Pachelbel Canon for Flutes

Originally Posted by Saiming

Both Mark and Euler have pointed out some very good things.

It is a very famous piece, so the expectations ARE pretty high - just like Euler stated.

What I find rather annoying is the potential you could put into this arrangement. Why three flutes? I mean you can have a large woodwind ensemble instead, in order to have the timbral mixture!

You have to pay attention to the fact that woodwinds require air to perform a tone - there are several passages are slightly too long. I am not a flautist so I do not really know, but 21 measures without a pause is pretty much.

It's already been said above that the expectations are high. i might want to add 21 measures at that tempo is somewhat difficult to sustain good air support.

On a side note, the idea of taking this beautiful piece and arranging it for woodwinds, but by all means carry on. I recommend 4 flutes if you want a small group, maybe piccolo, flute, flute and alto.

PS. I'm not a flautist either but I am a bassoonist

Flautists use a lot of air....basically, they're just blowing into a cylindrical tube, so there's little resistance.

Well, however flutes work, breathing is a pretty big issue when playing them . 21 measures of non-stop music means there will be breaths at some point....just to let you know

Originally Posted by shockin779

It is a split part for the flutes. Not two notes at once. lol

Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming please.

Then write it on individual staves.
It's not like a violin section where you expect to see a divisi after x-number of measures. If the score starts out with a single line saying "flute" then it's a single line played by a single flute.

Are you writing this for a marching band? (one of the rare places you will find unison flute writing) If so, then specify it in your score. Write "flutes", not "flute" at teh beginning. And indicate the divisi when it happens.

Or are you writing this for a flute quartet/quintet? If so, well, it's terrible quartet/quintet writing.

As a suggestion all I can say is: why don't you write something instead of making a transcription/arrangement of this piece over and over? This isn't how you're really going to learn anything about writing.

We have an orchestration masterclass started here on the forum, by the way, which might help you.