Some Multiple-Sonorities for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon

Abstract

IN A previous PERSPECTIVES article (Vol. 5, No. 1) I listed twenty-six multiplestops (of two, three, and four tones) for the flute. As the result of recent investigations, I wish to present several additional such for flute, plus initial lists of similar sounds obtainable on the oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. I propose the use of the term sonorities in place of the term stops, the latter term having specific meaning only in reference to stringed-instrument techniques. While multiple-sonorities for woodwind instruments are more limited both in number and, for the present, ease of production than those played by stringed instruments, they are nonetheless a legitimate extension of the traditional performance capabilities of these instruments. They have not yet been widely used; however, their validity as compositional material is convincingly demonstrated in several recent works, such as those of William O. Smith on Contemporary Records #6010 and George Perle's Three Inventions for Solo Bassoon.' I have had some experience with their use in a work of my own entitled Two Pieces for Three Flutes. The acoustic principle behind the production of the listed later in this article seems clear. In the majority of cases a fingering is employed which produces two or more possible tube-lengths for use in the production of tone. Several adjacent tone-holes on the upper portion of the instrument are closed while a single small hole, usually nearest to the embouchure and therefore above the closed holes, remains open. On the flute the small hole is most often one of the trill holes; on the clarinet it is nearly always the hole opened by the octave key. (See illustration on p. 137.) Similar methods of production are found on the oboe and bassoon, although with these instruments the technique of overblowing fundamental tones in the low register so as to obtain partials is also common. Both the timbres of multiple-sonorities on woodwinds and the types of embouchure used in their production differ from the conventional norms. On the flute many of the sounds are relatively soft, not sharply focused, and, of necessity, short; the embouchure is rather open and the player should attempt a spread tone. For the clarinet the sounds are again generally soft, but they are all quite capable of being sustained-in fact they are the most successful this way, since their production often requires slightly more than