Pan - Johannes Donjon

A famous Pastorale for flute by Johannes Donjon (1839-1912). Enjoy.

Self-evaluation and tips:
I'd say make sure you have your phrases down - know where they begin and end, and get PLENTY of breath. I can hear that I needed breath for the section around 2:40 because by the time I get to 2:47, my sound just falls out. (A faster tempo might have helped with this). Adequate breath support means a full, beautiful sound on those higher notes. I lot of younger players tense up for high notes, which is a BIG mistake. Work your teacher on relaxing your throat, and just letting the air flow.

Make sure your cadenzas are nice and clean, too, because they sound great when done right, and lousy when they aren't. The one around 1:50 is sloppier than I would have liked.

There's a couple of spots throughout that I can hear I didn't really have my mouth set for the correct octave and the notes 'crack' (that ending note was so painful for me to leave the piece at, but it was what it was. I probably could have left it down the octave if I was thinking on my feet at that recital). This was probably a result of poor breath support, a dry mouth, and a sweaty lower lip. While this was an incredible auditorium to play at, it was pretty hot out that day.

1:05 to 1:31 should be all about building dynamics and shaping the phrase. Play around with that section to make it exciting.

I'm not sure if it's standard issue for this piece, but there are alternative fingerings for some of the trills from 1:31 to 1:41. Ask your teacher about those if you don't already know.

Crisp (not airy, but not harsh) attacks on notes like the one at 2:04 make the song really cool, so work on those, too.

I don't know how much experience you have and what you know already or don't, but for me, playing in front of other flutists (you don't play the flaute, so you're not a flautist) is my toughest crowd. Especially if they know your piece (something as common as Pan is massively studied), I always see my peers picking apart any mistakes I make. Parents are so easily impressed that your worst songs will usually put a smile right on their faces, haha.

I hope that helps you out. Don't hesitate to ask me anything else!

PS. If you get the chance, check out Le Chant du Vent...Song of the Wind! It's another Donjon song, actually. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nWaaEyeZf0&fmt=18 ). It sounds like a tough piece, and surely, if you ramp up the speed it can be, but it's just simple technique. Maybe I'll start working on that again, maybe I'll post a video? Mine might be a bit under-tempo. I haven't played since this recital, I'm sorry to say.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• pastorale
• johannes
• donjon
• flute
• solo
• Pan
• recital
• linda
• mcclusky
• emma
• willard
• school
• troy
• ny
• 2009

[donnadymond]

Have your teacher show you a few tricks about how to prevent the final E from cracking. Adding the second trill key to the regular E fingering is one way.

[t3hAlien]

@donnadymond Thanks! I'll try to keep that in mind. I've been out of practice since I posted this, though. :/

[Tpiccolo1]

you're a little sharp, but it's subtle enough not many notice

I feel like there are some things you could have done musically better. In the edition I have, I have the reprise of the main melody and "piu mosso" and I think that every time you have a repeating figure, you should do something a little different with it. I feel like you could have been more dynamically expressive too. But you know it still was pretty great.

[t3hAlien]

@Tpiccolo1 Hey, thanks a lot! I can't blame it all on the weather, but I think I sweaty embouchure definitely takes a lot away from the artistry. :P

[mschilicheesefries]

Ok thanks! I was just wondering because i was given a book of flute solo by my grandfather, the late Keith gates. I'm learning all of the pieces in the bookbecause I'm sure he would've wanted me to. He was a composer. He did a lot of flute/piano pieces. And I just wanted to know how long you were working on it etc. Thanks for answering my questions :)

[t3hAlien]

@mschilicheesefries Very interesting. Thank you for making me aware of that name.

[princessf4ce]

lovely

[avatar347]

Im playing this for my 8th grade solo and ensemble this year, it really is a beautiul piece. Its pretty easy actually, ive only had it for 3 days and i at least know how to play it well, but my dynamics need some work still. I play along with this all the time to keep tempo thanks for posting this! :)

[YoungFlutest]

@t3hAlien I think to prevent E from cracking you can play it without pinky :) Good job :D

[t3hAlien]

@mschilicheesefries I was in 12th grade there and I had been playing since sixth, so I suppose about six years. It took me a month or so to work over this piece (I had been assigned it before as solo literature practice for my private teacher). At this point, I was moving away from my instrument before I went to college. This was an easy piece for a sixth year student, but I didn't want to do anything more technical for my end-of-the-year recital. Sadly, I had "better" things to do. :(

[mschilicheesefries]

Nice! I'm sure I would've cracked at that high note as well, it's difficult to make it sound good. But I have a few questions if you wouldn't mind answering them. How long have you been playing flute, and how long did you work on this piece before you played at the recital?

[t3hAlien]

@fluteyhorse If you can touch it and hang on it, it's a beautiful ending. I cringe when I listen to myself miss that last note now. It can really make or break the performance.