Instrument Exhibit: Amanda Markwick, Renaissance Flute

[@duffypoindexter8684]

I have little interest in the modern flute, but this is heaven. Thank you for this wonderful introduction to the instrument!

[@garifhimself9987]

I like this instrument's sound more than of these modern metal versions.

[@osmarferreira6821]

There is an baroque flute too, and it have a nice melody

[@victotronics]

The sound of the instrument and the fact that she plays without that gdawful vibrato that modern flutists have.

[@zingingcutie2364]

That bass flute is so cool

[@organman77]

Wonderful! I enjoy playing renaissance music on the "Irish flute"

[@gringochucha]

Wonderful. I just bought the book "The Renaissance Flute : A Contemporary Guide" that Amanda co-authored with Kate Clark.

[@amandamarkwick]

Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy it!

[@victotronics]

I need to get that one. Thanks for the pointer.

[@agustinamichati3740]

lo mas hermoso que escuche en mi vida

[@amandamarkwick]

Thank you, Agustina!

[@barbarakallaur1443]

Congratulations, Amanda! So lovely to hear and see you!

[@amandamarkwick]

Thanks, Barbara!

[@baroquefiddler]

A wonderful video, gorgeous playing, Amanda! Thanks so much for this! The kids liked it, too! 😃

[@mundusmamon5834]

Incredible!

[@stavrosk.2868]

Endlessly inspiring. You say it ALL , with one note.

[@Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan]

Cool, Merry Christmas

[@mjvielle]

such a well-paced mini-lesson on this deep subject! interesting to see the distinction Attaingnant makes between recorder & transverse which I always wondered about. they were soo attuned to the variety of sounds & textures back then. now it's just 'flute' 😆

[@Alberad08]

Thank you for sharing! Very much liked Amanda's take on Bassano's Ricercata Quinta, coming along like a 'dialogue with silence'.

[@amandamarkwick]

Thanks so much!

[@lonnieke]

beautiful sound

[@araguet]

a wonderful and very musical class about this magical flutes, very nice the parts with a little reverberation, it makes more ethereal. outstanding tuning!! thank you very much. saludos desde Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[@amandamarkwick]

Thanks, Ariel. Yes, the acoustics in the Kirche am Lietzensee are really wonderful. Glad I could record some parts in there.

[@emtokyo]

Thank you Amanda for your wonderful performance of Ricercata Quinta by Giovanni Bassano. It is very very instructive and helpful for my practice of this music. I am practicing this by corentt in g and I like this music very much. As I am an amateur player so phrasing is very difficult. I think I will watch this video when I have some questions. Thank you again. I will be pleased to see you even in this video. From Japan Minoru Takahashi

[@ensembleeloquentia]

Thank you, Minoru, for your kind comment! I hope you have been having fun with these wonderful pieces by Bassano. :)

[@CassandraSciortinoMargareta]

wonderful

[@g_pastures5977]

I have chills! Lovely explanation and performance.

[@amandamarkwick]

Aww, sweet. Thanks so much for watching!

[@percyvolnar8010]

oMG, that book at the end of the video. I saw the words KATE CLARK and i realized you, Amanda are the REAL DEAL!

[@amandamarkwick]

Kate Clark is indeed amazing, and I am very lucky to have studied with her, and now be her colleague!

[@percyvolnar8010]

@@amandamarkwick Kate is absolutely charming!

[@victotronics]

Lovely playing. Who says you need vibrato? Or keys.

[@fionnoha]

Love seeing this! I've just been loaned a lovely tenor flute to play around with and this is done great background to start with. I'll just play through all my vocal music for now

[@limerickearlymusic]

Thanks Fionn! Keep in touch with us about future events, especially those relating to Early flutes. If you wish, we can put you in contact with Amanda as well! Happy new year to you.

[@amandamarkwick]

That's a perfect place to get started, Fionn!

[@pollyon]

wonder where i can get one

[@BollywoodBrass22]

Thank you for this video. Where would I be able to find a good maker of these types of flute?

[@amandamarkwick]

There are many great makers! I use flutes by Giovanni Tardino and Martin Wenner. I can also recommend Thijs van Baarsel and Boaz Berney.

[@maxravenous8277]

Are Renaissance flutes straight bore? Some of these look slightly conical but maybe that's just an exterior taper?

[@bellaolschewski1879]

where would someone even go to buy any of these flutes

[@amandamarkwick]

You can order directly from the makers, or consider visiting an early music market at one of the bigger early music festivals, like the Utrecht Early Music Festival held each year in August/September. I use flutes by Giovanni Tardino and Martin Wenner, and I have good experiences with flutes by Thijs van Baarsel and Boaz Berney, too!

[@RosssRoyce]

These sound very nice! I play the baroque and as much as I like like the more liquid, fluid quality to its sound, compared to the Renaissance the conical sounds a little like …a frigging ocarina 😆.

[@amandamarkwick]

hahaha!!

[@allangarcia5886]

I am wondering if renaissance flute have limitations over decorative embellishments and key ranges. Are there alternate fingerings so that you can quickly access nearby notes? I see that diminutions and trills are needed what is demanded of its' time but as repertoire developed more complex, so did the craftmanship of the flute family with more key ranges and ornamental flexibility.

[@amandamarkwick]

Renaissance flutes play best in untransposed modes--that is, anything with either nothing in the "key" signature, or with just one flat. I am not sure I fully understand the question about alternate fingerings to quickly access nearby notes, but adding embellishments with the standard fingerings usually works just fine. I sometimes use an alternate fingering here and there, but on a case-by-case basis. I would not say that there are limitations to what the flute can do, in terms of embellishments that are appropriate to the music of the time.

[@nelsonlombana926]

Wonderful and clear explanation. Could you recomend to me, where to buy a good and not too much expensive flutes? Now I am focused and playing baroque music in recorder flutes, but for renaissance music my preferences is the tenor and may be the bass, just as you say, depending what I might eventually play. Thank you for your help.

[@amandamarkwick]

Hi Nelson, there are many great makers out there. For builders in Europe: I have played and can recommend flutes by Giovanni Tardino (Switzerland), Martin Wenner (Germany), and Simon Polak (the Netherlands). I have heard that Philippe Allain-Dupré's instruments are nice as well, I just haven't tried them yet. In North America (Canada), I can recommend Boaz Berney's flutes. There are surely many other makers out there, too, so if you aren't in Europe or North America, you could contact some traverso builders in your part of the world, and see if they copy Renaissance flutes, or if they know anyone who does. Hope that helps!

[@bellamusica8126]

Beau son mais où puis-je essayer cette flûte en France vers Paris ? Quel sont les bois possibles pour cette flûte ? Et quel est son prix svp ? Thanks for your answer.

[@amandamarkwick]

Merci for your message! If you are ever a bit further south, Thijs van Baarsel is in Bellegarde sur Valserine, and Giovanni Tardino is in Basel. Otherwise, you might consider visiting the Utrecht Early Music Festival in August/September, where many makers show their instruments at the early music market. You can expect to pay between 800-1300 Euros for a flute, depending on the maker and the wood. I use flutes in boxwood, maple, and plum, all very common woods to use for Renaissance flutes.

[@schleyguy5118]

Where can one purchase such a flute?

[@amandamarkwick]

There are many great flute makers out there: I use flutes by Giovanni Tardino and Martin Wenner, and I also have enjoyed playing flutes by Thijs van Baarsel and Boaz Berney. Hope that gets you started!

[@RosssRoyce]

Lovely playing, just heard the end piece! So they call in this paper the flute “German flute”? And the recorder “flute with 9 holes”?

[@amandamarkwick]

Yes, that is correct

[@1015SaturdayNight]

Do you think renaissance flute would feel like a very wide grip for someone used to C Boehm flute?

[@curtvaughan2836]

I personally am challenged by the spacing of the holes on the tenor Renaissance flute, having played both modern Boehm system and Baroque flutes (and briefly, some 35 years ago, tenor and bass Renaissance flutes). After some 30 years of playing flute, I stopped playing about 25 years ago (I'm 70 now), and now that I'm retired, am taking up flute again. I have tried playing the tenor Ren. flute, and I find the stretch, particularly of the left hand, quite painful. That may be a consequence of my age, with less flexibility. I have also bought a Baroque flute (Rottenburgh model), and find it much more comfortable to cover all holes and make music. Perhaps it is a faulty Ren. flute which I bought, but that's just my experience. Amanda obviously plays the instrument with aplomb.

[@amandamarkwick]

Yes, it does take some time to get used to the stretch, if you are coming from the Boehm flute.

[@lonnieke]

I wish I could buy one but I'm poor :)

[@stavrosk.2868]

I prefer (next to the modern flute) the renaissance flute above the baroque flute which always sound woolly and a bit "off".

[@menoftheclothKTOG]

Is this the flute that became the irish wooden flute?

[@MsAraAra]

Не совсем. Ирландская флейта происходит от до-Бёмовских английских флейт 19 века. Это конические флейты с довольно крупными игровыми отверстиями. Ренессансные флейты - цилиндрические, с маленькими игровыми отверстиями, с относительно толстыми стенками. Их звук более тихий и мягкий, чем у более поздних флейт.

[@menoftheclothKTOG]

@@MsAraAra I can't read that language. Could you say type it in English? I am interested in seeing your answer.

[@MsAraAra]

@@menoftheclothKTOG Oh, I'm sorry. Irish flute is descended from 19th century pre-Boehm English flutes. These are conical flutes with large playing holes. They had 2 to 8 keys, but irish folk musicians removed them. There were many varieties of such flutes, but now this variety is reduced to a few main types of Irish flutes (like _Pratten_ and _Rudall_and_Rose_) Renaissance flutes are cylindrical, with small playing holes and small embouchure, and relatively thick walls. Their sound is quieter and softer than that of 19th century flutes. However, we must remember that the timbre of the flute always depends very much on the individual technique of the flutist. You can play softly and gently on the Irish flute, although it is not in the tradition of Irish folk music. However, you are unlikely to get a powerful and resonant "Irish" sound on a Renaissance flute.

[@menoftheclothKTOG]

@@MsAraAra Wow! If you only knew how long I have wondered about this and never have heard an answer. Thank you so much.

[@danyelnicholas]

There are in fact a couple of original 16th cent. rooms extant today in which such flutes would have been played. They are mostly very small and wood panelled or (as in Chambord) heavily hung with drapery. It seems to me that the predilection for unreasonably 'wet' acoustics by most Early Music practitioners in spite of evidence to the contrary for early chamber music stems from an insecurity regarding sound production. Like putting on excessive make up for a film scene where you play a young peasant girl.

[@amandamarkwick]

Hi Danyel, thanks for your comment. It would indeed be lovely to play in an original 16th-century room with wood panelling! In this particular case, my choice was not about insecurity of sound...I am afraid the choice was much more practical: somewhere in town where I had a contact, that was available on the day I could manage to make the recording, and that was relatively quiet. Hope you enjoyed parts of the recording nonetheless! :)

[@danyelnicholas]

@@amandamarkwick Hi Amanda, thank you for taking the time to reply to my criticism. I was referring to the Bassano. You are saying there is no artificial reverb on that? Why is the sound and setting so utterly different in the other demonstrations, which I think are not only interesting and correct but also sound right (even though your studio is not a 'period' room)? Unfortunately the Bassano pieces sound quite alien and cold to me. I think intimacy is an essential feature of that music.

[@amandamarkwick]

@@danyelnicholas Hi Danyel, thanks for your message. Indeed, there is no artificial reverb on the recordings here--the Bassano was recorded in a church in Berlin, whereas the talking bits were recorded in a corner of a tiny kitchen (ca. 6 square meters), thus the differences in acoustics. The change in acoustics didn't bother me, but I can see how it might be jarring, now that you point it out. It is something I will certainly take into consideration in future online presentations. Regarding your comment about "sound right," I am not convinced that there is an absolute to what an instrument or music should sound like, in terms of space. These flutes would have been played in many different contexts and in many different rooms, such as the beautiful wood paneled spaces you mentioned earlier to big halls and theaters, and even outside. Just like today, in fact! Obviously some spaces are more appropriate than others. My 6 square meter kitchen gave essentially nothing back to me, in terms of acoustics, and indeed it felt way too cramped in there, so I would never choose to record anything more than a quick demonstration there. Same with playing outside. But I found the acoustics in the church to be absolutely exciting. All corners of the room resonated with the flute's sound, the tones buoyed in the space so that I also felt I could play with the dynamics in a new way. Would I record an entire CD of Bassano ricercares in there? Probably not--for that, I want the wood-paneled room you mentioned! I would suggest that finding the Bassano pieces "alien and cold" probably has less to do with acoustics and more to do with the compositions themselves. Ricercares can be thought of as warm-ups, ways to explore the mode or some technical aspect--they aren't necessarily designed to pull at the heartstrings with gorgeous melodies. In this recording, I tried to enliven the gestures and phrases, and I would say that the acoustics of the church didn't hamper that, though I did accommodate sometimes by holding out some notes to let the sound dissipate before moving to the next phrase. Hope that helps clarify!

[@MacKenziePoet]

But don't you have to have exceptional, athletic lungs even to think of playing such an instrument? How many people were actually able to play this flute during the Renaissance? Probably not very many...

[@luiseduardorangelbeltran5102]

i whant a flut,

[@stavrosk.2868]

Renaissance flute sounds pure and true unlike the somewhat muddled woolly baroque traverso.