Ewa Gubiec Graduate from the Grażyna and Kiejstut Academy of Music in Łódź

THE ART OF PRELUDING ON THE FLUTE IN THE 18TH CENTURY IN FRANCE 1

Introduction

A prelude (French prélude; German Vorspiel; Spanish preludio; Latin praeludium, praeam-
bulum)2 is a very widely used term, which is first of all associated with a music genre of
an unspecified form. However, for a better understanding of this article, it is necessary to refer
to the etymology of the word “prelude”. The part ludus (or Spiel) means “play”, which points
to the connection with instrumental music, whereas the verbs préluder (French) and prälu-
dieren (German) mean “to improvise”, “to try” and “to warm up”. The term praeambulum
also has a rhetorical meaning – it is connected with attracting the audiences’ attention and
introducing the subject3. Hence, the word “prelude” itself reveals its initial role, i.e., to prepare
a listener for a music piece that is to follow and to prepare a musician to perform it.

There were two basic types of preludes in music in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first
type was a part of a music piece (written by a composer) at its very beginning, with a diver-
sified construction (e.g. prélude in French suites or prelude to a fugue in German music).
The second type was a short music introduction to the key and character of a piece, impro-
vised by a musician during a performance4. The subject of this article is the second type
of prelude proving a performer’s improvisation skills.

The practice of preluding of music pieces was common in the Baroque period, and then
also in the Classicism and the Romanticism. However, very few modern performers of music
from the above mentioned periods return to this tradition, which raises numerous research
questions: What was the role of improvised preludes in each period? How were they con-
structed? Were there any specific rules or “composition patterns” for improvised preludes?
Was and – if so – how was their style changed and what factors shaped these potential
changes? And finally, is this practice worth returning to if we consider our current know-
ledge, instruments and concert conditions?

In order to find answers to the questions mentioned above, in the article I shall try to
discuss the rules of improvised prelude creating on the basis of the included descriptions
and my own analysis of music examples taken from French treatises from the 18th century.
My analysis is limited only to the treatises issued in France as this country was the main
centre where theoretical texts on preluding on wind instruments were written in the period

1
The article was compiled on the basis of the diploma thesis written under the supervision of dr hab.
Magdalena Pilch, defended in 2016 at the Grażyna and Kiejstut Academy of Music in Łódź.
2
H. Ferguson, Prelude, entry in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 15, ed. S. Sadie,
London–New York 1980, p. 210.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid., also cf. J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder sur la Flûte Traversiere, Sur la Flûte-a-bec, Sur le Haubois
et autre Instruments de Dessus, Paris 1719, p. 1 and T. Bordet, Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre la Musique,
Paris c.1755, p. 15. All French titles of the treatises used in this article were written in original spelling.

49
I focus on. Moreover, that practice in France went beyond the time frames of the Baroque era,
which enables the comparison of styles of improvised preludes in flute music from the late
Baroque to the second half of the 18th century.

Apart from the treatises, in my observations I also refer to the definitions taken from 18th
century music dictionaries and the conclusions and historical information included in sparse
publications on the subject. There are two significant English-language publications on the art
of preluding – the book by Betty Bang Mather and David Lasocki entitled The Art of Preluding
1700-1830 for Flutists, Oboists, Clarinettists and Other Performers5 and the article by Maria
Bania called The improvisation of preludes on melody instruments in the 18th century 6. There
are no Polish-language sources on the subject. The first of the mentioned publications is a sort
of a modern textbook teaching how to improvise preludes and including examples selected
by its authors. It also presents the styles of preludes in separate periods but does not group
them into the centres they were written in. Both mentioned publications touch on the art
of preluding on various melodic instruments and are also based on treatises not referring to
the flute, and at the same time they do not mention certain sources devoted to this instrument.

The article presents the art of preluding in a chronological order. Its first part describes
the principles of prelude improvisation in the first half of the 18th century, paying special
attention to the theoretical treatise entitled L’art de Preluder by J. M. Hotteterre 7. The second
part is focused on the second half of the 18th century and it touches on the changes which took
place at that time in the style and the role of improvised preludes.

Affect and melodiousness – preludes as an introduction to the character of mature

Baroque pieces

The tradition of preluding is an old one and it dates back at least to the Middle Ages. It origi-
nates from the custom of instrument tuning by singers who accompanied themselves on
the harp. Instrument tuning in their case smoothly turned into improvised preludes to a song
which was to follow and it took place even if the instrument had been tuned beforehand8.
In Italian Renaissance lute music, there were similar types of improvisation called tastar
de corde (literally ‘trying’, ‘touching the chords’) or fantasia, in which artists used the fingering
and chords from the ricercar which came afterwards9. In the 17th century in Italy and Germany
occurred genres such as intonazione, intrada, toccata, ricercare and praeludium, which were
performed freely (as a free introduction) despite their measured rhythmic notation. In France,
the development of polyphonic organ preludes which occurred as early as in the Renaissance

5
B. B. Mather, D. Lasocki, The Art of Preluding 1700–1830 for Flutists, Oboists, Clarinettists and Other Per-
formers, New York 1984, reissue, 2010.
6
M. Bania, The improvisation of preludes on melody instruments in the 18th century, “The Consort” 2014,
Vol. 70, p. 67–92.
7
J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder sur la Flûte Traversiere, Sur la Flûte-a-bec, Sur le Haubois et autre Instru-
ments de Dessus, Paris 1719.
8
M. Bania, op. cit., p. 67–68
9
Ibid., p. 68–69.

50
was continued on the one hand, but on the other hand, in the 17th century, the development
of a prelude as a genre connected particularly with the lute could be noticed there. In the 1620s
and 1630s, there were experiments and changes in the ways of lute tuning10, and preluding
before a piece particularly allowed a musician to familiarise himself with the intervals be-
tween the courses of strings of a given instrument. It was at that time when the first examples
of semi-measured preludes for the lute appeared, which possibly had a significant influence
on later solo non-measured and partly rhythmised preludes for the lute, viola or harpsichord.
The beginning of the tradition of placing preludes as the first part of dance suites can be no-
ticed in the same period11.

La veritable maniere d’apprendre a jouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la flute et du

flageolet by Jean-Pierre Freillon-Poncein

Chronologically, the first source referring to the topic of this article is La veritable maniere
d’apprendre a jouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la flute et du flageolet”12 by Jean-Pierre
Freillon-Poncein13, published in 1700 in Paris and addressed first of all to persons learning
music without the help of a master. The conclusion based on its text is that even though what
the author had primarily in mind was the recorder, all preludes could be transposed for other
instruments if needed.

Freillon-Poncein introduces readers with the basic rules of music, the purely technical as-
pects of playing the three instruments mentioned in the title of the treatise. He also presents
the types of metre and cadences, as well as the principles of composition and preluding.

The role of prelude is introducing the key of a music piece and it should be improvised
by a performer. Detailed rules regarding its tempo, character and duration cannot be specified

10
In that period, composers started experimenting with some accords nouveaux, first on the 10- , and then
also on the 11- and 12-course lute. Courses 1–6 were tuned in different ways, the remaining low courses
were usually tuned diatonically. Unlike vieil ton, in which the interval was always two octaves, in new tuning
systems this interval was different depending on the type of tuning, but it was always less than two octaves.
The changes also occurred in the remaining courses. The way of tuning could be adjusted to the key of a piece
(which influenced the grouping of pieces in one key, leading to the creation of a suite). The changes caused
an increase in resonance and facilitated the fingering for the left hand, but they limited the range of possible
keys. Experiments in lute tuning lasted at least to circa 1670s. Pieces preserved to this day exemplify about
20 ways of tuning, but only the most convenient ones were most widely used, one of them was the most
typical tuning in D minor; cf. K. Wachsmann et al., Lute, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online,
Oxford  University  Press,  [online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/
40074pg5  [access: 16.12.2015].
11
D. Ledbetter, H. Ferguson, Prelude, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford University
Press,  [online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/43302  [access:  
5.11.2015] and H. Ferguson, Prelude, entry in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 15,
ed. S. Sadie, London-New York 1980, p. 210–212.
12
J. P. Freillon-Poncein, La veritable maniere d’apprendre a jouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la flute et du
flageolet, Paris 1700.
13
Freillon-Poncein was a composer and probably a substitute oboist (fr. prévost des hautbois) at the Grand
écurie band on the French court; cf. D.Lasocki, Freillon-Poncein Jean-Pierre, entry in: Grove Music Online.
Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, [online] http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/
article/grove/music/40819 [access: 5.11.2015].

51
as they depend on the imagination of the performer. Freillon-Poncein also writes about the
measure freedom (French à mesure interrompuë), which can be understood as a suggestion
of a less strict attitude towards rhythmic notation despite time signatures and bar lines
in examples of preludes. The treatise also touches on the problem of modulation: according
to Freillon-Poncein one can go through all kinds of keys provided that he does it in a skilful
and ear-friendly manner. Each prelude must, however, start with one of the basic pitches
of a given key (elements of the tonic chord), in which one intends to play. The conclusion
of the first chapter is that these are the pitches on the first (finale), third (mediante) and fifth
scale degrees (dominante). A prelude should also end on one of them, preferably on the tonic
(finale). The examples of preludes given in the treatise are aimed at helping the learners
to acquire improvisation skills if they were not born with them. The length of these preludes
as well as the sophisticated intervals used make them technically difficult, which was the
author’s intention because their character was meant as educational.

Preludes by Freillon-Poncein are divided into three groups: preludes for oboe, preludes
for recorder and other preludes which are good for beginners. Among the oboe ones there
are seven preludes in major keys (G, A, B, C, D, E, F) and seven in minor keys (two in G minor,
one each in A minor, B minor, C minor, D minor and E minor). The number and musical keys
of examples of major key preludes for flute are the same as in case of oboe preludes, and as
for minor keys, the author of the treatise gives one example of each from G minor to F minor
(G, A, B, C, D, E, F). Some keys are rarely used and hence they are technically difficult, according
to their etude-like character.

Among the twelve preludes for beginners, ten are in major (C, G, D, A, F, B♭), and two
in minor keys (C, A). The first four preludes are much shorter than the remaining ones,
which would confirm that they were intended for a beginner performer. As the author noted
in the introduction, there are no rules as for their length, so they can serve as a model of
an improvised prelude for present day performers, especially for less skilled or less inventive
persons. Ten in twelve examples stay within in the range of the flute and the used keys are
quite convenient, so they can be treated as practice material for the flute.

The analysis of the provided examples allows for coming up with some general conclu-
sions. Most preludes are in a duple metre (C, 2 and ₵), mainly metre 2. In another chapter14,
where explanations of each time signature are given, Freillon-Poncein differentiates two types
of two-beat measures: metre 2 measured by two minims with a solemn and grave character
(French grave) and a slightly faster ₵ metre measured the same way. Only a few preludes are
in a triple metre 3, measured in the minuet tempo, which, according to the author, is faster
than 3/4 but slower than 3/8. Examples given by Freillon-Poncein have no tempo or charac-
ter specifications. Preludes start either with a pick-up measure (sometimes the allemande
or courante character can be noticed), like in Examples 1 and 2, or after a rest (usually quaver
rest) – Example 3.
14
J. P. Freillon-Poncein, op. cit., p. 24–27.

52
Example 1. Prelude in metre 3 starting with a pick-up measure [J. P. Freillon-Poncein, La veritable
maniere…, p. 34]

Example 2. Prelude in C metre starting with a pick-up measure [J. P. Freillon-Poncein, La veritable
maniere…, p. 34]

Example 3. Prelude in metre 2 starting with a rest [J. P. Freillon-Poncein, La veritable maniere…, p. 31]

Prevalent is the constant motion of quavers, both diatonic and in leaps. Frequently occurs
the rhythm motif consisting of a quaver and two semiquavers, whereas dotted rhythm only
appears in cadences. Once set rhythm motif usually defines the mode of the whole prelude,
and the monotony is overcome by the composer by using diversified intervals (Example 4).

53
Example 4. Prelude with prevalent rhythm motif of a quaver and two semiquavers [J. P. Freillon-Poncein,
La veritable maniere…, p. 30]

Some artistic value could be added to these preludes by certain rhythmic freedom in their
performance. The ornamentation is not very rich in the music text, but trills sometimes occur,
especially in cadences. Bearing in mind that the treatise is addressed to non-skilled musicians,
it is doubtful that the author assumed that the readers would have the knowledge of style or
the ability to add ornaments independently. It is hard to find preludes of a delicate character
which he mentioned. Maybe he described the real practice of professional musicians and his
examples were only addressed to novices and were meant more as technical exercise material
rather than examples of real improvisation of musicians.

The harmonic analysis of flute preludes is difficult due to their monophony, but the course
of modulations can be determined on the basis of cadences and alterations15. Short preludes
usually remain in their basic key with a frequent use of first and fifth degree chords. Longer
preludes give wider options for their harmonic development. Preludes in major keys mainly
modulate to the fifth (dominant) or sixth degree scale (relative minor key), after which there
is a return to the initial key (Example 5).

Example 5. Prelude in E Major with modulation to fifth degree scale (B Major) [J. P. Freillon-Poncein,
La veritable maniere…, p. 34]

Sometimes there are shifts to the fourth degree scale, and the return to the initial scale is
made through its fifth degree (dominant of the initial key), which is illustrated by Example 6.
15
About cadences and their role in consolidating new keys and about the ways of modulating in solo prelu-
des wrote:J. P. Freillon-Poncein in La veritable maniere…, p. 22–23 and J. M. Hotteterre in L’art de preluder…,
Paris 1719, p. 44–48.

54
Example 6. Prelude in F Major with modulation to fourth degree scale (B-flat Major) [J. P. Freillon-Pon-
cein, La veritable maniere…, p. 34]

In case of preludes in minor keys, the most frequent modulation is shifting to the fifth
degree scale (minor dominant) and/or the third degree scale (relative major key). They often
contain both modulations which come one after another or are divided by the return to the
basic key (Example 7).

Example 7. Prelude in A Minor with modulations to fourth and fifth degree scale (B-flat Major)
[J. P. Freillon-Poncein, La veritable maniere…, p. 31]

Sometimes there are modulations to other keys, e.g. the fourth degree (major or minor),
from which the return is always through the fifth degree.

55
L’art de Preluder by Jacques-Martin Hotterre

The most important source on the prelude improvisation in the first half of the 18th century
is the treatise by Jacques-Martin Hotteterre entitled L’art de Preluder. It consists of eleven
chapters in which the author explains the basis principles of prelude creating, as well as other
performance issues (metre, tempo, inégal playing). The treatise is illustrated with numerous
examples and it constitutes a systematised compendium of knowledge about preluding in
that period.

In the introduction to his treatise, Hotteterre first presents the difference between the two
types of preludes: a composed prelude (French prelude composé) and a prelude resulting from
imagination, fantasy (French prelude de caprice). The first type opens a suite, an instrumen-
tal sonata or an opera or a cantata16, introducing what will be sung later. The second type is
the real prelude, which is created during a performance by a performer. It only appears as
if there are no rules it is subject to as the artist needs to have a knowledge of modulation
passages while constructing it.

The basic rules given by Hotteterre on how preludes should be created are as follows:

1) a prelude should be maintained in the key of a music piece17, especially its extremities;

2) it may start from a prime, third or fifth of the tonic chord;

3) it must end on the first scale degree (the tonic18);

4) after starting from one of the degrees mentioned in point 2), we should stay within the
tones of the scale, paying special attention to the pitches which keep us in it, then we must
finish with a final cadence; if a prelude is long, then before we end it, we go through a few
suitable cadences19.
16
In Brossard’s music dictionary of 1703, preludio/prelude is defined as an introduction or preparation
to what will follow it, and the examples of this genre are an overture in an opera or a ritornello before each
scene. It is also pointed out that it often happens that in order to establish a key, all instruments of an orchestra
prelude. An almost identical definition is given by Rousseau in 1768, only he widens it with a meaning closer
to how it is understood in this article, i.e., as a walk through the most important pitches of a key in order
to check if an instrument is properly tuned. He also adds a separate definition of preluding (préluder);
cf. prelude, intrada, entries in: S. de Brossard, Dictionnaire de musique, contenant une explication des termes
grecs, latins, italiens & françois les plus usitez, Paris 1703; prélude, préluder, entries in: J. J. Rousseau, Dictionnaire
de musique, Paris 1768.
17
Hotteterre devotes the ninth chapter to the ways of determining a key of a music piece to which one wants
to prelude. He gives quite obvious pieces of advice, such as the analysis of key signature, first and last tones
of movements and leading tones, but he also points out it is not easy and requires experience as it happens
that none of the criteria mentioned above allow for determining the key quickly. The practice of performance
of pieces from that period proves it right as not all pieces start with the elements of a tonic chord, and an end
of a movement sometimes leads to a (different) key of the following movement of a cycle piece, and not all
key signatures characteristic for a given key are given next to it.; cf. J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder...,
Paris 1719, p. 49–51.
18
French “la note de ce ton”.
19
The right cadences are probably the cadences which let us stay firmly in the keys to which we modulated,
according to the rules described in other chapters touching on cadences and modulations; French original:
“Ayant donc cōmencé mon Prelude par une des corde du ton que je me suis proposé, je parcours pendant
quelqu ;espace de tems les notes qui luy sont familieres, j’entens celles qui dans les differens chants que je
produis conservent toujours la modulation de ce même ton, aprés-quoy je viens tomber a la cadence finale,

56
 Hotteterre gives two basic harmonic patterns (French canevas) as the basis for composing
a prelude. First goes a triad of the tonic chord built from the root upwards, then it goes down
to the dominant (fifth degree), ending on the root (Example 8). The author explains that most
preludes are created by placing tuneful and diverse melodic segments between these tones. He
provides some examples of variants (Example 9).

Example 8. The first harmonic pattern for a prelude [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder.., p. 3]

Example 9. Exemplary variants of development of the first pattern for a prelude [J. M. Hotteterre,
L’art de Preluder.., p. 4]

et si le Prelude est long je passe avant de finir par queques-unes des cadences qui luy sont propres”; free
translation; Ibid., p. 3. All quotations translated [into Polish – translator’s note (KK)] by the author of the article.

57
 The second pattern (Example 10) is a passage of thirds moving up from the root of the to-
nic chord within the range of one octave and it ends with a root preceded by a major seventh
(the leading tone). The seventh occurring earlier on in this passage is a minor one (f2 in G
Major). The author explains that, despite the presence of the tones which are not basic pitches
in that key, we do not get an impression of leaving the key thanks to the major seventh resolving
to the tonic at the end of the passage20. This way, he emphasised the key role of the leading tone
in determining a key. In the provided pattern he also includes variants of its development in
a prelude (Example 11).

Example 10. The second harmonic pattern for a prelude [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder…, p. 4]

Example 11. Exemplary variants of development of the second pattern for a prelude [J. M. Hotteterre,
L’art de Preluder…, p. 4]

For comparison, he also includes example (Example 12), which

starts and ends like the previous one but is not kept in the same key, and the difference is pro-
ven by the fact that from the second bar until the end it modulates into C major and it does
not matter that the last note is sol [g – translator’s note (EG)], it is not in the key of G major
nor it is an end note because, in order to end the prelude, it would have to end on the ut tone
[c – translator’s note (EG)]”21.

20
Ibid., p. 1–2.
21
French “Cet Exemple qui commence et finit comme les prescedents n’est pourtant point dans le même ton,
et ce qui’en fait la difference c’est que depuis la seconde mesure jusqu’a la fin il est module en C,sol,ut, car quoy
que la derniere note soit un sol, elle n’est point dans le ton de G,re,sol aussy n’est-elle-pas note finale puisque
pour achiever ce prelude il faudroit qu’il finit par un ut.”; Ibid., p. 2–3.

58
Example 12. The beginning of a prelude in C Major with a construction similar to the second harmonic
pattern [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder…, p. 4]

Apart from the basic rules described, Hotteterre provides a lot of practical composition
hints, giving a detailed description of the topic of the leading tone and the rules for modula-
ting as far as the melody development is concerned. First of all, he writes that in minor
keys the seventh must be augmented in case of an ascending melodic line, and if a melody
descends, both the sixth and the seventh must be diminished22. Translating that into today’s
nomenclature, when we develop the melody upwards, we need to follow the Dorian version
of the minor scale, and if we move down, we use the Aeolian variant. The situation changes
when we get to the sixth or fifth while moving down with our melody line, after which the line
moves up again. In such a case, the sixth should be augmented. Hotteterre also allows for
using a minor seventh in passages going down in major keys sometimes.

In the process of modulation to a different key, the author pays the greatest attention to
the leading tone, which, as he claims, determines the new key so its use in the course of me-
lody (the right alteration) introduces us to it. In a longer prelude a modulation may be more
developed and it should be strengthened with a cadence. Another scale degree allowing for
a modulation is the minor seventh in the basic key, which becomes a fourth which functions
as a leading tone down to the third of a new key (of the fourth degree). If it was accompa-
nied by basso continuo, it would be a passage of the minor seventh chord, based on the root
of the tonic, onto the basic chord of the tone a fourth upwards, so the leading tone is hidden
in the bass part23 (Example 13).

Example 13. The role of minor seventh in modulation to key up a fourth [J. M. Hotteterre,
L’art de Preluder…, p. 46]

22
Hotteterre, while writing music examples in a given key, used characteristic key signature minus one ele-
ment after the clef, so the sixth was naturally major in a minor key, and when he wanted a minor sixth, he used
an accidental for that specific note.
23
Id., L’art de Preluder..., Paris 1719, p. 44–46.

59
 Hotteterre distinguishes two types of cadences: perfect and imperfect. As for a cadence
of thirds, he only mentions that it occurs very rarely and only in major keys. He describes
a perfect cadence as a progression of the fifth scale degree (dominant) chord to the first scale
degree (tonic) chord, where in the solo voice the leading tone resolves to the root of the tonic.
An imperfect cadence is characterised by the occurrence of a minor seventh chord (dominant
seventh chord) before the resolution, but the preceding chord does not need to be based on
the fifth degree tone (inversion). The author clearly prefers a perfect cadence, which he thinks
is the most common one, but he shows both possible types in his preludes 24.

Apart from the theoretical dissertation on the rules of preluding, Hotteterre includes 101
exemplary preludes “in all keys25, in different tempos and of different character for the flute,
recorder, oboe, etc.”26 and 126 traits “similar to the ones created by a person who has fully
mastered the art of preluding”27. As a preliminary remark, he stresses that the quavers in the
included preludes should be inégales, unless there is a comment about even quavers in that
specific example. Each prelude is annotated with a comment on its character and/or tempo.
Preludes in faster tempos, usually described as animé or gay, are almost always written with
a specific division into bars, in a duple time, with a dominating rhythm of quavers or semi-
quavers (Examples 14 and 15).

Example 14. Prelude with time signature 2 and gay [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder…, p. 8]

24
Ibid., p. 47-48.
25
The examples of preludes are maintained in all keys used for those instruments in that period, i.e.,
3-4 sharps/flats per key signature. Moreover, at the end of some examples at the end of the system, Hotteterre
gives possible ways of transposition, using the treble clef instead of the French violin clef applied in preludes.
26
French “sur tous les Tons dans differens mouvements, et differents caracteres pour la Flûte-Traversiere,
la Flûte-a-bec, le Hobois, &c.”; Ibid., p. 6.
27
French “des Traits détechés semblables a ceux que pourroit produire un homme consommé dans cet Art.”;
Ibid., p. 1.

60
Example 15. Prelude with time signature C and gay et croches égales [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de
Preluder…, p. 12]

Preludes with a slow or moderate tempo have small vertical lines under the first line
counting from the bottom of the staff. This notation suggests a freer attitude towards the
metric division, which was also mentioned by Freillon-Poncein. Apart from that, Hotteterre
wrote as well that when one performs examples from memory, he does not need to worry
about maintaining the pulse strictly. This way Hotteterre recommended a rhythmic freedom,
but he also showed that a free improvisation should be characterised by some metricity.
The examples he gave present a whole range of time signatures, but the most common ones are
metre 2 or 3. The first metre Hotteterre describes as usually vivid and sharp (French piquée),
and if somebody wanted it to have a different character, then an annotation about it should
be added. The majority of his preludes in metre 2 are described as tender, with affection,
heavy, in a moderate tempo, etc. (Examples 16 and 17).

Example 16. Prelude with time signature 2 and tendrement [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder…, p. 10]

61
Example 17. Prelude with time signature 3 and gravement [J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder…, p. 6]

According to Hotteterre, metre 3 is sometimes slow, sometimes fast, and his annotations to
preludes fully reflect this diversity. In metre 3 are traits of the arpegé type (based on the chord
breaking technique; Italian arpeggio), which Hotteterre writes with bar lines, but in one of the
preludes he writes that the pace of arpeggiating can be changed depending on preferences
(Example 18).

Example 18. Traits based on the arpeggiating technique with a comment on the way of performance [J.
M. Hotteterre, L’art de Preluder…, p. 21]

Most examples called preludes are maintained in the basic key or they modulate to related
keys. In case of major keys, a prelude usually shifts to the fifth degree scale (major dominant),
or, very rarely, to a relative key. Preludes in minor keys usually modulate to a relative (major)
key, or – more rarely – to a minor dominant, but double modulations to both mentioned ones
occur as well. Almost all examples called traits are fully in one key, but there are also individual
examples of modulations similar to the ones which we find in preludes. Trait means both
a “passage” and a “joke”. Both words seem suitable for these music examples because the
uniformity of key results from the fact that a large part of them is based on passages (arpeggios)
going through each step of the scale, and on the other hand, in an introduction to the chapter,
Hotteterre writes that these pieces are created when one wants to “make some jokes on the
instrument”. An interesting example is a trait which the author ended on purpose in the key
of the dominant without returning to the main key.

62
 Preludes are very much varied in terms of rhythm, they often contain dotted rhythms,
fiorituras (grace notes) and French ornaments notated according the author’s chart of orna-
ments28 (tremblement, port de voix, port de voix double, coulement) and other ornaments writ-
ten by means of notes, such as tour de chant. In his exemplary preludes, Hotteterre does not
write or mark the occurrence of flattement, but in the introduction to the first book of suites
he clearly recommends its use on most long notes29. In the same fragment, he also writes about
the coulement that it “needs to be used in almost every falling third”30, but in his preludes
Hotteterre uses coulement as a filling in a relatively small number of intervals of thirds built
moving down, which might suggest his specific intentions.

Methode Pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flute traversiere and Méthode Raisonnée
pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flûtte Traveriere by Michel Corrette

Another publication from the first half of the 18th century on preluding on the flute is Methode
Pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flute traversiere Avec des Principes de Musique et les
Brunettes31 (and its reissue32) by Michel Corrette – an organist, a composer and a teacher,
known as an author of numerous textbooks33. In his dissertation on many technical and musical
topics in the flute playing, Corrette devotes the whole chapter 12 to the art of preluding 34.
The text is a sort of a compilation of the most important information taken from Hotteterre’s
treatise. Corrette assumes that a prelude always should be improvised and based on fast or
slow passages, in movement by step or by leap, according to one’s inventiveness. He adds that
good preluding requires specifying the mode and key of a piece and improvising in that key.
Corrette recommends modulating and he pays a lot of attention to the role of the leading tone
in the process of change of keys. He also adds two pieces of information which Hotteterre did
not include. According to Corrette, a few initial bars of a piece may also perform the function
of a prelude. Apart from that, he writes that when one plays without accompaniment, he can
improvise a large prelude.

Corrette includes 29 examples35, some of which clearly refer to Hotteterre’s harmonic

patterns for preludes. Their key signatures usually have 3 to 4 sharps/flats but the main key
28
J. M. Hotteterre, Premier livre de pieces pour la Flûte-traversiere, et autres Instruments, avec la Basse,
Paris 1715, p. 5.
29
Ibid., p. 5. Technical aspects of the use if finger vibration (flattement) are described by Hotteterre in chapter 9
of his flute playing school entitled Principes de la flute traversière, ou flute d’Allemagne, de la flute à bec
ou flute douce, et du haut-bois, divisez par traitez, Paris 1707; cf. J. M. Hotteterre, Zasady gry na flecie poprzecz-
nym, flecie podłużnym i na oboju (transl. M. Pilch), Łódź 2013, p. 51–53.
30
French “Que l’on doit faire un coulement presque dans tous les intervals de tierce en descendant”;
id., Premier livre de pieces, p. 5.
31
M. Corrette, Methode Pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flute traversiere Avec des Principes de Musique
et les Brunettes, Paris, Lyon 1740.
32
id., Méthode Raisonnée pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flûtte Traversiere, c1753.
33
D. Fuller, B. Gustafson, Corrette, Michel, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford Univer-
sity  Press,  [online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/06563  [access:
5.11.2015].
34
M. Corrette, Methode Pour apprendre..., p. 45–49 and Méthode raisonnée..., p. 45–49.
35
Id., Méthode Pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flute traversiere..., p. 45–48.

63
is D major. The prevalent metre is ₵, but there are also C, 2/4, 3/4 and 3/8. Most preludes are
based on different types of simple melody and rhythm patterns repeated throughout a pre-
lude, and some of them sound almost like studies to develop one’s interval playing skills. They
are short and fully in one key. Their artistic value seems smaller as compared Hotteterre’s
examples which stylistically resemble composed preludes, but at the initial stage of learning
how to improvise, they can serve as a basis for building melody and rhythm patterns in order
to create one’s own preludes (Example 19).

Example 19. Selected preludes by Corrette [M. Corrette, Méthode Raisonnée pour apprendre aisément
à jouër de la Flûtte..., p. 46, 48]

In the first version of Corrette’s treatise (circa 1740), the last four preludes are two-voice
ones (2 dessus) and both voices are written on the same staff. They are begun by one of the
voices, and then the second one joins in in the canon, and most of the time the interval be-
tween both voices is a third. There are also fragments showing how the voices might develop
in a different way – for example when the lower voice plays the root of a chord, the upper
voice plays its seventh and they resolve to the chord a fourth higher (resolution of the root
to the root of the second chord, and the seventh resolves to its third). The chord’s third then
becomes the seventh of the following chord by the change in the pitch of the second voice
(the prepared seventh). The situation described above is illustrated in Example 20.

Example 20. A two-voice prelude by M. Corrette [M.Corrette, Methode Pour apprendre aisément à jouër
de la Flute traversiere..., Paris, Lyon c1740]
64
 This use of the seventh of a chord is similar to the one described earlier by Hotteterre
in monophonic preludes, but here the root is directly audible. What is interesting, in the se-
cond issue of this treatise (circa 1753)36, which was supplemented with some topics helpful
for clarinetists and oboists, examples of two-voice preludes do not occur. Corrette repla-
ced them with four monophonic preludes in more requiring keys, such as E major, C-sharp
minor or F minor. What is more, he simplifies the endings of some preludes (long rhythmic
values), thanks to which they more resemble the endings characteristic of the Classicism.
It is hard to explain why the author removed the two-voice preludes. It is possible that this type
of preluding did not enjoy a large popularity or the practice of improvising preludes for two
voices had been abandoned throughout these dozen or so years. Regardless of that, Corrette’s
treatise marks the beginning of changes in the style of improvised preludes.

To sum up the information about the style of preludes from the first half of the 18th century
presented above, a good idea is quoting the conclusions by Mather and Lasocki37. They think
that the preludes by Hotteterre and Corrette are written in a purely melodic style suggesting
the lack of bass line with harmonic sequences resulting from the figured bass, which makes
them resemble solo pieces (without basso continuo) for the recorder, flute, viola da gamba
and cello from the late Baroque period. They also add that such composition techniques as
counterpoint or stile concertato, which were characteristic of that period, are not suitable for
preludes for an instrument playing a single melodic line. It is impossible to fully agree with
the above statement on no influence of the figured bass technique on the course of preludes
because, despite some freedom in modulation, basic harmonic sequences resulting from
the rule of the octave (French Règle de l’Octave)38 can be noticed in these preludes. A basis
for composing a prelude proposed by Hotteterre is a Dorian ascending scale or an Aeolian
descending scale. It is hard not to notice the fact this is also the basis for the rule of the octave
(Example 21).

Example 21. The rule of the octave according to Dandrieu – Example in D minor [J. F. Dandrieu, Prin-
cipes de l’Acompagnement du Clavecin, Paris 1718, chart XXIII]

However, the use of this harmonic passage is most clearly visible in traits of the arpegé
type. The example below (Example 22) presents the juxtaposition of one of Hotteterre’s
traits with François Campion’s rule of the octave which was also described later on by Jean-
François Dandrieu.
36
Id., Méthode Raisonnée pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flute traversiere, c1753.
37
B. B. Mather, D. Lasocki, op. cit., p. 12.
38
The rule of the octave (first time described by François Campion in 1716) was the basic way of harmonisa-
tion of major and minor scales. Each scale degree had a specific chord assigned, written as a number above
the note in the bass part. The rule was used both for accompaniment learning and for learning how to impro-
vise on harmonic instruments, cf. T. Christensen, The “Règle de l’Octave” in Thorough-Bass Theory and Practice,
“Acta Musicologica” (July-December 1992), Vol. 64, b. 2, p. 91–117.
65
Example 22. Juxtaposition of Hotteterre’s trait arpegé in G major with the rule of the octave [Self study
based on the sources: J. M. Hotteterre, L’art de preluder, Paris 1719, p. 18 and J. F. Dandrieu, Principes de
l’Acompagnement du Clavecin, Paris 1718]

66
 As seen above, not all elements of a chord were used in arpeggios, but the correlation
is visible. Hotteterre refers to the rules of the figured bass a few more times. While discussing
the rules of modulations and the role of cadences, he gives an example of a fragment of a mono-
phonic prelude, and then he presents one of the cadences from that prelude with two possible
parts of figured bass. After that he, shows an exemplary modulation using a perfect and an im-
perfect cadences accompanied by a bass line. Moreover, at the end of the treatise, he includes
two preludes (in major and minor keys) and he writes about them in the introduction that
they are extended and elaborate, with cadences on all scale degrees for which he adds a bass
to please the ones who like harmony. This shows that Hotteterre did not consider the know-
ledge of figured bass as necessary to create preludes, but one should take into consideration
the clarity of musical style and getting used to the rules of harmony at that time, which probably
to some extent set out the musical ideas being created by a musician’s imagination.

Referring to Corrette who only signals the possibility of short preluding with an accom-
panying bass, we should ask a question about what the course of that preluding might have
been. On the basis of the description and analysis of the examples taken from the treatises
by Freillon-Poncein and Hotteterre, we can conclude that short preludes remain in the main
key only, whereas modulations can be used in slightly longer preludes. Confronting this con-
clusion with what Corrette wrote, we can claim that preludes with accompanying bass were
in the main key only. Improvising together is not easy as each instrumentalist may have their
own vision of how a prelude should progress, so a general rule had to be used and it probably
was the rule of the octave.

Some general rules can be formulated by compiling the above-mentioned information

about preludes of the 18th century:

1) preludes were improvised while playing;

2) their role was introducing a key and introducing the piece following them;

3) they could be used solo or with an accompaniment, but the latter were probably shorter
and maintained in the basic key;

4) they could have any length, character and tempo, but the dominating tempo was moderate;

5) their style depended on character; calmer preludes more resembled composed preludes
whereas the merrier ones were more motoric;

6) preludes were characterised by rhythmic freedom but not by the lack of metricity;

7) they began with some of the elements of the chord of the first scale degree, often with
an upbeat or start after a rest, and they usually ended on the tonic;

8) entire preludes were maintained in the basic key or they could modulate, but their ending
had to be in the initial key; any ear-friendly changes of key were allowed but the main modu-
lations were to the key of the dominant or to the relative key;

67
9) the main way to introduce a new key was by means of the leading tone, and a cadence was
used to strengthen it;

10) the issue of ornamentation is not fully explained as its type depended upon a composer;
a modern performer can draw from the ornamentation used by a given composer or refer
to the compiled knowledge about embellishments used in a given period;

11) the knowledge of figured bass was not necessary for preluding on the flute as studying nu-
merous examples provided numerous useful patterns; however, knowing the rule of the octave
seems helpful in creating one’s own solo improvisations.

The style of improvised preludes in that period had two clear influences – the galant style39
and the figured bass technique. Preludes are solo pieces written in a purely melodic style and
they can represent a whole range of commonly used affects whose melodic line, based on the
harmony rules of that period, is enriched with ornaments characteristic of the mature French
Baroque.

Virtuosity as a new feature of preluding in the second half of the 18th century

Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre la Musique d’une façon plus claire et plus précise
à laquelle on joint l’étendue de la Flute traversière, du Violon, du Pardessus de Viole,
de la Vielle et de la Musette by Toussaint Bordet

Toussaint Bordet was, according to Fétis 40, a flutist who lived in Paris around mid-18th century,
an author of two flute concertos, he wrote a treatise41 in which he described the basic rules
of music in a way accessible for beginners. The treatise is divided into a theoretical part
and a practical one with examples of two-voice pieces, which can serve as exercise material
before playing a more difficult repertoire. The theoretical part covers the basics of instrument
playing (instruments listed in the title of the treatise) and numerous topics in music basics,
such as clefs, key signature, rhythmic values, basic types of articulation, music signatures,
time signatures, or issues connected with keys or transposition of music pieces. Among
the discussed basic music topics are also preludes 42, which suggests that they were common-
ly used – at least in France – and that prelude performing skills were an obvious element of
the basic process of music education.

Like Hotteterre, Bordet differentiated two types of preludes: a well-thought-of and “com-
posed in accordance with the rules” (French composée dans les régles) music piece, such
as ritournelle in operas and cantatas, and a real, i.e., improvised, prelude, one that a competent

39
B. B. Mather, D. Lasocki, op. cit., p. 12.
40
F. J. Fétis, Bordet, entry in: Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique,
Vol. 2, 2nd edition, Paris 1875, p. 27, reprint from the original edition (anastatical copy) Culture et Civilisation,
Bruxelles 1963.
41
T. Bordet, Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre la Musique d’une façon plus claire et plus précise à laquelle
on joint l’étendue de la Flute traversière, du Violon, du Pardessus de Viole, de la Vielle et de la Musette, Paris 1755.
42
Ibid., p. 15–16.

68
musician uses to show his talent and instrument playing skills. The artistry consists in going
through different keys (in both modes), ending on the basic key in a way that these changes
were almost unnoticeable. The author assumes that this type of improvisation may be used
for pure entertainment purposes or as a preparation for the performance of a specific piece.
In the second instance, it is necessary to properly determine its key. This way, Bordet confirms
the up-to-date role of prelude as a preparation for the following piece, and at the same time he
points to its show-off character.

Bordet is not an advocate of following rules in an improvised prelude as he believes it does

not bring a good result. Depending on a performer’s preference, preludes can be shorter or
longer but – like in Corette’s examples – it turns out that for an accompanied prelude a shorter
form is better because performers do not need to wait for one another, making the others
bored.

Bordet gives one pattern of how a prelude should be constructed in all keys (key signature
up to 7 sharps/flats43) with a division into two modes: major (Example 23) and minor
(Example 24). The pattern is the basic chord ascending from the tonic within one octave. Then
in descends to the leading tone, returns up to the tonic and goes down following the scale
degrees to the tonic, and at the end there is a cadence (trill on the second degree resolving
to the tonic). Like Hotteterre, Bordet emphasises that in a minor ascending mode, a major
sixth or major seventh is used (Dorian variant), and while descending, a minor sixth or minor
seventh occurs (Aeolian variant).

Example 23. Bordet’s prelude pattern in a major key [T. Bordet, Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre
la Musique..., p. 16]

Example 24. Bordet’s prelude pattern in a minor key [T. Bordet, Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre
la Musique..., p. 16]

A whole prelude may be determined by the pattern, but it can also be prolonged or added
variation to according to our imagination, bringing new ideas. However, if it is only possible,
a performer should always be driven by melodiousness to please the audience and himself, too.

43
While it is true that the author provides a pattern for all keys, but in every case he adds a comment referring
to how commonly a given key is used.

69
L’art de la flute traversiere Charlesa de Lusse’a44

Chronologically, our next source of information on the style of preludes in the second half of
the 18th century is the work entitled L’art de la flute traversiere45 written by Charles de Lusse.
It is a flute playing textbook, which covers the technical basics of the instrument playing
(fingering, embouchure, tonguing), as well as principal music signatures, embellishments,
vibrato and overtones. The author also includes a number of study-like exercises, twelve
virtuoso caprices (or cadenzas) and twenty preludes in different keys 46.

His preludes are rather short, they begin with the tone of the first or third scale degree
and they are maintained in the basic key with a significant role of the dominant chord. In
initial parts of his preludes, de Lusse always utilises the technique based on passages, using
the tones of the first scale degree chord in different rhythmic variants. Sometimes he also uses
this technique in further parts of a prelude, going through the dominant chord, and he en-
riches everything with embellishing (passing) tones and different alterations. Usually, after
the first part based on passages comes a part mainly using a step-wise motion, progressions
of thirds or accidentals in a form of fast and more or less rhythmised fiorituras (Examples
25, 26 and 27).

Example 25. Prelude no. 1 in C major by Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 25]

Example 26. Prelude no. 5 in D major by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 25]

44
A French composer, flutist and author of essays on music. In his works and his contemporary sources
he appears as: Mr. De-Lusse, de Lusse, Delusse or he just uses his initials D.L. The first name Charles ap-
pears in Fétis’s work entitled Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique; cf.
J. M. Bowers, Lusse, de, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, [online]
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/17206 [access: 22.01.2016].
45
Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, Paris 1761.
46
It needs to be stressed that de Lusse was an important figure in the French flute playing school due to
his experiments referring to performance techniques. In his works he uses sophisticated rhythms and higher
flute registers in longer music segments as compared to earlier composers. Moreover, he was the first to use
overtones and quarter-tones on the flute; cf. J. M. Bowers, op.cit.

70
Example 27. Prelude no. 18 in B-flat minor by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 26]

In many preludes written by de Lusse, right before the end appears a fioritura descending
from the high to the low register, and then there is a stop on the fifth degree and a leap a fifth
or a duodecima up, a trill on the tone descending and leading to the tonic, and a resolution to
the tonic (Examples 28 and 29).

Example 28. Prelude no. 4 in G minor by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 25]

Example 29. Prelude no. 17 in B-flat major by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 26]

Apart from virtuoso fiorituras, de Lusse eagerly uses the chords written as vertically-placed
notes or rhythmised passages. Despite the lack of the bass line, we can notice a sequence of
such chords as the 6/4 chord based on the fifth scale degree with a shift to the 5/4 and 5/3
(Examples 30 and 31).

Example 30. Prelude no. 6 in D minor by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 25]

71
Example 31. Prelude no. 8 in A minor by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 25]

One of the examples (Example 32) is fully based on passages and its construction resembles
Hotteterre’s trait of the arpegé type. The chords are built upon the tones of the scale descending
from the tonic to the tonic, but as compared Hotteterre’s examples, the harmony has been
slightly altered.

Example 32. Prelude no. 10 in E minor by de Lusse [Ch. de Lusse, L’art de la flute traversiere, p. 25]

In his preludes, de Lusse probably presents what Bordet described as the development
of his prelude pattern. In terms of length and form, his preludes resemble some of Corette’s
examples. However, unlike Corrette’s preludes, de Lusse’s examples have no metre or bar lines;
but they do have quintuplets, sextuplets and fiorituras in fast rhythmic values, accidentals
and chords, which points to a much greater rhythm freedom and faster pace of performan-
ce. Moreover, de Lusse also adds examples in extremely difficult keys, such as F-sharp major,
B-flat minor or F minor, which suggests his technical level of playing was higher, which could
also have been true for his contemporary flutists.

Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour la flûte by A. Vanderhagen

The last decade of the 18th century brings three valuable sources of information about the
art of preluding on the flute in that period, and they shall be discussed in a respective order.
The first one is the textbook by Amand Vanderhagen47 entitled Méthode nouvelle et raisonée

47
Amand Vanderhagen was a Flemish clarinettist born in 1753 in Antwerp, who, having finished education
in Brussels, in 1785 moved to Paris, where he worked as a clarinettist and bassoonist at the royal ensemble
called Gardes-Françaises. He is a well-known author of the first textbook on clarinet playing entitled Méthode
nouvelle et raisonnée pour la clarinette (Paris 1785). He also wrote Nouvelle méthode de clarinette (Paris 1798),
Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour le hautbois (Paris c1792), and the described flute playing textbook – Mé-
thode nouvelle et raisonée pour la flûte (Paris 1790) and its later revised version – Nouvelle méthode de flûte
(Paris c1798); cf. F.G. Rendall/Hervé Audéon, Vanderhagen, Amand, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford
Music Online, Oxford University Press, [online] http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/
article/grove/music/28989 [access: 14.02.2016].

72
pour la flûte 48. The author includes a chapter about preludes, in which he writes in the in-
troduction that the provided examples are a base for preluding rather than proper preludes,
and the rest “depends on the aptitude of a student”49.

Vanderhagen includes fifteen exemplary preludes, eight of which are in major keys
(C, D, E, E-flat, F, G, A, B-flat), and seven in minor keys (C, D, E, F, G, A, B). They resemble
many preludes by de Lusse in terms of their length and shape of phrase, but there have
no chords or arpeggios, and the used key signatures have no more than four sharps/flats.
Rhythmic freedom is emphasised not only by the lack of time signatures (like in de Lusse’s
preludes), but also by the frequent use of fermatas and verbal signatures specifying the tempo
of performance of a given prelude fragment (Examples 33, 34, and 35).

Example 33. Prelude in D major by Vanderhagen [A. Vanderhagen, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour
la flûte, p. 25]

Example 34. Prelude in G major by Vanderhagen [A. Vanderhagen, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée..., p. 26]

Example 35. Preludium in B-flat major by Vanderhagen [A. Vanderhagen, Méthode nouvelle et rai-
sonée.., p. 26]

A. Vanderhagen, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour la flûte, Boyer, Paris c1790.

48
49
Ibid., p. 25.

73
 Each of Vanderhagen’s preludes is maintained in one key and the role of the seventh
chord (or ninth chord) on the fifth scale degree is emphasised. In minor keys there are often
short reversals with the leading tone to the relative key, but these changes are not strengthen-
ed with a cadence and there is a quick return to the main key.

While analysing the examples provided by Vanderhagen, some patterns of how a prelude
is constructed can be noticed. Almost all preludes (except the last one starting from the fifth
scale degree) begin with the tonic, and then the melody moves up, usually to the first or fifth
scale degree tone (often with a fermata), then the melody descends, after which it ascends
again (often to a higher point than previously) and descends to the final cadence (a trill on
the second scale degree with a shift to the tonic). Vanderhagen’s preludes provide patterns
of phrase development up and down, both with the use of passages, the movement of thirds,
as well as the step-wise motion (Examples 36–39).

Example 36. Basic ways of ascending phrase development by means of a passage according to Van-
derhagen [1) A minor 2) B minor 3) C major 4) E-flat major] [fragments of preludes by A. Vanderhagen
from Méthode nouvelle et raisonée.., p. 25–26]

Example 37. Basic ways of ascending phrase development in the step-wise motion according to Van-
derhagen [1) B-flat major 2) D major 3) F major 4) G minor 5) F minor 6) A major] [fragments of pre-
ludes by A. Vanderhagen from Méthode nouvelle et raisonée.., p. 25–26]

74
Example 38. Other ways of ascending phrase development according to Vanderhagen [1) E major 2)
D minor 3) E minor] [fragments of preludes by A. Vanderhagen from Méthode nouvelle et raisonée..,
p. 25–26]

Example 39. Basic ways of descending phrase development according to Vanderhagen [1) C major 2)
D major 3) G minor 4) G major 5) D minor 6) E minor] [fragments of preludes by A. Vanderhagen from
Méthode nouvelle et raisonée.., p. 25–26]

The ascending movement by step in minor keys takes place thanks to the use of a harmonic
minor scale or a Dorian minor scale, and the descending movement is achieved by means of an
Aeolian or harmonic minor scale. (Examples 40 and 41).

Example 40. Prelude in C minor by Vanderhagen [A. Vanderhagen, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée.., p. 26]

75
Example 41. Prelude in A minor by Vanderhagen [A. Vanderhagen, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée.., p. 26]

As far as the juxtaposition of separate schemes is concerned, a principle of contrasts can be

noticed. If the first ascending phrase development was achieved by means of leaps (passage),
the second one will usually use the step-wise motion (often in a faster pace). A similar variety
can be found in the juxtaposition of the ascending and descending parts of a phrase. Also
the tempo is a contrasting element – slow and fast fragments occur alternatingly, and these
changes appear relatively often if we consider the length of examples.

Nouvelle Méthode Théorique et Pratique Pour la Flûte by François Devienne

Another flute playing textbook with examples of preludes, which was published four years
later in Paris, is Nouvelle Méthode Théorique et Pratique Pour la Flûte  50 by François Devienne
– a French flutist and bassoonist, composer and first flute lecturer at the conservatory in Pa-
ris 51. His work provides a lot of new information about the features of preludes at the end of
the 18th century. The book includes remarks referring to the technical aspects of flute playing,
music basics, used types of articulation, and a collection of pieces for two flutes: 20 arias,
18 duos and 6 sonatas. The sonatas for two flutes have three movements, i.e., fast – slow – fast,
and each movement of a sonata is preceded by a prelude 52. The reason for that is probably
the different key of the middle movement introduced by an additional prelude, and the pre-
lude for the last movement serves as a preparation for the return to the initial key. It may
also be used on every occasion in order to show an artist’s skills and virtuosity. Devienne’s
examples do not have any time, tempo, or verbal signatures like Vanderhagen’s examples did,
but in their middle (slow) parts dominate longer rhythmic values than in preludes to the first
and third movements, which suggests their slower pace or calmer nature. Preludes to last
movements are characterised by a usually higher level of complexity than the preludes to first
50
F. Devienne, Nouvelle Méthode Théorique et Pratique Pour la Flûte, Paris 1794.
51
W. Montgomery, Devienne François, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford University
Press,  [online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/07688  [access:
22.01.2016].
52
Also Leta E. Miller mentions the practice of preluding to each movement of a sonata, writing about the
meeting of the flutist Friedrich Ludwig Dülon with C.P.E. Bach during Dülon’s visit to Hamburg in 1783. That
was when he performed his Solo Sonata in A Minor H.562 (of 1747, published in 1763), preluding before each
movement. C.P.E. Bach valued his interpretation more than the performance of Frederick the Great, possibly
thanks to genius improvisation skills of the blind flute virtuoso; cf. L. E. Miller, C.P.E. Bach and Friedrich Lud-
wig Dülon: Composition and Improvisation in Late Eighteenth Century Germany, “Early Music” 1995, XXIII/1,
p. 65–80, quoted after: A. Powell, The flute, New Haven and London 2002, p. 123.

76
movements, which is true either for a whole composition or at least a more ornamented final
cadence than in the prelude to the first movement of the same sonata. Devienne’s work is also
the first example of presenting a prelude together with a piece following it, but there is no
noticeable motif connection between the piece and its preceding prelude. Only in one case the
use of leaps of tenths in a prelude to the theme with variations can serve as a warm-up for a
musician before the fifth variation which is all based on similar large intervals. At the end of his
textbook, Devienne includes additional preludes in keys which did not occur in sonatas, which
would confirm their independence from the piece in terms of motifs.

Devienne is the first one to write the basic chord with a leading tone as well as a scale in
an ascending and descending direction before each prelude, and a minor scale always occurs
as a melodic minor scale (Example 42). The author skips this element only in case of preludes
to the final movements of the sonatas because their key is the same as in the first movements.

Example 42. Prelude in G minor preceded with a basic chord and a melodic scale [F. Devienne, Nouvel-
le Méthode…, p. 44]

Some preludes are shorter and technically easier and they are in one key (Example 43),
others are longer and they require better skills and playing technique as they are characterised
by virtuosity and modulations (Example 44).

Example 43. Prelude in C minor by Devienne [F. Devienne, Nouvelle Méthode…, p. 48]

77
Example 44. Prelude in C major by Devienne [F. Devienne, Nouvelle Méthode…, p. 48]

The most frequent modulations are: shifting to a relative minor key (of the sixth degree)
and returning through the supertonic and the dominant to the tonic, or shifting to the fourth
degree and returning through the major supertonic with seventh, the dominant and resolving
to the tonic. En ending is a fermata on the tone of the fifth degree, and then there is a trill
(sometimes preceded with a fioritura) on the tone on the second degree with a resolution to
the tonic.

The shape of phrase is different than in preludes to the pieces by the authors discussed
earlier. The melodic line consists of a few musical segments built from melodic and/or rhythmic
sequences repeated a few times. Fragments using step-wise motion turn into segments based
in whole on large intervals, like e.g. the sequences of tenths. Devienne also uses much higher
registers of the flute, even as high as up to a3 (Examples 45 and 46).

Example 45. Prelude in A major (1) by Devienne [F. Devienne, Nouvelle Méthode…, p. 62]

78
Example 46. Prelude in A major (2) by Devienne [F. Devienne, Nouvelle Méthode…, p. 68]

It is also worth noticing that these preludes are always monophonic, even though the
sonatas are duos, as if the author clearly was not an advocate of group preluding. It might
result from the virtuosity of preludes from that period, which made joint improvising difficult.

Nouvelle Méthode De Flute by Amand Vanderhagen

Around 1799, a new verion of Vanderhagen’s textbook, in which a theoretical part and some
new examples of preludes were added to the chapter on preludes, was published53.

Vanderhagen explains at the beginning that a prelude first of all is a free improvisation,
which does not depend on any music piece, but he also adds that thanks to it we can introduce
the key in which we will play. A prelude is understood as an artistic passage through a number
of modulations, depending on the performer’s capacities and skills. It may start in any key
(French ton), to which we must always return at the end of the prelude54, but this information
probably more refers to the free improvisation not preparing to any piece.

The author clearly prefers solo preluding and he criticises the noise which appears in many
orchestras when everyone tries to play at the same time. Unfortunately, he says nothing about
improvisation in a small ensemble.

53
A. Vanderhagen, Nouvelle Méthode De Flute divisée en deux parties Contenant tous les principes concernant
cet Instrument ainsi que les principes de la Musique, detaillés avec précision et clarté, Pleyel, Paris c1799.
54
French “Préluder c’est parcourir avec art. plusieurs échelles et modulations, en prenant dabord pour bâse
un ton quelconque qu’on module selon son geni, mais auquel il faut toujours revenir pour terminer le prélude”.

79
 In his treatise, Vanderhagen included eight preludes in major keys (C, D, E, E-flat, F, G, A
and B-flat) and as many preludes in minor keys (C, D, E, F-sharp, F, G, A, B). These are the same
keys he used in the first textbook plus one more – F-sharp minor.

Also new is including a passage and a scale before preludes (Example 47), which is an
obvious reference to Devienne’s examples.

Example 47. Prelude in E major by Vanderhagen preceded by a passage and a scale [A. Vanderhagen,
Nouvelle Méthode De Flute..., p. 66]

The minor scale always appears in a melodic form, and the tonic chord descending to the
leading tone (like in Devienne’s examples) has been enriched with a descending dominant
seventh chord. This passage takes place through a third or fifth of the tonic chord to the seventh
of the chord on the fifth degree (Example 48).

80
Example 48. Preludes in E minor and F-sharp minor by Vanderhagen presenting 2 passage develop-
ment resolutions [A. Vanderhagen, Nouvelle Méthode de Flute..., p. 68]

As far as the used schemes are concerned, these examples are very much like the preludes
from the first version of Méthode, but the author does not use the terms defining the tempo
any more, and the fermatas are not used as often (almost all fermatas appear on the first tone
of a prelude and/or on the tone on the fifth degree after an ascending passage), and the fastest
rhythmic values are semiquavers. The harmony is based on the harmonic triad chords (with
a dominant seventh or ninth), and the ascending passages in minor keys still use the Dorian
or harmonic scale. Vanderhagen himself writes that these are more like patterns of preludes
and persons who find them too easy may treat them as examples or samples. On the other
hand, young learners of the art of improvisation are suggested to use a single chord or scale
in place of a prelude.

81
 To sum up the information based on the discussed sources from the second half of the
18th century, we can notice an increase in virtuosity in improvised preludes (more difficult
keys, faster rhythmic values, diatonic and chromatic fiorituras) and a larger rhythmic freedom
(no metre or bar lines, frequent fermatas and changes of tempo as part of one prelude). Most
preludes are in the basic key and the role of chords on the fourth and fifth scale degrees
is emphasised. Sometimes there is a minor departure to a relative minor key. A typical ending
of a prelude is a stop on the tone on the fifth degree and a trill on the second degree with a re-
solution to the tonic. The ornamentation characteristic of the French Baroque disappeared
in that period and was replaced by melodic and rhythmic sequences and fiorituras. Apart
from that, we cannot find the range of affects determining each Baroque prelude, due to which
we can notice some unification in terms of their character. The length of the written preludes
almost does not change, contrary to their duration which is different because of faster rhyth-
mic values used. However, an artist’s individual attitude towards fermatas influences the final
sound as well.

The period between 1755 and the end of the 18th century was probably when the pheno-
menon of group preluding described by Corette was abandoned to be replaced by the strong
preference of solo improvisation.

Placing the topic of preluding among the taught music basics confirms that it was regarded
as an elementary skill for musicians. Less proficient musicians were suggested to use a simple
passage or a scale in the same key as the piece (Vanderhagen 1799), more advanced ones –
a short prelude similar to the discussed examples, but, except starting and finishing in the key
of the piece, there were no rules for performers with substantial improvisation skills.

Rousseau defined preluding in 1768 as singing or playing a few short and rather irregular
passages going through the basic tones of a key in order to introduce a piece or check the voi-
ce or position the hands on the instrument, and the authors of the discussed textbooks also
stressed the show-off factor of improvised preludes. The practice of improvising before each
movement of a sonata in that period seems to confirm both functions of preludes. Corrette,
by allowing the use of initial bars of a piece as a prelude, might have also considered the con-
gruence between the character of a prelude and the following piece, which cannot be found
in the examples taken from later sources.

Conclusion

The presented information and analyses of examples of preludes provide a lot of useful data
about the practice of preluding in the 18th century. Preludes were improvised while playing.
Their primary task was to introduce the key of a piece to an audience, and also to allow
musicians (both singers and instrumentalists) to technically prepare for performing a piece
(to prepare their performance apparatus). Moreover, preludes were improvised regardless
of the piece for entertainment purposes and so that musicians could show their skills.
It seems that such a use of preludes was particularly popular in the second half of the 18th

82
century when they gave virtuosi an additional opportunity to present their improvisation
talent and technical aptitude. That was also the time when performers started preluding each
movement of a sonata.

Preludes from the first half of the 18th century were very varied in terms of their character
and they presented different affects, thanks to which they could serve as an introduction
to the character of a piece. They were characterised by some rhythmic freedom but within
the set metre. In the second half of the 18th century, preludes became more conventional
and they often resembled technical practice material in which different characters/tempos
appeared only as short fragments. Their rhythmic freedom and virtuosity were increased,
which manifested itself in no metric division and the use of fast fiorituras and passages utilising
the highest register of the flute more intensively.

Many authors stressed that there were no rules for improvised preludes as these depended
on a performer’s imagination, but a few of them formulated some general rules. Preludes
preceding a piece had to be in the same key, especially the initial and final parts. Modulations
were suggested but only when one knew how to use them skilfully. Persons not used to pre-
luding were suggested by Corrette to use a few initial bars of a piece. Vanderhagen in turn
suggested using a passage or a scale alone as they were at the same time the basis of the pre-
sented composition patterns for a prelude, both in the first and the second halves of the 18th
century. In preludes in the Baroque period often occurred modulations and their course was
clearly influenced by the figured bass technique. At the end of the 18th century, the harmony
of preludes was simplified. Examples were maintained in one key and based on the harmonic
triad chords.

Before 1755, there were some sparse examples and mentions of group preluding suggesting
a short improvisation mostly maintained in one key. However, this practice was probably
abandoned in the second half of the 18th century.

The art of preluding has been described in textbooks among basic musical topics, which sug-
gests that it constituted one of musicians’ basic skills in the 18th century. Apart from offering
a chance to show one’s skills, preludes were used to introduce the key and character of a piece
to the listeners. Nowadays, when we return to old performance practices by playing the pieces
from past ages, it is also worth paying attention to the forgotten practice of preluding of music
works. Today’s audiences’ reception of a piece could be much better if they were introduced
to it by a performer. Music works performed as part of one concert are usually in different
keys, so each change of such a kind seems to be a good justification for preluding again. From
the perspective of todays’ performers, preluding may turn out very helpful in determining
the acoustic capacities of a concert hall (which often change when an audience arrives),
and when a type of instrument is changed during a concert, enabling a prompt orientation in
how it was tuned as well as technical preparation (adjusting the lips to the embouchure hole,
position of fingers on the keys, etc.). As for persons who know how to improvise, preludes offer
them a chance to show their skills to the audience.

83
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sources:

Bordet Toussaint, Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre la Musique d’une façon plus claire et plus précise à laquelle
on joint l’étendue de la Flute traversière, du Violon, du Pardessus de Viole, de la Vielle et de la Musette; Leur
accord, quelques observations sur la touche des dits Instruments et des leçons simples, mesurées et veriées,
suivies d’un Recueil d’Aires en duo faciles et connus pour la plus-part, Paris 1755.

Brossard Sébastien de, Preludé, Intrada, entries in: id., Dictionnaire de musique, contenant une explication des
termes grecs, latins, italiens & françois les plus usitez, Paris 1703.

Corrette Michel, Methode Pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flute traversiere Avec des Principes de Musique
et les Brunettes, Paris, Lyon c1740.

Corrette Michel, Méthode Raisonnée pour apprendre aisément à jouër de la Flûtte Traversiere avec les principes
de Musique des Ariettes et autres Jolie Airs en Duo (...) Nouvelle édition, revûe corigée et augmentée de la Game
du Haut-bois et de la Clarinette, c1753.

Dandrieu Jean-François, Principes de l’Acompagnement du Clavecin, Paris 1718.

De Lusse [Charles], L’art de la flute traversiere, Paris 1761.

Devienne François, Nouvelle Méthode Théorique et Pratique Pour la Flûte, Paris 1794.

Fétis François-Joseph, Bordet, entry in: Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la mu
-sique, Vol. 2, 2nd edition, Paris 1875, p. 27, reprint from the original edition (anastatical copy): Culture
et Civilisation, Bruxelles 1963.

Freillon-Poncein Jean-Pierre, La veritable maniere d’apprende a jouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la flute

et du flageolet, Paris 1700.

Hottererre Jacques Martin, L’art de Preluder sur la Flûte Traversiere, Sur la Flûte-a-bec, Sur le Haubois et autre
Instruments de Dessus, Paris 1719.

Hotteterre Jacques Martin, Premier livre de pieces pour la flûte-traversiere, et autres Instruments, avec la basse,
Paris 1715.

Hotteterre Jacques Martin, Principes de la flute traversière, ou flute d’Allemagne, de la flute à bec ou flute douce,
et du haut-bois, divisez par traitez, Paris 1707; Polish translation: Zasady gry na flecie poprzecznym,
flecie podłużnym i na oboju, transl. Magdalena Pilch, the Grażyna and Kiejstut Academy of Music in Łódź,
Łódź 2013.

Rousseau Jean-Jacques, Prélude, Préluder, entried in: id., Dictionnaire de musique, Paris 1768.

Vanderhagen Amand, Méthode nouvelle et raisonée pour la flute, Boyer, Paris c1790.

84
Vanderhagen Amand, Nouvelle Méthode De Flute divisée en deux parties Contenant tous les principes concernant
cet Instrument ainsi que les principes de la Musique, detaillés avec précision et clarté, Pleyel, Paris c1799.

Compilations:

Bania Maria, The improvisation of preludes on melody instruments in the 18th century, “The Consort” 2014, Vol. 70.

Bowers Jane M, Lusse, de, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, http://
www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/17206 [access: 22.01.2016].

Christensen Thomas, The “Règle de l’Octave” in Thorough-Bass Theory and Practice, “Acta Musicologica”
(July-December, 1992), Vol. 64, b. 2.

Ferguson Howard, Prelude, entry in: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, Vol. 15,
London–New York 1980.

Fuller David, Gustafson Bruce, Corrette, Michel, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford
University  Press,  [online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/06563  
[access: 5.11.2015].

Lasocki David, Freillon-Poncein Jean-Pierre, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford Univer-
sity Press, [online] http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40819 [access:
5.11.2015].

Ledbetter David, Ferguson Howard, Prelude, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford Univer-
sity Press, [online] http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/43302 [access:
5.11.2015].

Mather Betty Bang, Lasocki David, The Art of Preluding 1700–1830 for Flutists, Oboists, Clarinettists and Other
Performers, McGinnis & Marx, New York 1984, reissue 2010.

Miller Leta E., C.P.E. Bach and Friedrich Ludwig Dülon: Composition and Improvisation in Late Eighteenth Century
Germany, “Early Music” 1995, XXIII/1.

Montgomery William, Devienne François, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford Univer-
sity  Press,  [online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/07688  
[access: 22.01.2016].

Powell Ardal, The flute, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2002.

Rendall F. G./Audéon Hervé, Vanderhagen, Amand, entry in: Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Oxford
University Press, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/28989 [access
14.02.2016].

Wachsmann Klaus et al., Lute, entry in: Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press,
[online]  http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40074pg5  [access:
16.12.2015].

85
 Ewa Gubiec Graduate from the Grażyna and Kiejstut Academy of Music in Łódź
e-mail: egubiec@gmail.com

THE ART OF PRELUDING ON THE FLUTE

IN THE 18TH CENTURY IN FRANCE

Summary

In the 18th century, there were two types of preludes. The first type was a part of a music
piece (written by a composer) at its very beginning, with a diversified construction (e.g.
prélude in French suites or prelude to a fugue in German music). The second type was a short
music introduction to the key and character of a piece, improvised by a musician during a
performance, which is the subject of this article. Even though the practice of preluding of
music pieces on the flute was common in the Baroque period, and then also in the Classicism
and the Romanticism, very few modern performers return to it. This article is therefore aimed
at introducing the art of preluding on the flute in the 18th century by presenting some texts on
preluding taken from French flute playing textbooks from the 18th century and by analysing
the music examples included there. The sources are discussed in a chronological order and the
studied period is divided into the first and second halves of the 18th century.

In the mature Baroque period, the aim of improvised preludes was introducing the key
and character of a piece, so they could represent any of the affects commonly known at that
time. Their style had two clear influences – the galant style and the figured bass technique,
depending on the character of an improvisation. Typical French-styled ornaments were used
as well. Apart from solo preluding, artists also improvised with the continuo and in a duo. The
most important source from that period was J-M. Hotteterre’s L’art de preluder.

In the second half of the 18th century, the virtuoso effect in preludes became more important,
so they started to resemble etudes. The Baroque ornaments were replaced by: fiorituras,
accidentals, large leaps and the use of the flute’s high register. Preludes were still aimed at
introducing the key of a piece but their role to present a performer’s instrument playing skills
was emphasized. It was probably in that period when group preluding was abandoned.

The article presents and discusses the rules of preludes composing and modulating, as well
as the schemes and patterns for preludes from the first and second halves of the 18th century,
which facilitate the process of learning of the art of preluding for the beginners and artists less
skilled in improvisation.

Key words: preluding, prelude, improvisation, flute

86