The Art of Preluding for Flutists, Op149

The Art of Preluding immediately feels like music making, which is not always how warming up pans out, and if improvising is a scary concept fear not as Gariboldi has done all the work! The exercises are grouped by key and each group consists of conventional Preludes and the more freely composed Fermatas which are cadenza-like pieces. These have plenty of scope for choices of speed, rubato and dynamics which will foster the more imaginative side of performance. Tone control and breathing are at the centre of all of them and they are not without technical difficulties too, so you really do feel as if you have worked on everything even by working on one. The preface explains that despite all of this 'it is just as necessary to get the soul in vibration and warm up one's expressive qualities as well' which is a wonderful concept to have in your head as you open the flute case!