Exploring Moyse’s

24 Little Melodic Studies

with Dr. Cate Hummel

• As practice manual

• For musicianship

• For articulation

• For issues of flute playing

• For phrase structure

• For dynamic control

• For inflection and hierarchy of beats

• To study elements of music making in a simpler form than regular repertoire

Why did Moyse create the 24 Little Melodies?

Put the weight on first beat regardless of where it lies in the flute range

Slur through the intervals, connect with your air

Identify the apex of the phrase, go to it and then come away

Repeated notes in the variation like a quickening of your heartbeat

• Moyse’s story was of a child playing happily, then with one friend and then many children

• Another metaphor Moyse made was of dancers stepping lightly with grace

• Make the first note of each measure a sparkling impulse through color and articulation

• Carry that impulse into the succeeding variations

• Breathe before the syncopation, i.e., before the half note

• Balancing the registers, play the first half and second half at the same volume

• Legato, blowing between the notes, fill the tube to the first vented key

• Subdivision - prepare for fast notes on the slow notes

• For phrase structure, are you coming or going?

• Lean into first beat of the measure

• For fixing rhythmic problems

• 1st variation related to Beethoven #7, Am-ster-dam (BG)

• 2nd variation — I’m HAP-py (WB)

• For practicing even articulation

• Balanced tone on every pitch

• Strong breath impulse on each note

• This melody is #1 in a minor key

• Play the melodic outline to get the expression first

• Raise the leading tones

• Keep the air going through the line, make the sound luminous

• Strong, athletic, dramatic sound and articulation in the variations

• Like the fast, tongued passages in Chant de Linos

• Pop the first note of each group in the variations

• The importance of this melody is subtle and about putting the weight on the beat

• Moyse’s “Play the music, not the flute”

• Moyse often made an analogy to a ball bouncing, with the weight and speed greatest as the ball hits the floor

• The weak parts of the beat lead to the next beat

• There is also the stress of the meter as well.

• 2+2+4 phrase structure

• Smoothness of legato through the intervals, especially over the break

• How do you lift the end of a measure and retake the repeated note at the beginning of the next measure?

• Breathing that propels the phrase rather than dispels the energy

About Moyse’s reasons for writing the 24 Little Melodic Studies

“You give the permission to me to say why I wrote this book. We have no melodies (like this). We have not enough music to learn musical language. We are not lucky about repertoire. And by this, it seems that I try to help the young people go inside the music. Somebody might say it is much better to start with Handel and Bach. I don’t think so. My opinion is this. Yes, you get immediately good substance. But your stomach is not enough strong to absorb this. It’s like you see the little baby—you should give good milk. And if the milk is too rich, the baby will vomit. But music is the same. It is much better to take something nice, open your mind little by little instead of too fast. I know the Carmen (aria) is difficult to play in the musical way. It is for that (I use) the simple melody. And I chose each melody different. I change the key because I know we have to fight (for intonation. The third one is about elegance, you will see. Each melody you learn something about musical expression.”

About phrasing (common practice period)

“You often find 2 + 2+ 4. Is a great help later, especially for Bach. Especially for the solo sonata, 1st movement—it is written absolutely like Anderson, or Anderson wrote like Bach. That is logic. If somebody takes another breathing, they break the music. Like ‘Bonjour, Monsieur Mo—yse.”

“We are here to develop what is beautiful in music.”

“Smile with your tone.”