons directly after the Chinese dance. There is a very quick change between dances and the third flute needs to be able to play with a well-focused sound that the section can build from. Think of yourself as the leader of the flutes in this dance. Play with a bouncing staccato and direction. Don’t try too hard to make a large tone, just play focused and with good musical line. It is typical to make a ritard into B. The notes have been corrected in this excerpt and a cut has been added. TCHAIKOVSKY, The Sleeping Beauty, Singing Canaries mm =96 This variation portrays singing canaries The conductor gives a silent beat one and the piece begins on two. It must be played in one breath. If you use trill fingerings, be sure they are very even and not like two sixteenths and an eighth. Slightly shorten the last note of the triplet but don’t swallow it. The mistakes in the articulation have been corrected on this part. SIGHTREADING Excerpts: updated 3/30/02
|
||||||||||||
