Flautato

What it means

Flautato calls for a breathy, flute-like string sound. It is achieved by drawing the bow over the fingerboard, that is, far from the bridge, with little weight and rather quick bow movement. There the string vibrates more softly; the high partials recede, the tone loses core and carrying power and gains an airy, almost blurring quality. The markings sul tasto and am Griffbrett (“on the fingerboard”) are used with the same meaning.

In the notation

The instruction is written in italics above the staff, usually together with quiet dynamics. It is ended by naturale, ordinario, or a new indication of place such as sul ponticello. In scores of the twentieth century there is also a graphic representation in which a line shows how the contact point gradually moves from the fingerboard to the bridge.

Musical use

The sound serves to take strings out of the foreground: for accompanying surfaces, for transitions, for places where the music loses its colour, as it were. Orchestral music since the late nineteenth century in particular uses it systematically, often in connection with mute and high register. Since the tone hardly carries, it seldom stands against a full orchestra but in thinly scored passages. As a counterpole stands sul ponticello with its glassy, overtone-rich sound; between the two lies the ordinary bowing position.

Performance practice

Move the contact point deliberately and not by chance: look for the spot over the end of the fingerboard and remember the distance. Take arm weight out and increase the bow speed in exchange, otherwise the tone gets stuck. In low registers and on thick strings the sound easily tips into rustling — then you move somewhat toward the bridge. Vibrato is usually undesirable or very restrained, because the colour otherwise becomes warm again. In a section it helps to agree on the contact point so that everyone hits the same colour.

Remember that the sound carries very little: in larger rooms a passage at the fingerboard can become inaudible, which is why the accompaniment must be correspondingly thin. Check the effect from the hall. Watch the response, which becomes unreliable at little arm weight; somewhat more bow speed helps.