Andrew Stiller wrote:
"Someone else mentioned "flautando," but this is not at all equivalent.
Flautando specifically means to play with the edge of the bow-hair (at any
speed), and is a light, airy effect."
I agree with Andrew to the extent that this seems, acoustically, to be a
good interpretation of the term flautato/flautando. It is strongly
suggestive of the sound produced and Andrew's contrast with "much bow"
would make a useful binary pair of instructions.
Unfortunately, however, this interpretation of the instruction is not
universal. One finds, for example, flautando as "an instruction to bow
lightly over the end of the fingerboard to produce a flute-like tone",
that is, as a synonym for sulla tastiera.
Thus, interpretation of the marking in existing repertoire is ambiguous
and will depend upon a mix of historical research and sensitivity to the
particular musical context.
Composers of new works, however, have the luxury to be more clear about
this. Perhaps least ambiguous would be to specify either (a) the amount
of bow ("edge of bow" vs. "much bow") or (b) the placement of the bow (sul
tasto/ord/sul pont.) or (c) a specific combination of amount and
placement. A term like flautando or flute-like, might then be used as an
auxiliary characterization, supplementing the concrete description.
Daniel Wolf
Frankfurt
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