Meeting a Native American flute maker at the Bayou City Arts Festival opened up my eyes to the cool history and aesthetic associations of the instrument, both in terms of the western concert flute and others.
I am reminded of the delicious, sensual and smokey opening of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d-un faune, where the flute exposes a sense of eroticism mirroring the Stephane Mallarme poem, its main inspiration. It describes a faun's encounters with water nymphs in a pseudo-dreamlike state after waking up from his afternoon slumber (pictured left is Manet's depiction of the faune). The exotic chromaticism of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé ravishing flute solo awakens the memory of Pan (god of shepherd, flocks, mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music) who made a flute out of reeds to commemorate his love for Syrinx (a nymph known for her chastity) who was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound to avoid him. The name of the pan flute is derived from this story. The tale is deliciously hot. At any rate, is it time for a cigarette?
And then there's Syrinx, the solo flute piece by Debussy, based on Pan's sadness for losing his love. Death. Tragedy. Passion. Another cigarette. Add a martini.
Popular in the baroque period and largely ignored in romanticism other than a few Brahms solos in his first and fourth symphony and a Schubert tour the force (yes and some other horribly cheesy theme and variations), my talk with Gillermo Martinze made me think about the special attributes that would allow the flute to make a comeback and become a favorite among impressionist and post-impressionist composers. Guillermo Martinez reminded me about one more trait: spirituality and the supernatural.
I am not referring to Mozart's Die Zauberflöte or Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice but rather legends of its origins. Native American culture links the flute to the spirit world and has, just as many cultures have their own creation story, many legends that give its birth a supernatural element. To read a few, click here. Whether the impressionists were aware of this at a conscious or unconscious level is of no concern to me, but rather justification for using it to carry this type of symbolism.
Gillermo's flutes themselves bridge the craft of instrument making with spiritual and artful elements. Inspired by dreams and visions, Gillermo incorporates the horse in this gorgeous creation. The horse symbol is widespread through many cultures as the emblem of the life force and is assigned the attributes of the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. In Native American culture specifically, it combines the grounded power of the Earth with the whispers of wisdom found in the spirit winds. The horse is a honored helper and messenger. It harbors spirit knowledge and is considered an wild emblem of freedom. There is mutual respect, awareness, and responsibility when man enters into a silent contract with the animal.
I love when instrument making goes beyond craft. To learn more about Gillermo and his flutes, visit http://www.quetzalcoatlmusic.org/.
