Claude Debussy's masterpiece for solo flute, Syrinx, performed by world renowned flutist Emi Ferguson on a historical flute made by Louis Lot in Paris in 1879. The design of the original flute lends the work a unique and transparent sound. Syrinx is filmed for the first time in 8K video, on a period instrument, with an ambisonics microphone.
Debussy dedicated the piece to the flutist Louis Fleury, for him to play during the interval of one of Debussy's ballets. Syrinx is the first significant piece for solo flute after the Sonata in A minor composed by C. P. E. Bach over 150 years before (1747), and it is the first such solo composition for the modern Böhm flute, developed in 1847. Syrinx was written as part of incidental music to the play Psyché by Gabriel Mourey, and was originally called "Flûte de Pan". It was given its final name in reference to the myth of the amorous pursuit of the nymph Syrinx by the god Pan, in which Pan falls in love with Syrinx. Syrinx, however, does not return the love to Pan; she turns herself into a water reed and hides in the marshes.
(Wikipedia).
Flute maker Louis Lot was the official supplier of flutes to the Paris Conservatoire from 1860, and the basic design was used by players of the French flute school for generations. Lot may have used a special kind of silver for the instruments, known as "958" and, in addition, the silver is worked from a flat sheet instead of drawn in a tube (source: Michael Botha). It's also possible that the silver was sourced from readily available French Standard Silver "Minerve 1°titre." The combination of the subtle imperfections in the material and the type of silver gives the flute its unique sound .
Emi Ferguson and Voices of Music would like to gratefully acknowledge the generous assistance of David Ross for the use of the historical flute in this video, as well as Julian Rose and Emily Andenmatten of the Flute Center of New York.
Thanks also to Michael Lynn for his knowledge of all flutes great and small.
Audio Engineer: Boby Borisov
Produced by Hanneke van Proosdij
8K video: Llyoyd Hryciw and Rob Clevenger
Post Production: Emi Ferguson and David Tayler
#Syrinx