The Virtuoso Flute-Player

Johann George Tromlitz's Ausführlicher und gründlicher Unterricht die Flöte zu spielen, published in Leipzig in 1791, is a work of both theoretical and practical importance whose value is just becoming recognised by scholars and performers exploring musical practices of the late eighteenth century.

Until recently, relatively little study had been done on the flute and fluteplaying between the publication in 1752 of Johann Joachim Quantz's Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen and the first appearance of the fully chromatic flute designed by Theobald Boehm (c. 1832). Many of the tutors that appeared between 1760 and c. 1790 consisted mainly of elementary principles of flute-playing, or were paraphrases of Quantz and other earlier works. Our understanding and knowledge of late eighteenth-century performance practice is increased in Tromlitz's Unterricht, whose contents include much valuable information on flute-playing in the second half of the eighteenth century and on musical practice in general. Its fifteen comprehensive chapters explore topics ranging from elementary principles of flute-playing and particular advice on flute maintenance to thorough discussions of articulation, phrasing, breathing, ornamentation, improvised cadenzas and discretionary ornaments.

Tromlitz takes as his model Quantz's Versuch and elaborates on it. Tromlitz's indebtedness to the earlier authority is evident in the organisation and contents of the Unterricht. He limits his material to that found in Quantz's first sixteen chapters, those pertaining specifically to the flute, and does not address musical matters of a broader nature, such as the role of accompanying instruments, or musical forms and styles.