INFLUENCE OF FLUTIST SCHOOLS IN THE TEACHING PRAXIS OF THE HIGHER TEACHER IN SPAIN

Ana María 1 , Botella Nicolás 1 , Guillem Escorihuela Carbonell 1

INTRODUCTION

The painter and art philosopher Vassily Kandinsky (1912), says that "any artistic creation is the daughter of its time and, most of the time, the mother of our own feelings" (p. 28). According to this premise, artistic schools are the result of a given moment and the influence that a creator and his feelings can exert on other authors. In this sense, the ephemeral art of musical performance is difficult to fit into the traditional definition of school, which has been anchored in the principles of doctrine or system of an author or authors, followed by a group of disciples.

The following article addresses the concept of school in the transverse flute teachings, through a study on the teaching practice of teachers in higher music centers in Spain. The objective is to know the influence and influences that the different schools may have on the students and to determine if these doctrines can really be limited today, as a result of a specific moment and in circumstances of expansion of the instrument.

Few writings have focused on the importance of the European flutist schools that have given a different aspect to the performance, both solo and orchestral (Escorihuela, 2017). For this reason, the cases that occur in Spain are addressed here, in this way, national results are expected that may give birth to a supposed Spanish school of transverse flute.

To determine if there really is a native flute school, differentiated from the rest of the national schools, and to know the influence of these in the teaching of Spanish centers, we proceed to a tour of all of them. Schools that have played an important role in the generalization and exponential of the techniques and methods that have managed to be timeless and of proven solvency (Escorihuela, 2017).

There is no doubt about the influence that Taffanel's students at the Paris Conservatory had on flutists in the early 20th century in Europe and America. According to Toff (1996), the French school was the forerunner of the American one, while the English school had different tendencies from those developed in France.Escorihuela (2017) affirms that in other European countries a similar situation occurred, with a gradual loss of secular features in favor of the French school. At the same time, Spain had not managed to establish a flutist tradition, being a country that lived its music looking to Italy and France.

STATE OF THE ISSUE

If we consider the reflection on instrumental technique and its teaching as the writings and manuals that make up the corpus of a given school, we must weigh the influence of what is probably the first manual in the history of the flute: Principes de la flûte traversière, ou flûte d’Allemagne, de la flûte à bec ou flûte douce et du hautbois, divisez par traictez. First published in Paris in 1707 and written by the French composer and flutist Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (1674-1763). The book was enormously successful inside and outside of France, being reissued repeatedly during the 18th century. According to Escorihuela (2017): “The quadruple facet of builder, performer, composer and treatise writer, make Hotteterre a very important figure in the history of the flute and a reference within the early Baroque” (p. 31). Thus, he can be considered one of the first creators of the French flute school.

An institution was fundamental to, from the center of the nation, unite the flute and musical practice of an entire country, and export it to those who took the Paris Conservatory as the most important musical reference. As BBotella and Escorihuela (2019) state: “the Paris Conservatory, founded in 1795, had clearly codified instrumental teaching. All students had to learn in the same way, following a well-defined program. And its first official method was that of Hugot and Wunderlich (1804)” (p. 6).

Others will follow, such as those by Berbiguier (1818), Tulou (1835), Drouet (1827), Altès (1880), or the compendiums of studies by Demersseman and Donjon. In all of them, the evolution of the instrument is reflected, from a flute with 7 keys to the Boehm system, patented in 1847. Besides the methods, the music that is written for flute from the Conservatory´s circles become its own repertoire and characteristic of this school, since, according to Artaud (1986), such a tradition of a catalog by the virtuous themselves lasted over time. Among the teachers who stood out, we find Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) and Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941), who wrote numerous solo pieces and chamber music, commissioned by the institution itself, or by their own students. These great flute pedagogues, with Marcel Moyse (1889-1984), created the modern flute school.

For Perlove (n.d.), the lineage of the French school dates back to Taffanel, appointed in 1813 as a flute teacher at the Paris Conservatory. He was called the Paganini of the flute for his rich homogeneous sound and technical virtuosity. His brightest students held leading musical positions, such as Marcel Moyse, Louis Fleury, Georges Laurent, Georges Barrère, and Philippe Gaubert. With the latter, he wrote a book, published in 1923, on scale studies which is still a method used internationally. Taffanel also recovered the forgotten repertoire of Bach and Mozart and institutionalized the Conservatory's commissions for original works for annual competitions. Adolphe Hennebains and René Le Roy succeeded him as teachers, and they continued to expand the reputation of the school and its methodology.

Philippe Gaubert exerted his influence through two facets: firstly, that of performer and flute teacher, and later with the conductor, being the conductor of the Paris Opera. From this advantageous position, he promoted the use of silver as the ideal material in the manufacture of flutes, and its acceptance by the majority of French flute players generated a new common denominator: sound. Besides, the construction in open plates that Godfroy introduced was popularized by Gaubert, constituting another element of international influence.

Next on the list of teachers who revolutionized the study and teaching of the flute, marking a milestone in the French school was Marcel Moyse. Professor at the conservatory from 1932 to 1948, he was probably the most outstanding flute player of the first half of the 20th century. To this is added the impressive set of didactic works that he wrote, constituting an indispensable reference for every student (Escorihuela, 2017).

Taffanel's pupils had a strong influence on all flute players in the early 20th century, both in Europe and America. They held the main orchestral and teaching positions and recorded some of the first classical repertoire records (Doreguille, 1988). The French flute school stood out for using metal flutes, built under the guidelines of the Boehm system modified by Louis Lot and others, as well as a style of playing based on the sound of light and vibrating character (Powell, 2002). According to Escorihuela (2017):

The essence of the French school can be summed up in the quality of the sound, expressed in softness, lightness, and color. Without being dense and strong, it possesses a sufficient attribute of elegance. Already from the didactic work of Hotteterre (1707), the first of this genre, the line of the nominated school can be traced. The use of the articulations, the recommendations about the flattements and other aggrements, demonstrates the search for a certain sound. Thus, as in its changes in the construction, trying to give the flute a greater dynamic response and increase the color. The articulations tu and ru, typical of the French language, together with the special care of the phrasing, are undoubtedly two genuine signs of the identity of the school. (p. 62)

It can be affirmed that the influence of the Conservatory and the Gallic flute players extended from the beginning of the 20th century to all Western musical centers, which ended in an inexorable internationalization of this doctrine. This was helped by the influence exerted by French wind builders and instrumentalists throughout Europe since the 17th century, transporting the national style to all courts, the so-called French taste that spread during the Baroque (López, 2000).

Regarding Germany, around 1730 the Museum Musicum Theoretico Practicum by Joseph Friedrich Bernhard Majer (1732) and the Musicus Autodidaktikos by Johann-Philipp Eisel (1738) were published. The German flute school owes much to Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773), his is one of the first treatises on instrumental music: Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (1752). Quantz's work has become the reference point for musical and flute performance typical of the mid-18th century. It is a method that combines theoretical notions with the practice of the music of the time, it also incorporates data on the performance, having ornamental art as a support for its examples. We are facing an essay that goes beyond the mere flute tutorial to become a compendium of musical taste and the execution of more instruments (López, 2012).

Johann-George Tromlitz (1725-1805), writes Ausführlicher un gründlicher Unterricht die Flöte zu spielen (1791), it is another of the important methods that mark the German school of the 18th century. The author emphasizes the flexibility and good sound of the flute, understood differently from the French taste. Other works by the German are Kurze Abhandlung Flötenspielen (1786) and Über die Flöten mit mehrern Klappen (1800). The German school has stood out for its enormous methodological production, thus, as BBotella et al. (2019) affirm in the case of Tromlitz, all his works:

(...) covers aspects related to tuning, articulation, body posture, breathing, dynamics, ornaments, style, cadences, maintenance, and construction of the flute. He is very concerned with the details of execution, such as the treatment of the syllables in the articulation, or that of the body position when facing the instrument. (p. 4).

The German represents a link between centuries, joining the new classical and romantic sonic ideals. He composes for the one-key flute and assumes in his work the technique and style of the 18th century. It is worth noting the visionary work of Tromlitz, whose class format combines technical and interpretive aspects, placing him at an equidistant point between the practice of his century and the 19th (Morales, Tromlitz, En, & Flauta, 2012).

Other authors such as Füsternau increase the prestige of the German model thanks to contributions such as Die Kunst des Flötenspiels (1844), which is based on molds of the Central European courts about the performance with the classical flute, and also incorporates six compilations of studies. The Flöten-Schule method is the first of two books that make up the German methodology of the early 19th century (Toff, 1996). Heinrich Soussman also stands out for his pedagogical studies. Theobald Boehm or the Doppler brothers magnified the name of the German school, however, a succession line of outstanding teachers and students cannot be established, as is the case in the French case. Perhaps this has to do with the absence of a pole of attraction and irradiation of musical ideology, such as the one represented by the Paris Conservatory.

All this crystallized in the gradual loss of the Central European singularity in favor of the French school. In Germany and Austria, the conservative tradition that had been installed in the main musical positions could prevent the introduction of the Boehm system into everyday musical life. Franz Doppler, a soloist at the Vienna Opera and professor at the Conservatory, fought against French fashion, using his eight-key conical flute. After World War II and the collapse of German institutions, French hegemony was irreversible (López, 2000).

The English school takes Charles Nicholson (1795-1837) as a reference, who performed with the London orchestras to reach Covent Garden and the Royal Academy of Music in his career, he also participated in the design of flutes, modifying the width of the holes and the embouchure.Escorihuela (2017) says of him that:

His figure influenced his contemporaries and later English flute players. As a composer, he wrote numerous works, both for concert and learning, the majority published by Clementi and Co. The methods Complete Perceptor for the German Flute, published in London in 1816 and based on the treatise by Quantz, and School for the Flute, published in New York in 1836, stand out. Perceptive Lessons published in London in 1821 is also his (...) articles published in specialized journals such as The Musical Magazine and Review are attributed to him, signing under the pseudonym of C. Sharp (...) Nicholson had the profile of a concert performer-virtuous-composer, which became fashionable around 1820 throughout Europe and which would remain with greater or lesser incidence. His virtuosity and his image as a winner in the other fields of creation and pedagogy made him obtain levels of social prestige little known in musicians (pp. 43-44).

As the teaching of the flute took on an institutional character at the Paris Conservatory, progressive methods appeared in London. Thus, the 19th century English school takes the example of France but develops in different characters and tendencies. Taking Nicholson and his great sound power as a reference, the sound of this school stands out for its denser and darker coloration.Toff (1996) talks about this when he looks at the pronunciation of the word flute:

As with the French, the typical sound of the English ideal correlates with the articulation of the vowel of the language. This is seen if the English pronunciation of the flute is compared with the French flûte: The mouth is more open and relaxed; the sound is looser. The English word flute requires more air pressure in blasting and a harder attack, a more forceful embouchure, often with the flute pressing quite hard against the lips. The result is usually a very, very rich, piping sound, like Nicholson in the lower register (p. 103).

This results in a different sound technique, employing more pressure in the air, as well as a greater harshness in the attack. Regarding the timbre, the English school stands out for its intensity, adorning it with a quick vibrato. The material has also played an important role, with wooden flutes being used even during the 20th and 21st centuries. During the 19th century, the differences were also given by the construction models, different from the French ones, with the British ones having larger holes, both in the mouthpiece and for the fingers (Toff, 1996).

Some of the followers of this school were José María Ribas, a Spanish flute player who developed his entire professional life in the British Isles, researched and designed flutes for the Scott house. Also, Richard Shepard Rockstro, professor at the Guildhall School of Music and soloist at Covent Garden, who magnified the school with works such as Hints to Flute Players (1884), Description of the Rockstro-Model Flute (1884), or A Treatise: The Construction, The History, and The Practice of the Flute (1897). However, the physiognomy data of the instrument he described, typical of English taste, were put aside with the acceptance of the entire musical community of the new Boehm system. The highest point of the English school was embodied by Robert Murchie and Eli Hudson (López, 2000).

The proximity of the island to the mainland allowed the influence of the French school in the British environment. According to López (2000), during the 19th century, some French flute players emigrated in search of work, attracted by the economic, cultural, and musical development that London exerted. In this way, many occupied the main musical positions such as Fleury, Gaubert, and Le Roy, displacing the English taste for French fashion.

Later, some English flute players broke with the custom of using wooden instruments, such as Geoffrey Gilbert, who adopted an instrument made of metal with a gold mouthpiece and even changed the playing style when listening to Moyse and Le Roy (López, 2000). Some figures from the school itself, such as James Galway, have been influenced by their education in Paris, with Crunelle, Moyse, and Rampal (Escorihuela, 2017).

The 20th century gives way to a new school, the United States is already a benchmark in many fields. In the flute field, European builders suffer a decline, which is taken advantage of by American manufacturers, led by William S. Haynes Co. of Boston. Louis Lot style flutes were made in the Boehm system. Following the closure of the English Rudall, Carte & Co. after World War II, the Lot-style metal flute became the only type in regular production in the world (Toff, 1996).

Around 1930 the French recordings travel the old and the new continent. The construction of properly American instruments and the band movement in the school are the main reasons why the French hegemony passed the baton, after 1970, to the new American flute dominance (Toff, 1996).

Many of Gaubert's students settled in the United States, occupying the main musical institutions and transferred the technical and stylistic principles of the Paris Conservatory and its tradition. As stated by López (2000), Marcel Moyse declared for Woodwind Magazine that the American school would become the best, due to the notable increase in flute players who went to settle there. The miscegenation can be observed in the adoption of the French flute by American performers such as William Kincaid, who in turn also incorporates the C foot.

For López (2000), the genuine American national style begins with Kincaid and the flute players who occupied the places in the orchestras. He was a member of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra for 39 years and is considered the introducer of contemporary whisper-tone technique, as well as exploring the upper partials.Escorihuela (2017) affirms that: "after him, the later generations emphasized vibrato and avant-garde techniques, breaking with the traditional way of playing and introducing new sounds such as buzzin, multiphonic, or tongue-ram (pp. 63-64).

In the cast of American flute players, Robert Cantrik, Robert Dick, or Harvey Sollberger take special relevance.Fair (2003) studies the genealogy that has occurred among American flute players for decades, to identify specific traits that define their style. In the absence of a centralized institution, a standard repertoire, or a didactic production that unifies the model, the only possible way was to trace the ties that unite teachers and students over 300 years.

The first figure to mark an American performance of the flute is Georges Barrère, who as a performer and teacher wields enormous influence. So much so that he, his students, and disciples have taught approximately 91% of American flute players up to 2003.Fair (2003) points out that of that number, the legacy of almost 87% can be traced.

Another of the flute players and pedagogues that mark the American school is Georges Laurent, the main flute of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and professor at the New England Conservatory. This second American flute tradition includes approximately 59% of American flute players. Finally, a third genealogical branch of flute players that influences 55% of players is descended from Marcel Moyse, who after his career in Europe taught summer classes in Vermont. As can be seen in The flute book (Toff, 1966), each of these influential pedagogues graduated from the Paris Conservatory after having received classes from Paul Taffanel.

If we try to find a Spanish school with its own tradition with origins in the 19th century like the ones that have been analyzed, we find large structural gaps. The economic, social, and cultural situation of the country, influenced the backwardness of the musical institutions. If one takes into account the eventfulness of the century for the Spanish governments and the general administration of the state, it can be understood that, between wars, colonial losses, and power struggles, music remained isolated. In an Italianate environment, still influenced by the late Bocherini, Paris´s fashion is the one that prevails in instrumental teaching.

López (2000) points out some of the outstanding flute players, who unfortunately could not create their own school:

The brothers Plá Ferrusola, the brothers Julián and Luis Misón, flute players of the Royal Chapel of Madrid -all of them from the 18th century- initiate a period in the history of the flute in Spain that, without being glorious, is, at least, more interesting than one would expect (p. 24).

The Royal Conservatory of Music and Declamation of María Cristina of Madrid was the reference center for Spanish musical education, created in the image and likeness of that of Paris, under its protection the flute took on a relevance that until then had not had. From it came the first Spanish writers and professors, as well as the study methods that would mark the characteristics of Romanticism in Spain.

In 1868 the provisional government dissolved the Royal Conservatory of Music and Declamation and the National School of Music was created. Francisco González Maestre, the longest-serving flute teacher in the history of the center, exercised his teaching there. He updated the flute teaching methodology, completely renewing it based on the influence of the Paris Conservatory (Gericó & López, 2001).

The didactic production is a key element in the consolidation of an instrumental school, however, in the Spanish case, this did not manage to exert the influence that was intended on a country without strong and ingrained musical structures that would transmit a national style.

The Spanish production for the didactics of the flute began in the 19th century. Gericó andLópez (2012) in The didactics of the flute in Spain from 1800 to today, highlight the Positions tables for flutes of different types of keys by Antonio Romero, Studio di Modulazione by José Mª del Carmen Ribas; Nine exercises for solo flute by Cayetano Gil; Elemental Method for flute of 1, 5, 6, and 8 keys and Ten studies of agility by Enrique Calvist; Flute method by José Mª Beltrán; Ensemble method for wind instruments by Eusebio Rivera; Great Flute Method by Andrés Parera; Elementary method for the flute of 1, 5, 6, and 8 keys by Eusebio González; Melodic Studies and Preludes ad Libitum by Joaquín Valverde; The Modern Anfion by Manuel Rossetti, or 20 Exercises for the Boehm system flute and Elemental Method by Francisco González.

Morales (2013) concludes for flutist teaching in Spain that Tulou flutes were used at the Madrid Conservatory, showing a clear French influence on the country's culture in the 19th century. It is from 1882, after the controversy around the instrument that occurred in the opposition to the chair of the Royal Superior Conservatory of Madrid when Eusebio González Val got the position and from this moment established the new Boehm flute model in the regulated education.

METHODOLOGY

This article takes as a reference to the studies on the teaching of the flute in Spain by Botella and Escorihuela (2017, 2018, and 2019). From the data of their extensive research, information is extracted to establish a relational analysis between the techniques and methods of the national schools of this instrument, and the formulas of these that are used in the classrooms of the higher music centers of Spain.

The data have been obtained through two procedures. On the one hand, a bibliographic review on flute schools based on a detailed analysis of primary and secondary sources on what has been written so far about the history of the flute. An allusion is made to both 17th and 18th-century treatises, as well as the most current writings. Research on the flute in Spain during the 19th century also stands out. All this, taking into account the use of methods and study books that are taught.

On the other hand, the data referring to the school are taken from the study linked to the practice of the flute in the classrooms of the higher music centers of Spain carried out by Escorihuela (2017). This serves to know the attitude of the teaching staff, using the questionnaire tool ¹ .

This questionnaire was made up of a battery of open and closed questions divided into 5 dimensions. The first corresponds to the characterization of the sample, in which classification variables were addressed. The second dimension emphasizes the profile of the teacher, asking about academic training, teaching experience, orchestral and chamber experience, or the daily practice of the instrument. For the following sections, the standard class model established by Taffanel at the Paris Conservatory was followed, measuring physiological aspects related to placement and embouchure. For this, it was measured how much time is spent in class on each section, what type of exercises they perform, or what methods they use. The fourth dimension is dedicated to the study of sound, fingering, and articulation, and refers to issues about how they work different elements of the technique. The fifth category focuses on study books, which ones are worked on in class, and which styles. Finally, the sixth dimension refers to the orchestral repertoire and works of the repertoire.

The questionnaire was validated by experts who verified that the proposed items measure the instrumental didactics of the flute. Following the criterion of triangulation, it was presented to three professionals in the field with extensive careers in teaching and instrumental practice of the flute.

The reference population for the questionnaire was made up of the group of transverse flute teachers from the conservatories and higher music centers of the Spanish State of the 2014/2015 academic year. In Spain, we have 30 centers in 16 autonomous regions. Of these, only 26 teach transverse flute in 15 of them. Two were excluded because in the period of data collection in one of them there was only 1 student and the other did not even have data, so it was considered that the contribution to national pedagogy was minimal. Thus, the total population was reduced to 48 subjects in 24 centers.

The questionnaire was sent to the entire population, obtaining more than 70% of responses from each center, and an adequate representation of the whole of the State, with responses from teachers from 11 autonomous communities.

To draw relevant conclusions for this study, the responses to the questionnaire that refer to the national flute schools have been taken, as well as the relational analyzes of Escorihuela's thesis (2017), which verify the degree of association between significant variables as methods, repertoire, or teacher profile. Through these data and the research of the state of the issue around the national flutist schools, we are preparing to determine their influence on the teaching practice of higher teaching staff in Spain.

DISCUSSION

From the questionnaire of more than 90 items thatEscorihuela (2017) launches to a population of 48 subjects, senior transverse flute teachers in Spain, only two items make explicit reference to the school. To the question Is there a preference for some type of national flutist school, 13.7% chose one, while 86.3% answered negatively. Of the percentage that does bet on a certain style, all favor the French flute school.

Based on this answer, the conclusion is easy: the influence of flutist schools on the teaching practice of higher teachers in Spain is slight, if not almost zero. But reading goes beyond a simple answer, that is why this study reviews the responses to the questionnaire that can be directly or indirectly related to the term artistic school and the data provided by the state of the issue.

To find out whether or not the place of learning implies a later preference, the degree of association between the preference for a national flute school and the teachers who studied abroad is checked. Thus, we observe that 73% of the subjects studied abroad, however, only 14% opted for a national flutist school, in this case, the French one. In this way, it cannot be said that the study place implies following a certain national flute school.

Regarding the exercise books used to work on placement and embouchure, it is observed that teachers who are followers of the French school use at least one of the key methods of this trend, it is the pedagogical production of Marcel Moyse. This French flute player wrote methods of technique and expanded his approach to include studies of sound development and expressiveness, promoting a way of playing linked to the nature of the human voice.

Something similar happens if the school item is compared with the methods used to work on the sound. In this case, we can speak of a disguised association between variables, since everything and that 13.7% favor the French school, 54.5% of the respondents reflect their predilection for French methods. And, asPowell (1996) indicates, the work of French teachers is so extensive and complete that it addresses all fields of the instrument's technique and becomes a vademecum for every flute student. This is how he sums up Moyse's work in his La Travesière article:

Marcel Moyse's Enseignement Complet consists of a wide range of exercises, intended to complement, not replace, each of the existing methods, for example, those of Altès or Taffanel and Gaubert. But in reality, it covers all areas, just like other works that leave everything on music theory. There are simple studies to get a beautiful sound: note by note, in intervals, two connections, and the easy formulas in a limited register. The student sees his mapped route. The various cells are written and rewritten in all keys and all possible combinations, the 480 exercises of Scales and arpeggios, which blacken page by page, are one of the most striking examples. A slow initiation of work contains in itself the justification for this whole program: Reason has time to prevail over its instincts, to guide, to suppress temperament, and this is my opinion, on this happy balance a beautiful performance should be based (De sonortité, Art and technique, ed. Leduc, 1934). In another collection of daily exercises that appeared in 1974, Moyse speaks of vibrato, which, before being admitted, was totally prohibited at the beginning of the century, at least in Paris (p. 29).

So much so that 68.2% of the subjects of the questionnaire that serves as a reference for this study cite the work of Taffanel and Gaubert, as a pillar in their training, also repeating Moyse's methods and, therefore, influencing the French school. According to Artaud (1986):

(...) two very famous names must be mentioned, Paul Taffanel and Philippe Gaubert, who wrote numerous solo and chamber music pieces, sometimes commissioned by the National Superior Conservatory of Music of Paris for the exit competition, or their own students, since they were two of the greatest flute pedagogues, who, with Marcel Moyse, created the modern flute school (p. 39).

If we check the degree of association between the variable preference for a national flutist school and the methods used to work on fingering and articulation, it is confirmed that teachers who do not adhere to a certain school do so by programming mostly French methods. This constitutes a nexus of union between the superior teachers. For this reason, the influence that the Paris Conservatory has had on Spanish music centers is beginning to be conclusive.

To test the influence of the school and the study books that are programmed, the degree of association between these variables is verified and a too-wide range of methods is obtained, which include Italian, German, and French compilations. However, in general terms, 41% of the subjects opted for French books, and 33% for German ones. The study books are compilations of pieces that, with a musical and not mechanical character, serve the students to work on a certain technical aspect. Thus, among the books cited by the subjects, there are some focused on a specific perspective, such as sonority, digital speed, etc. Some others are a series of compositions in which each one affects legato, different staccatos, flexibility, arpeggios, extended techniques...

These are the data that have been extracted from the analysis and that refer to the school. Since it is Escorihuela (2017), the only study linked to the superior teaching of the transverse flute, its results cannot be compared with other research that brings us closer to the teacher's praxis of this instrument in relation to scholastic currents.

Obviously, in this way, the limitations of the study, the unanswered questions, and the lack of some data make the questions included in the questionnaire remain outside of this discussion. Some of them, such as the profile of the teaching staff, their academic life outside and within the country, the works of the repertoire that they program, and other items related to the influence that a certain school can exert on their teaching, are diminished by biased and non-representative answers. However, the conclusions of this article are intended to shed light on this, below, an attempt is made to explain the influences of these currents taking into account the statistical data, the qualitative responses, and the information collected on the state of the issue.

CONCLUSIONS

With the data obtained on the teaching practice of the teachers of the Spanish higher centers and the historical evolution of the national flute schools that have been revealed in the state of the issue, it can be concluded that the influence of these schools is currently slight in our teaching model. However, it is necessary to point out some nuances that bear witness to this archetype, the result of a series of historical events and fashions that, although changing, have always kept their sights on the European centers of musical diffusion.

If barely 14% of the teaching staff say they feel attracted to or supportive of a national flute school, it can be said that the rest of the teachers adhere to what the English flute player and pedagogueWye (1988) affirms in his book The flute as it should be, where he reflects on flute schools to conclude that today there are as many as there are influential teachers. However, the majority of respondents coincide in highlighting an international flute figure as a role model, it is the French-Swiss Emmanuel Pahud.

Taking into account the responses of the subjects and the evolution of the instrument's history, today the scholastic concept of academia is displaced. Even so, an inclination towards the canons of the Paris Conservatory is preserved in the responses of the Spanish flute teachers, both in terms of methods and class organization.

From the research studied, it is observed that teachers use books and methods from all schools for their classes, and their profile differs greatly, with an academic life that varies in terms of teachers, schools, and places. Thus, the influences of the schools are applied on a case-by-case basis so that the currents pool. In a way, the central base of the French school does prevail, at least in the exercises and methods used to work placement, sound, finger technique, and articulation.

The articulation and fingering exercises are also focused on the French school, specifically through the methods of Taffanel and Gaubert, as indicated by 68% of the teachers. The French production continues to be the most used, despite not being assigned to any school, the French bibliography has penetrated the Spanish ideology of the flutist.

The truth is that the outlook reveals cosmopolitan teaching, where the old schools have lost their characteristics. The relationship of these with the teaching practice of teachers of higher education in Spain is still testimonial.

The projection of the French school is undeniable, which, led by Taffanel and his students, have established recognizable standards in this area, such as color and interest in sound quality. Something that, as can be seen, is very present in the evaluations of Spanish teachers.

For its part, the American school can be said to have had a slight impact due to its homogenization with the French, and the fact that it was less scholastic than the first. As for English pedagogy, centered on an intense, rich, and bell sound, it has penetrated some of the teachers who also admit to having set their sights on the flute ideal in London.

It is difficult to enunciate the molds of a flute school of singularly Spanish character. However, the research by Botella and Escorihuela (2017, 2018, and 2019) affirm that there is a common model in the country, due to the similar work that takes place in the classroom and the methods used. Using it as argumentative support, it can be said that there are no great differences between teachers who teach flute, making use of models that have demonstrated international solvency, beyond the concept of school.

If we wanted to enunciate a national Spanish flute school, we would lack publications, innovative, unique, and singular work material. All of this is generally linked to a generation of teachers and performers. Besides the production of exercises and studies, it is difficult to generate an identity brand that differs from the rest. More, if possible, in a system overwhelmed by cultural globalization that addresses a series of complementary processes around the global-local axis, such as homogenization, differentiation, and cultural hybridization.

At this juncture it is impossible to maintain a doctrine, the great national schools come from the 19th century and were forged in circumstances prone to their rise. In Spain, we find a common practice in conservatories, which asEscorihuela (2017) says: “with the few differences found, make the Spanish system an eclectic prototype in which different aspects of established and known national schools fit” (p. 204).

It can be concluded that the concept of the flute school is not applicable today, through French hegemony elements from all schools have been absorbed and combined to achieve a single purpose: to achieve mastery of the instrument through the international canons of beauty of sound and performance.

Wye (1988) affirms that in each country the transverse flute is played with particularities that are the result of a historical legacy and the influence of one or more well-known instrumentalists. To this must be added the travels, abroad studies, visiting professors, recordings, or online resources, which are gradually erasing the differences. He describes the idea of school as a concept of performance based on the musical authority of a personality and his disciples through his pedagogical method, his books, and his way of playing.

Thus, the influence of flutist schools in the teaching practice of higher teachers in Spain should be relativized, since instrumental teaching action carries a high specificity. All this is linked to the idea that the teacher reverts to his students the instrumental idea that he has received (Botella & Escorihuela, 2018). An idea that in turn is changing over time and in some students who normally also receive classes from different teachers, so the degree of conditioning of variables such as teachers, their mobility, and their students must be taken into account, as well as the constant evolution of pedagogical activity.

AUTHORS

Ana María Botella Nicolás:

Associate Professor of the Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic, and Body Expression of the Faculty of Teaching of the University of Valencia. Doctor in pedagogy from the University of Valencia. Graduated in Geography and History, specialized in Musicology, and a teacher in Music Education, from the University of Oviedo. Professional degree in the specialty of the piano. She has more than one hundred communications in conferences and congresses and publishes regularly on music didactics. Her main lines of research are the didactics of hearing, ICTs and innovation in teacher training, and the creation of audiovisual resources for the work of musical listening.

ana.maria.botella@uv.es

Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5324-7152

Google Scholar: http://bit.ly/2UTd9ix

Academia.edu: https://uv.academia.edu/ABotellaNicolás

Guillem Escorihuela Carbonell:

Doctor in Music Didactics from the University of Valencia. He obtained a Higher Degree in Music at the Higher Conservatory of Music of Valencia. He is a professor and subject coordinator of the Department of Chamber Music and Orchestra of the Superior Conservatory of Music of Castellón. He is secretary of the Academic Commission for the Master's Degree in artistic teaching of musical performance and applied research, and is part of the Commission for the evaluation of the research of the Higher Institute of Artistic Education of the Valencian Community. He is a professor in the Master's Degree in Teacher Training for Secondary Education and the Master's Degree in Musical Performance and Research (VIU), and in the Degree in Teacher Training in Early Childhood Education at Florida Universitària.

escorihuela_gui@gva.es

Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5735-3841

Google Scholar: http://bit.ly/2HwctYC

Academia.edu: https://conservatorisuperiorcastello.academia.edu/GEscorihuela

Notes

1. 1 Ana María Botella Nicolás: Ph.D. in Pedagogy from the University of Valencia. Professor of the Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic, and Body Expression of the Faculty of Teaching of the University of Valencia.

2. 2 The questionnaire is part of a doctoral thesis and can be consulted at http://roderic.uv.es/handle/10550/62948

References