Guide to Artwhistling (Pfeifkunst)

© J.M. Schlitz

CONTENTS

Samples & Preface

0. Introduction:
Characteristics of Artwhistling

I. History

II. Modern Roles

III. Contests

IV. The Mouthflute

V. Limitations

VI. Modes

VII. Techniques

VIII. Effects

IX. Repertoire

X. Software & Equipment

XI. Planning Recitals

XII. Drills & Etudes

XIII. Conclusions

 

Appendices

A. Dictionary

B. Figures & Images

C. FAQs

D. Online Resources

E. Final Thoughts

 

Inquiries / Order

- Full version of this study (hardcopy).

- 2002 precursor of this study

- Artwhistling lessons

- Commissions

- Contact Information

Guide to Artwhistling

LISTENING SAMPLES

J.M. Schlitz
in partial fulfilment
for the PhD in Music Scholarship

November 2006

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updates:

2007 04 29 by popular demand, the "other" Queen of the Night aria (mp3)

2007 06 29 preface follows the examples below

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further applications of the artwhistling approach (mp3):

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J.M. Schlitz, artwhistler

 

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PREFACE

No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching, but at the same time steady, eye.

- Winston Churchill

     HUMAN whistling has been used in everything from light entertainment to satanic ritual; but the question which first inspired my research in the 1990s was why this medium, as old as humankind itself and inherent in all individuals, had seemingly escaped the attention of art music. To be certain, the idea of whistling Beethoven in front of formal audiences seems, to most people, unusual and even a bit odd. But, why?

     This seemingly simple question has answers that vary across time. The role of whistling in pre-industrial western societies, as we shall see, was not uniform and changed often.* Then finally in the late 1880s, a new type of entertainment took root that has dominated performed whistling ever since. Variety entertainment, also known as music hall or vaudeville, achieved its apex in the early 20th century and is still known today in the form of talk shows, circuses, and contests evolved from fairs or festivals. Thus for more than a century, our concept of performed whistling – where such a concept exists at all – has been shaped by crowd-pleasing tunes, bird emulation, comedy, and novelty appeal. Such 'whistletainment', while often billed as 'the art of whistling', has in fact had little if any impact on the art music world; yet it continues to define our perception about the medium, what it can and can't do, and where performed whistling 'belongs' aesthetically.

     What has resulted today is a curious situation in which reception of the idea of performed whistling has polarised into two extremes. On the one hand we see music departments, music professionals, and other authorities who – with only vague impressions of light entertainment and novelty for reference – dismiss the idea out of hand without even a hearing. On the other extreme are whistling enthusiasts who think they are battling this attitude by promoting the medium indiscriminately, with the idea that more exposure = more appreciation, insisting that whistling is inherently beautiful and therefore entitled to the same status of other instruments. One is forced to choose, in other words, between either whistlephilia or whistlephobia. And so it is that to this very day, a proper investigation of the possibilities of human whistling – a musical medium older than any instrument humans have ever made – has yet to be undertaken.

     This is not to ignore the few ethnomusicological studies and innumerable pieces of light journalism that the topic of whistling has received. But these scholars and reporters (who invariably begin with that stupid Lauren Bacall line, even though most of the internet population, myself included, is not old enough to remember black and white films or who that is), merely describe a status quo that has not changed over the past 150 years. How do we explain the fact that – in the entire history western art music alone – musicians have never seriously explored the possibilities of human whistling? Are we to assume that, for the past 900 years, whistling has simply slipped every musician's attention until the present writing? Or should we instead assume that human beings in the past had different oral physiologies and did not evolve the ability to whistle until the year 1880? Even today, American music departments will mandate gender studies, heavy metal, and sexually explicit films for music majors, yet mere mention of whistling concertos as a research topic has nearly resulted in academic suicide for this author.

     Perhaps it is time to put forward a long-overdue third view; one free of both the prejudice of whistlephobia and the delusion of whistlephilia; one based on investigation and hearing instead of vague biases inherited from a long-dead 19th century pop culture. Our question is simple: What can, or can't, human whistling offer in terms of musical value? Need we associate whistling exclusively with bird sounds and singing-minus-words? Or can anyone, with practice, learn to whistle a Beethoven sonata? What could the mouthflute offer to the music world, if we were to explore its full technical possibilities? Is there a potential for long-term audiences, or for a place in the formal music curriculum? Skepticism is of course warranted, indeed demanded; but so are these kinds of questions. If we could, for a moment, shift our attention away from performed whistling as it currently exists and turn instead to how the medium might serve musicians and music students, then the real possibilities will become evident; possibilities which, it should not surprise us to discover, confirm the views of neither whistlephilia nor whistlephobia. Whistling is not an art, nor is it incapable of art.

     This in mind, we have begun by listening. The above musical excerpts were recorded in various locales over several years – usually under less than ideal conditions – and later converted to MP3 format for purposes of this study. The purpose is not to impress whistling enthusiasts. Quality varies greatly and I make no claims of personal grandeur or labial kung-fu; nor is my aim to promote whistling itself (which to me seems rather pointless). The intent here is simply to demonstrate some lesser known possibilities which may interest musicians, as well as to illustrate a few of the techniques described in the following pages.     — JMS

* I addressed the pre-modern circumstances in a 2002 study "Kunstpfeifen Traditions," which appears fully revised and expanded in the following chapters.

** Correction from the previous study for these German terms: Kunstpfeifen: any kind of performed whistling, musical or otherwise; in English "staged whistling." Pfeifkunst: performed whistling, both historical and modern, which is employed in the context of art music; in English "artwhistling." Source: 'Definition of Artwhistling', International Artwhistling Philharmonic Society online (accessed 1 October 2006), <http://www.artwhistling.org>.

 

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