Story of the Flute
I have already spoken of Sullivan's use of the flutes in their highest register to depict a storm; WagnerWagner uses them for the same purpose in his overture to The Flying Dutchman, and also in the "Ride" in the Walküre, where he allots to the flutes chromatic runs and shakes on their very highest notes along with the piccolos. He uses the flutes in groups, generally employing three flutes (often in unison) and a piccolo, sometimes even more; thus in Siegfried (ii. 2) we find three flutes and a piccolo, but they play only three distinct parts, and in Tannhäuser we have in the orchestra three flutes (one also plays piccolo), and also on the stage four flutes and two piccolos. As a rule, Wagner uses his flutes chiefly in sustained or reiterated chord accompaniments, or in unison with the rest of the wind in forte passages. He is fond of combining them with the oboe (e.g., Tannhäuser, iii. 1, "The day breaks in," and in the Meistersinger several times). But he hardly ever gives the flute a solo of any length; practically never a really long solo standing out prominently. The flutes are never used absolutely alone for more than a single bar. In my examples I have given the nearest approaches to solo passages to be found in his works. In Siegfried and elsewhere he uses the three flutes to imitate the flutter of birds.
Wagner does not as a rule treat the flute as a melodic instrument, nor does he use it much for "conversations" between the various instruments. We often find whole pages of his scores with no flute or170
