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The Pedagogy of Walfrid Kujala: The American Flute School and its Roots in the French Flute School of the Late Nineteenth Century

Frechette, Erinn E
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin14915589673882

Abstract Details

2017, DMA, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music: Flute.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Piccoloist and Northwestern University Professor of Flute Walfrid Kujala is renowned as one of the leading flute pedagogues of the twentieth century. During his forty-year career, he guided scores of young flutists, many of whom went on to serve as orchestral players or professors of flute in prestigious orchestras and universities across the United States and beyond. As a student of some of the founding members of the American Flute School, Kujala’s teachings represent a comprehensive blend of the French Flute School’s apotheosis (seen under Professor Paul Taffanel) and its progeny, the American Flute School. By the turn of the twentieth century, the Paris Conservatory held the reputation as the world’s foremost flute institution. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Paul Taffanel used his original compositions and study materials to instruct his students in the most technically and musically advanced style of the time. Hallmarks of the French style include technical brilliance and precision, a singing tone, a flexible embouchure, liberal use of vibrato, and light articulation. The need to fill chairs in American orchestras lured the finest flutists across the Atlantic; most were graduates of the Paris Conservatory. Georges Barrere (a Taffanel pupil) not only served as Principal Flute of the New York Symphony Orchestra, he also taught at the Institute of Musical Art. There he tutored the father of the American Flute School, William Kincaid. As Professor of Flute at the Curtis Institute of Music, Kincaid instructed a large percentage of the flutists who would continue the French/American tradition, including Joseph Mariano (Kujala’s instructor, Eastman School of Music). While these flutists did not profess to teach in a specific national style per se, the traditions carried from the Paris Conservatory to America are undeniable. Only a very few minute differences between the two schools exist. As a pedagogue at Northwestern University, Walfrid Kujala composed original tutorials in addition to using the established Parisian method books. Upon examination, one may clearly see that Kujala’s studies are directly descended from the Paris Conservatory tradition. Although Kujala did not intend to mirror the past, his pedagogy is a reflection and outgrowth of the Parisian traditions of the late nineteenth century.
Scott Lipscomb, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Terence Milligan, D.M.A. (Committee Member)
Mark Ostoich, D.M.A. (Committee Member)
Heather Verbeck, D.M.A. (Committee Member)
160 p.
Music
Walfrid Kujala; Flute; French; School

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Frechette, E. E. (2017). The Pedagogy of Walfrid Kujala: The American Flute School and its Roots in the French Flute School of the Late Nineteenth Century [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin14915589673882

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Frechette, Erinn. The Pedagogy of Walfrid Kujala: The American Flute School and its Roots in the French Flute School of the Late Nineteenth Century. 2017. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin14915589673882.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Frechette, Erinn. "The Pedagogy of Walfrid Kujala: The American Flute School and its Roots in the French Flute School of the Late Nineteenth Century." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin14915589673882

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.