The piccolo ( ;
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
for 'small')
is a half-size
flute and a member of the
woodwind
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...
family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the
standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher. This has given rise to the name ottavino (), by which the instrument is called in Italian and thus also in scores of Italian composers.
![Piccolo in D-flat MET MUS1399A5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Piccolo_in_D-flat_MET_MUS1399A5.jpg)
Piccolos are often orchestrated to
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
the violins or the flutes, adding sparkle and brilliance to the overall sound because of the aforementioned one-octave transposition upwards. The piccolo is a standard member in
orchestras
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
,
marching bands
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...
, and
wind ensembles
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...
.
History
Since the Middle Ages, evidence indicates the use of octave transverse flutes as military instruments, as their penetrating sound was audible above battles. In cultured music, however, the first piccolos were used in some of
Jean Philippe Rameau's works in the first half of the 18th century. Still, the instrument began to spread, and therefore to have a stable place in the orchestra, only at the beginning of 1800 A.D. During the Baroque period, the indication "flautino" or also "flauto piccolo" usually denoted a
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
of small size (soprano or sopranino). In particular, this is the case of the concertos that
Antonio Vivaldi wrote for ''flautino''.
/sup>
Until the end of the 19th century, the piccolo maintained the same construction. Historically, the piccolo had no keys. The piccolo should not be confused with the fife, which is traditionally one-piece, has a smaller, cylindrical bore, and produces a more strident sound. At the end of the century, the piccolo began to be built with the Boehm mechanism, which would become the standard during the 1900s. However, it cannot wholly transition to the Boehm system since the bore has remained conical, as in the old system flute, and the first bottom note is D, like in the baroque flute.
Traditional use
It is a myth that one of the earliest pieces to use the piccolo was Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, which premiered in December 1808. Although neither Joseph Haydn nor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
used it in their symphonies, some of their contemporaries did, including Franz Anton Hoffmeister
Franz Anton Hoffmeister (12 May 1754 – 9 February 1812) was an Austrian composer and History of music publishing, music publisher.
Early years
Franz Anton Hoffmeister was born in Rottenburg am Neckar (Further Austria) on 12 May 1754. At ...
, Franz Xaver Süssmayr
Franz Xaver Süssmayr (German: ''Franz Xaver Süßmayr'', or ''Suessmayr'' in English; 1766 – September 17, 1803) was an Austrian composer and conductor. Popular in his day, he is now known primarily as the composer who completed Wolfgang Amad ...
, and Michael Haydn. Also, Mozart used the piccolo in his opera ''Idomeneo
' (Italian for '' Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a Frenc ...
''. Opera orchestras in Paris sometimes included small transverse flutes at the octave as early as 1735 as existing scores by Jean-Philippe Rameau show.
Piccolos are now mainly manufactured in the key of C. In the early 20th century, piccolos were manufactured in D as they were an earlier model of the modern piccolo. For this D piccolo, John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...
wrote the famous solo in the final repeat of the closing section (trio) of his march "The Stars and Stripes Forever
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" is a patriotic American march written and composed by John Philip Sousa in 1896. By a 1987 act of the U.S. Congress, it is the official National March of the United States of America.
History
In his 1928 autob ...
".
Although once made of wood, glass, or ivory, piccolos today are made from plastic, resin, brass, nickel silver, silver, and a variety of hardwoods, most commonly grenadilla
''Dalbergia melanoxylon'' (African blackwood, grenadilla, or mpingo) is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to seasonally dry regions of Africa from Senegal east to Eritrea and south to the north-eastern parts of South Africa. The ...
. Finely made piccolos are often available with a variety of options similar to the flute, such as the split-E mechanism. Most piccolos have a conical body with a cylindrical head, like the Baroque flute and later flutes before the popularization of the Boehm bore used in modern flutes. Unlike other woodwind instruments, in most wooden piccolos, the tenon joint that connects the head to the body has two interference fit
An interference fit, also known as a pressed fit or friction fit is a form of fastening between two ''tight'' fitting mating parts that produces a joint which is held together by friction after the parts are pushed together.
Depending on the am ...
points surrounding the cork and metal side of the piccolo body joint.
The piccolo is used alongside marching drums in traditional formations at the Carnival of Basel
The Carnival of Basel (german: Basler Fasnacht) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and takes place annually between February and March in Basel. It has been listed as one of the top fifty local festivities in Europe.
Since 2017, the Carnival ...
, Switzerland.
In 2014, a festival was born entirely dedicated to the piccolo, /sup> the International Piccolo Festival
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
, which takes place annually in July in Grado
Grado may refer to:
People
* Cristina Grado (1939–2016), Italian film actress
* Jonathan Grado (born 1991), American entrepreneur and photographer
* Francesco De Grado ( fl. 1694–1730), Italian engraver
* Gaetano Grado, Italian mafioso
* ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
Repertoire
There are a number of pieces for piccolo alone by such composers as Samuel Adler, Miguel del Aguila
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
* Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
* São Miguel (disa ...
, Robert Dick
Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist.
Life
He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa.
At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...
, Michael Isaacson
Michael Isaacson (born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1946) is a composer of Jewish synagogue music, and one of the originators of the Jewish camp song movement.Alexander Gelfand"A Musical Midrashist" ''The Forward'', December 5, 2007. His camp ...
, David Loeb, Stephen Hough
Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926).
Biography
Houg ...
, Polly Moller, Vincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own wo ...
, Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
, and Brian Ferneyhough.
Repertoire for piccolo and piano, many of which are sonatas, has been composed by Miguel del Águila
Miguel del Águila (born September 15, 1957) is an Uruguayan-born, American composer of contemporary classical music.
Life
Miguel del Águila (also spelled Miguel del Aguila), was born in Montevideo. In 1978, del Águila moved to California ...
, Robert Baksa, Robert Beaser
Robert Beaser (born May 29, 1954, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American composer.
Biography
Beaser was brought up in a non-musical family. His father was a physician and mother was a chemist. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, where he dist ...
, Rob du Bois
Rob du Bois (28 May 1934 – 28 August 2013) was a Dutch composer, pianist, and jurist.
Background and education
Rob (Robert Louis) du Bois was born in Amsterdam. His French ancestry can be seen from his name, and he maintained a sympathy for th ...
, Howard J. Buss
Howard J. Buss (born January 6, 1951 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Buss’ works include instrumental solos, chamber music, symphonic, choral, and band works. His music has received awards, ...
, , Pierre Max Dubois
Pierre Max Dubois, sometimes given as Pierre-Max Dubois (1 March 1930 – 29 August 1995) was a French composer of classical music, conductor, and music educator. He was a student of Darius Milhaud, and though not widely popular, was respected ...
, Raymond Guiot, Lowell Liebermann
Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961 in New York City) is an American composer, pianist and conductor.
Life and career
At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliard ...
, Peter Schickele
"Professor" Peter Schickele (; born July 17, 1935) is an American composer, musical educator, and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, but which he presents as being composed by the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. He also hosted ...
, Michael Daugherty, and Gary Schocker.
Concertos have been composed for piccolo, including those by Lowell Liebermann
Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961 in New York City) is an American composer, pianist and conductor.
Life and career
At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliard ...
, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
, Todd Goodman, Martin Amlin, Will Gay Bottje, Bruce Broughton
Bruce Harold Broughton (born March 8, 1945) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, and video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career and has contributed man ...
, Valentino Bucchi, Avner Dorman
Avner Dorman (Hebrew: אבנר דורמן; born April 14, 1975 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-born composer, educator and conductor.
Education
Dorman holds a doctorate in music composition from the Juilliard School, where he studied as a C ...
, Jean Doué, Michael Easton,Concerto for Piccolo, Percussion and Strings
Australian Music Centre page. Egil Hovland, Guus Janssen
Guus Janssen (born 13 May 1951) is a Dutch composer of contemporary music and a recording artist. A pianist and harpsichordist, he is also active as a jazz performer.
He studied piano and composition at the Sweelinck Academy of Music in Amster ...
, Daniel Pinkham
Daniel Rogers Pinkham Jr. (June 5, 1923 – December 18, 2006) was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist.
Early life and education
Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, into a prominent family engaged in the manufacture of patent medicines ( ...
, and Jeff Manookian.
Additionally, there is now a selection of chamber music that uses the piccolo. One example is Stockhausen's '' Zungenspitzentanz'', for piccolo and two euphoniums (or one synthesizer), with an optional percussionist and dancer. Another is George Crumb's Madrigals, Book II for soprano, flute (doubling piccolo/alto flute), and percussion. Other examples include a trio for piccolo, contrabassoon, and piano, 'Was mit den Tränen geschieht' by Stephen Hough
Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926).
Biography
Houg ...
, the Quintet for Piccolo and String Quartet by Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, '' Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and '' Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and str ...
, and ''Malambo'' for piccolo, double bass, and piano by Miguel del Aguila
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
* Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
* São Miguel (disa ...
. Currently published trios for three piccolos include ''Quelque Chose canadienne'' (Something Canadian) by Nancy Nourse and ''Bird Tango'' by Crt Sojar Voglar for three piccolos with piano. ''Petrushka's Ghost'' for eight piccolos by Melvin Lauf, Jr. and ''Una piccolo sinfonia'' for nine piccolos by Matthew King are two more examples.
References
Bibliography
* Gippo, Jan (ed.). ''The Complete Piccolo: A Comprehensive Guide to Fingerings, Repertoire, and History'', second edition, foreword by Laurie Sokoloff; contributing editors, Therese Wacker, Morgan Williams, and Tammy Sue Kirk. Bryn Mawr: Theodore Presser Company, 2008.
External links
The Woodwind Fingering Guide
with piccolo fingerings
*Th
International Piccolo Festival
s website
{{Authority control
Side-blown flutes