Page32 #1, Le Tourbillon

Selected Duets for Flute, Page 32 Number 1, performed by David Summer. The title of this duet, "Le Tourbillon" translates into English as "the top" or "the whirlwind". This duet lives up to its name by congering up the image of a whirlwind. "The Tourbillon" is also the title of a Mickey Mouse cartoon produced by Walt Disney for RKO Radio Pictures, and released on 14 February 1941. In it, Mickey is attempting to rake some leaves when a mini tomato begins to thwart his efforts. I've found that students are often challenged by having to move back and forth between the 16th notes and the 8th notes in the top line of this duet. This is a good duet to use to reinforce the idea of subdividing the beat. It's also a good one to assign the student both lines of the duet since the second line presents the same type of rhythmic challenge, adding quarter notes to the mix. The composer of the duets in this section of the book, Jacques Aubert, was a French composer and violinist writing in the first half of the 1700's. The metronome setting for this performance is quarter note = 72.