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The BlogPractical guide – Syrinx by Claude Debussy
Ory’s Flute Tips
Practical guide – Syrinx by Claude Debussy
Listen first to my video and take a look on the score.
📜 Respect the score
Debussy writes throughout his whole repertoire very precisely, giving the player many exact instructions of how to execute his pieces. Therefore, I always encourage the students I work with to limit their freedom and respect the text. Yes, it is a solo piece and it shouldn’t feel metronomic, but at the same time taking too much freedom breaks the structure of the piece and doesn’t allow the listener to understand the beat or the relations between all the different rhythms.
Think for a moment about the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (see here my practical excerpt guide with my video of it). We all know that when you play this excerpt you do have certain freedom but you should respect the beats. I believe that also while playing Syrinx we should do the same. Try to respect the quarters beats and make your rubati inside the beat.
As for the tempo of the piece, I’m not sure if you’ve ever considered that, but in fact both the Prelude and Syrinx start with the exact same tempo markings – ‘Très modéré’. Maybe it’s not a bad idea then, to think about the tempo of the Prelude in order to get an idea about the tempo for Syrinx.
🤔 Consider your use of tone colors, dynamics and vibrato
There are few more considerations and decisions I believe you should make before playing the piece. Syrinx is a very powerful piece in terms on the effect over your audience and you have to create a certain atmosphere in order to achieve that. Your choices of vibrato, tone colors and dynamics are extremely important to creating that and should reflect and help you maintaining that atmosphere throughout the piece.
When I perform this piece I try to convey a rather intimate, delicate, fragile atmosphere – as I imagine the nymph Syrinx, being chased by the god Pan. During the piece there’s certain drama happening, especially around the 5th line of the second page of the score – that might reflect Syrinx crying out for help from the river nymphs. Otherwise, during the rest of the piece the music should stay rather on the calm, intimate side. If you scan quickly the score (find the score here), you’ll see no indications for any dynamic more than mezzo-forte, besides of the most dramatic spot marked with mezzo-forte and crescendo.
Personally, I would choose a tone color that has no pressure or power in it, rather something more gentle. The vibrato I would use should be as well very gently integrated into the sound and should not steal the attention. As the drama happening later in the piece you can definitely increase the intensity of the vibrato, but only till the drama has finished.
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🎬 On stage you are not only a musician – but an actor as well
When you are on stage in front of your audience you are not only playing for them – you are performing for them. That means that you should take care not only for the way you sound, but as well for the way you move (or not) on stage during playing. The way you move has an extremely important effect on creating or ruining the atmosphere you are trying to make while playing.
If the music you are playing is gentle and fragile, your movements can not be big and not linked with the music. That will only catch the attention of the listeners and interrupt them to dive into this world you are creating for them with your playing.
In moments when the music stands still (such as end of the first line and end of the third line in the score) – you should literally stand still as well. Don’t move and allow some silence, without any activity on stage. Only then keep playing the next phrase.
If you take a close look on the video at 0:12 and 0:44 you will see what I mean. At the end of the piece (2:47) it’s very relevant as well.
You can find more tips about this topic in my article “Connect your body movements to the music”.
I hope this article could give you few ideas of what to consider the next time you perform this piece. If you have questions, you are very welcome to leave a comment.
Ory
Ory Schneor is a principal flutist with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Tongyeong Festival Orchestra and member of the Geneva Camerata. He is teaching masterclasses around the world and he is the founder and instructor at FLUTEinWIEN
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Good evening Mr Schneor,
I really like what you have to say, especially not taking too many liberties. I remember a Debussy quote to Gaoubert when asked if he minded if he (Gaubeert) played something a certain way, Debussy said “Play what I wrote, not what you think I should have written”. When I am judging a person playing this piece, I often have to tell them this very thing, as Syrinx seems to lend itself to ‘over expression’. When teaching the piece, I teach what I refer to as the ‘Syrinx Bb’ for the end of bar 8 as it makes the Bb just float out of the decrescendo. Also, bar 17 – lifting the thumb just before the octave Db sounds makes it just float out. I describe the bar 13 feeling is of a large leaf floating down from a tree. I always tell the story first, every time I play the piece, so that the audience can follow the story. The Syrinx Bb? When fingering the Eb, simultaneously lift the LH pinky and half-hole the G key as you decrescendo. You get a beautiful Bb that just floats out. I’m sure you knew that, but I thought you might bring this out.
Hey Dan and thanks a lot for this great comment! 🙂 I didn’t mention actually any fingerings in the article, but the Bb is great. For the Db of the octave I use it as an overtone, opening just a little bit the LH index finger (and not the thumb).
I think your comment is really helpful for the readers! Thanks again! 🙂
Hi Ory,
I am a mature, postgraduate student studying for a Masters in performance at the University of Leeds in the UK.
Over the last semester or so I have been exploring the flute repertoire which has links to Pan and Syrinx, or Nymphs and Fauns and have therefore worked on and performed Debussy’s Syrinx (I very much enjoyed your performance of it by the way and have enjoyed reading your blog).
As part of my work I researched the piece and its origins and would like to share my findings with you. Please forgive me if you know all this already.
The piece was commissioned by Gabriel Maurey as incidental music for his play entitled Psyche and was to be played during Act 3 Scene 1 off stage. At this point in the play Pan is alone and out of sight in his cave and this is the last melody he plays before his death (a water nymph and a mountain nymph overhear him).
The piece was completed and first performed in 1913 by Louis Fleury and was originally called La Flute de Pan. It wasn’t published in Debussy’s ifetime, or even during Fleury’s lifetime – it was published a year after Fleury’s death, in 1927 (Fleury had kept the manuscript and after his death his wife then passed it to the publisher Jobert). Marcel Moyse had some input into getting it ready for publication, although it is unclear exactly what he changed – there are suggestions that the original manuscript did not even have any barlines! The publisher changed the title to Syrinx, which is suggested to be because of one of Debussy’s other works, Chanson de Bilitis, also published by Jobert, which has a movement titled La Flute de Pan, so perhaps it was to avoid confusion.
In 1991 a manuscript of the piece was found in Brussels, but no one knows if this is Fleury’s manuscript, or a different one. It differs in several details from the 1927 version and so no one is sure.
With all this in mind, when performing this piece I therefore give it a melancholy air with only hints of Pan chasing the Nymphs – more like a memory of his pursuits and adventures.
Anyway, it certainly is an interesting piece and is still shrouded in mystery, which I think is how Debussy would want it to be.
Very best wishes,
Jo Lewis
Hey Joanna, thanks a lot for your comment. I think this information can serve many who read the article!