The Piccolo Soloists
The piccolo first made its
presence felt in the eighteenth century but it wasn’t until the following
century that its use became more widespread in orchestras. The instrument
evolved from fife to Boehm system much as the concert flute and more and more
composers included a piccolo part in their orchestral scores throughout the
nineteenth century. However, it soon became apparent that piccolos demanded
special requirements from the players.
Macaulay Fitzgibbon
maintained that the great piccolo players such as Robert Frisch, Harrington
Young, Charles le Thičre and George Roe
etc. did not shine very pre-eminently as flute players. There may well be some
truth in his thought on the matter. The tighter embouchure required for piccolo
playing may well adversely affect flute tone for some players. Switching
between metal flute and wooden piccolo can cause a player
difficulties. Wooden piccolos rarely have a lip plate and the tighter
embouchure needed for the small hole is much more tiring for the player to
maintain over a long period of time. The smaller instrument requires more air
speed and breath pressure than the flute. Lip position, air pressure and the
small size of the instrument are all critical factors affecting intonation.
Nevertheless, the piccolo
really came into its own with the advent of recording equipment such as
Many virtuoso performers were
recorded from the 1890’s and on into the twentieth century simply because the
piccolo was one of the most suitable instruments to record. Its loud, clear and
high pitched voice was admirably suited to the technical process. The early
recording companies required short pieces from composers because of the
limitations imposed by the current technology and the performers were happy to
thrill their growing audience through their own prowess and the opportunity of
technical display offered by these short pieces. As recordings were made and
sold throughout
In
Eli Hudson
Albert Fransella
A couple of years after
Like Fransella, James Wilcocke was a well respected member of the
James Wilcocke Jean Gennin
After about 1910 virtuoso
piccolo recordings began to give way to a repertoire of
music for small ensembles playing classical works although the Gennin brothers and Gordon Walker (1885-1965)
continued to record piccolo pieces well into the late 1920’s.
Belgian born Jean Gennin (b.1886) and his brother, Pierre, played with
Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra from about 1913. Under the direction of Dan
Godfrey they recorded piccolo and flute
duets composed by Jean. His Fluttering
Birds for two piccolos and orchestra was recorded on
Gordon Walker
In London Gordon Walker had
already made a number of piccolo solo recordings for Zonophone
It has been estimated that
between 1889 and 1930 well over a thousand piccolo solos were composed and
performed in outdoor bandstands across the
John S. Cox
The Irishman John S. Cox
(1834-1902) was known to be a good piccolo player who also composed a
number of solos for the instrument. He first played in Gilmore’s band before
being appointed by Sousa in 1892. From 1900 Marshall Lufsky
(1878-1948) and Darius Lyons (1870-1926) played together and toured
with Sousa. Between 1902 and 1909, Lufsky made nearly
100 recordings as piccolo soloist, and from 1906 became flautist in the studio
orchestra of the Columbia Phonograph Company, a position he held for fourteen
years.
During the 1920’s he
occasionally played at the Metropolitan Opera House and with the New York
Philharmonic. His recording of Nightingale
Polka made with Prince’s band for
Lufsky’s partner, Darius Lyons, played with the Victor Herbert
Orchestra and the Savage Opera Company in
Henry Heidelberg (b.1872) filled the vacancy in Sousa’s band left by
Recording companies in
Piccolo players and composers of popular
pieces for the instrument were numerous in the early years of the twentieth
century but, in more recent times, players have had to prove themselves in the
orchestral world, for it is here that the instrument has found its niche. In a
sense, today’s orchestral players are soloists every time they raise the
instrument to their lips, as the sound of the piccolo is one of the most easily
detected by ear of all the sounds an orchestra can offer.
© Stuart Scott, 2011