MUJERES IMPORTANTES

Hace un tiempo, creo que en plena pandemia, recibí un email de esos que no te esperarías nunca: alguien quería saber más cosas sobre Carme Flexas, mi profesora de piano.

«Alguien» era Maite Aguirre, una pianista a la que yo no conocía, pero que en seguida reconocí como a alguien «de la familia». Relacionada con Cataluña por sus estudios y con Jorge Blasco, amigo y pianista, por su procedencia. ¡Quién me iba a decir que me iba a hacer uno de los mejores regalos que me han hecho nunca! Nada más y nada menos, que traer al presente a mi profesora de piano, Carme Flexas, a través de la figura de la pianista Blanche Selva.

Y es que la tesis doctoral de Maite versa sobre esta mítica pianista y pedagoga francesa, que se relaciona a través de un alumno suyo, Guillem Garganta, con Carme Flexas, que fue asimismo su alumna.

Esto que os comparto a continuación es muy importante para mi, pues resume de una manera muy genuina mis recuerdos de los estudios musicales en mi adolescencia, más allá del clarinete. Estoy profundamente agradecida a Maite por saber transcribir mis palabras y mis recuerdos de una manera tan detallista, bonita y veraz, y por traer la figura de Carme Flexas al presente.

Aquí os dejo un fragmento, con el permiso de Maite, fruto de nuestra entrevista, así como el enlace al trabajo completo, que os invito a leer con atención.

https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/32124

Cecília Serra (Reus, 1977) is a prominent Catalan clarinettist and conductor with a
strong background in piano performance. Having spent time in Austria she is fluent in
German, which has led her to combine her interpretative and pedagogical career with
German language coaching for singers. She currently teaches clarinet and piano in
several schools, such as Afinarte in Madrid and her own studio, as well as being a
German phonetics teacher at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón.
I contacted Cecília after reading one of her blog posts where she highlighted that her
former piano teacher, Carme Flexas (1925-2005), had brought to her attention artists
such as Blanche Selva. At that point I had not previously come across the name
Carme Flexas.

Serra told me in correspondence that what she remembered that connected Carme
Flexas to Selva was that her teacher regularly checked in Blanche Selva’s Bach editions
when teaching this composer, something which ‘lo hacía con gran devoción’ [she did
with great devotion]. Although Serra was quite certain that she had no further specific
recollection linking both pianists, she agreed to talk to me.
I want wholeheartedly to thank Cecília for so generously agreeing to speak with me,
particularly when considering that, initially, the object of my research seemed far
removed from her own experience and memories. However, as it fortunately came to
light early in our talk, Carme Flexas had been a student of Guillem Garganta, and
Cecília’s vivid recollection of her years with her, as well as her deep insight into the
application of these teachings in her own teaching practice, are an invaluable
component of this chapter.

Serra studied with Carme Flexas for four to five years, after having begun piano lessons
with her own father, Pere Serra, who had himself also studied with Flexas. Cecília
considers her experience with Carme Flexas instrumental in her musical development,
and although having finally chosen the clarinet over the piano, in her opinion, it is her
experience with Carme that has influenced her the most in her musical life, enabling
her to transfer much of her accrued knowledge in those years to her work as a
clarinettist. Serra has a wide-ranging musical background studying in Spain and Austria,
having been under the baton of many eminent conductors and playing chamber music
with many colleagues of different backgrounds; but she was adamant that ‘nadie me
ha dicho nada nuevo’ [nobody has told me anything new [other than that imparted to
her by Flexas]]. She has a very vivid recollection of her student years and told me that
she strongly felt that she had experienced a pedagogical praxis that was all
encompassing in a way that, in her opinion, hardly anybody knows how to do. She
used the expression ‘trascendental’ and ‘muy especial’ [transcendental and very
special] to refer to those lessons.

Importance of physical relaxation away from the piano

Carme Flexas would begin each piano lesson by asking Serra to release her shoulders
and connect the movement to her breath. Cecília was asked to lift her shoulders on an
inhalation and hold the position for some seconds, after which a strong exhalation
would bring the shoulders back down. She had to do this several times and Serra was
adamant that each class began with this shoulder-releasing exercise which was also
linked to a consistent breathing pattern.
Further, Flexas would ask her student to leave her arms relaxed in a neutral position
away from the piano, that is, both arms simply suspended from their shoulder joint,
and she would take the arm and throw it in different directions. The student had to
leave the arm completely free and relaxed so that it would naturally rebound.
Finally, sometimes the weight of the arm was experienced by throwing the arm onto
the closed lid of the piano. This exercise was done both from the shoulder as well as
from the articulation of the elbow. However, this exercise was only done at some
points, and not routinely as with the other two.
This attention to physical conditioning and relaxation and particularly its connection to
the breath, is something that is very relatable to Selva’s pedagogy. Selva highlights that the exercise is done standing, and that it consists simply in the
elevation and descent of the entire arm, ‘mesurés sur le souffle’ (measured on the
breath). She has clear instructions that the in-breath is done through the nose, with
the mouth closed, and that abdominal breathing is engaged. The arms must be
completely elevated by the end of the inhalation and descend on the exhalation.

Although Selva’s exercises are not focused on the shoulders, like Flexas’, their
emphasis on the breath, as well as relaxation and body conditioning more generally as
an important and constant feature in each piano lesson, do appear to be strikingly
similar.

Preparatory period

Although Cecília had previously studied with her father, who, as mentioned above, had
also studied with Carme, her new teacher decided to spend some time reconditioning
her technique. She used Stamaty’s études. This retraining process was a staple of Flexas’ pedagogy, and it was centred on finding a neutral touch. Flexas emphasised thequality of movement first and later the quality of sound. She would praise small improvements in the physicality of the touch even when the improvement was soslight as not to produce the desired acoustic effect yet. Like Ludovica Mosca above, Serra was not familiar with the Géry études recommended by Selva. These are substantially different from the Stamaty method used by Flexas, as they are exclusively focused on the independence of accentuation across the hands whilst Stamaty offers many different pieces to develop a greater range of technical means.
When working on Stamaty and during this retraining process, Flexas asked for two
different touches, which were ‘preparado’ [prepared] and ‘sin preparar’ [unprepared].
The former required an elevation, whilst the latter was produced from the key. Serra
demonstrated the touches by playing them on her left arm. I related them to the
articulation maxima and minima with ease. Flexas’ emphasis was placed on releasing
the fingers and avoiding any tension. The recurrent expression used by Flexas was ‘sin
agarrotar’ [without stiffness] in either fingers or wrist and arm.
These exercises were also played at a very slow tempo, placing awareness on the
student’s breath. Further kinaesthetic emphasis was placed by making the student feel
and see the finger in action. Flexas considered this the basis of piano playing.
Although this initial stage differs from Selva in that it is centred exclusively on the
‘neutral’ touch, which is most analogous to Selva’s jeu indifférent but excludes the
other two main modes of attack, other similarities are relevant and striking: in
particular, the link between touch and breath as well as heightening the kinaesthetic
awareness of the student by appealing to different senses — touch, sight and hearing.
Another important aspect in common is the importance placed on relaxation and
playing without any tension. Most teachers will at one point or another speak in
similar terms, however, in my experience not as many have it embedded in their own
pedagogy to such an extent that they spend so long and go to such rigorous controls
(e.g., leading a body warm-up ahead of every session) to transmit and cultivate it.
Although the approach may be different, for instance the use of Stamaty as opposed to
Selva’s preference for Géry, their priorities can be understood to be broadly the same.
The first piece that Cecília was allowed to play once her teacher considered she was
ready, was the Scarlatti-Tausig Pastoral and Capriccio. This was striking because,
although I have not found any evidence of Selva ever teaching these pieces, her
connection with Scarlatti has been well documented. In fact, Scarlatti is one of the
composers that d’Indy advised Selva to play first upon starting lessons with him, and a
composer she also encouraged her students to learn early on.

Importance of relaxation of the thumb

Flexas also placed strong emphasis specifically on the relaxation of the thumb. Serra
mentioned that Carme would check the fingers by touching them. She expected them
to feel elastic. Most importantly, as Serra remembered from Flexas verbatim ‘cómo
llevas la mano, se ve en el pulgar’ [how [good or not] you move the hand, can be seen
in the thumb]. Flexas would seek to ascertain the condition of the thumb by touching it
with one of her fingers and expecting it to rebound. This reminded me straight away of
a remark by Selva ‘c’est le plus fréquemment sur le pouce qui s’écarte mal de la
main’ [it is frequently the thumb which deviates badly from the hand] where she also
identifies the thumb as the most frequent point of misalignment in the hand.

‘Al servicio de la música’

Another of Flexa’s main pedagogical tenets was that technique ought always to be at
the service of music, that is, that every technical need stemmed from the particular
musical expression or effect of the music. Music always came first. Although the
phrase may sound strange in English, the Spanish expression used by Serra-Flexas is
identical to Selva’s core principle in her pedagogy, when she refers to technique being
at the seul service de la Musique:
À ce prix seulement existera l’enseignement logique du vrai jeu de piano, par
lequel toutes les ressources instrumentales actuelles seront mises au seul
service de la Musique.
[This is the only price at which the logical teaching of real piano playing will
exist, through which all the current instrumental resources will be employed
only towards the service of Music.]
Of course, as French and Spanish are grammatically so similar it is not so surprising to
find two different musicians using an identical expression to mean the same thing. It
does not necessarily follow that this was passed on verbatim from Selva to Garganta
and then to Flexas. However, it is suggestive at least of certain general core principles
being transmitted from one teacher to another.

Importance of the breath in music and in oneself

‘Si no respiras, te agarrotas’ [if you don’t breathe, you become stiff] was an often
repeated phrase by Carme Flexas. The importance of the breath was already
highlighted earlier when discussing the initial preparation undertaken by Cecília, and
the same connection was established with reference to Selva on the same preparatory
conditioning exercises.
Moreover, Serra stated that discussing the breath was another constant in their
lessons, where it was considered an integral part of the musical expression and
oneself. I consider this another key similarity with Selva. The connection with the
breath and singing was already established when discussing her key principles in
Chapter 3 of this thesis. The following quote from Selva’s treatise further highlights the
relevance in her pedagogy and understanding of the breath in the artistic context more
fully, as a quasi-metaphysical tenet of her artistic credo:
Tout geste vient de l’esprit, s’élance avec le souffle, et réalise ainsi au dehors ce
qui est conçu au-dedans.
De là, l’Art tout entier, -esprit- manifesté par la matière.
De là, la loi de tout labeur artistique. Toute possibilité de réalisation est enclose
dans le geste, et à sa base dans le souffle.47
[Every gesture comes from the spirit, soars with the breath and thus realises
outside what is conceived within.
From there, all of Art, -spirit- manifested by matter.
From there, the law of all artistic labour. Every possibility of realisation is
enclosed in the gesture, and has its foundation in the breath.]

Relating sound and gesture

This is undoubtedly the core of Selva’s principles, which led her to establish different
categories of touch to encapsulate the embodiment of sound. Flexas did not use
terminology such as jeu éclatant or appuyé. Serra also considers that most of the
repertoire on which she worked with her teacher was not the large concert repertoire
that would require such a variety of attack, particularly where a more muscular sound
is concerned. However, she remembers a very detailed piece of work with her teacher,
who was very precise in illustrating and asking her to produce a particular sound, for a
particular phrase with a particular gesture. This was done ‘on the go’, responding to
the musical demands as they arose. Nevertheless, Serra recounted working on specific
and different types of attack, which could be from the fingers, the wrist, forearm and
to a lesser degree, shoulder. It is noteworthy that Flexas would never refer to the
Spanish word toque but would always use the Italian tocco, perhaps due to her contact
with the famous Italian pianist Guido Agosti (1901-1989).
Serra remembers a strong emphasis on gesture and a clarity in the tools employed in
any given music to create the desired effect.

Singing tone

Regarding sound, Flexas always highlighted singing tone as the connecting line
(‘buscaba el canto como línea conectora’). Serra considers this a form of analysis in
and of itself by focusing on the textural sound of the music. This emphasis on singing
tone and the voice clearly resembles Selva’s precepts already discussed in Chapter 3,
where the analogy between the breath and singing is transferred into the weight of
the arm for its pianistic realisation:
C’est au moyen de la pesanteur que le pianiste fait le son, au piano, comme
c’est au moyen du souffle que s’émet le son, au chant.
[It is through weight that the pianist makes the sound, at the piano, as the
breath is the vehicle with which one effects the sound, in singing.]
Also, in accordance with Selva’s teaching there appears not to have been a connection
between creating a singing line at the piano and rotation or lateral movements.

Bach and polyphonic works

Flexas always advocated working on polyphonic pieces not hands separately but
studying each part or voice independently, attending to the correct melodic inflection
of every line. She followed a strict sequencing of Bach’s works beginning with the Little
Preludes, progressing then to Inventions, then Preludes and Fugues from the Well
tempered Clavier, the Suites and finally the Partitas.
The importance and ongoing study of Bach is a recurrent feature in Selva’s pedagogy.
However, her own sequencing of the works is markedly different, and in my opinion
more sophisticated than that of Carme Flexas. As can be seen in the repertoire lists
within her Cours Blanche Selva she does not ascribe a particular level of difficulty to
any genre or establish a sequence between them. As an example, in the repertoire list
of the Sixième Année (the lowest level at the superior degree) Selva offers a wide
ranging selection of pieces from the Well-tempered Clavier, French and English Suites,
a Partita and two concertos amongst others from which the students and teachers
can select their programme.

Studying octaves through Kullak’s method

Finally, without any prompting by me, Serra remembered being taught to play octaves
through Kullak’s method. This is a fairly strong link, as it is a book listed many times
by Selva in her treatise and a method for which Selva provided her own preliminary
exercises and preface to the 1915 Roudanez edition. The three books of Kullak’s
method were thus advertised as ‘Revue, classée et précédée d’exercices préliminaires
avec la manière de travailler par Blanche Selva’. [Reviewed, classed, and preceeded by
preliminary exercises with the way of working of Blanche Selva.]
As above, whilst it is not possible to say with a high degree of certainty that this was
passed on to Flexas by Garganta through his own experience with Selva, I think that it
is at least plausible to suggest that it may have been.

Divergences

Although it is clear that Flexas taught to play with a variety of attacks and placed a
strong emphasis on the tocco, she did not use any clear terminology to designate
different touches. As such, her pedagogy is devoid of the notion of Selva’s jeux.
I enquired whether there had been any notion of ‘long and short fingers’, i.e., a
distinction of finger movement stemming from the metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP)
and the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP). This distinction wasn’t made, and the
touch, as exemplified by Serra via the camera corresponded exclusively to MCP.
Finally, Serra stated that Flexas wrote very little in the students’ music generally, and
no notation similar to bow markings or arrows were made to signal attacks or
groupings. This is contrary to Selva’s own practice, as she marked her students’ scores
profusely as has been discussed in Chapter 3.
I could not discern any other clear divergence between Serra/Flexas and Selva,
although, as explained above, many elements did not have a literal correspondence
either. However, throughout the interview with Serra I had a strong sense of familiarity
and connectedness between her exposition of the overarching ideas of Flexas and my
understanding of the application of Selva’s treatise.

Other elements of interest

Serra’s vivid account introduced me to Carme Flexas’s pedagogy, and it clearly
emerged in the conversation that she also was a highly unique mentor whose
pedagogy merits attention in her own right. In Cecília’s words, Flexas was a highly
emotive teacher who brought the music alive through her playing and explanations.
Regarding the former, Serra recollects that her demonstrations were always short and
focused. Her own experience with other teachers (both in piano and clarinet lessons) is
that often, teachers play too much or too long excepts when demonstrating for their
students. This makes both teacher and student lose sight of what the teacher was
demonstrating in the first place. However, whenever Flexas played, she made sure that
the student was aware of what and why they had to listen to and/or observe in a
certain physical movement.
I felt that this point was very well observed by Cecília and I have reassessed the way I
demonstrate to my students ever since, making sure that I explain to my students the
purpose of the demonstration and making them see the point.
Regarding touch, Serra also said that a recurrent feature in Flexas’ teaching was to
demonstrate how a given passage was to be played on Serra’s forearm. This was so
that she would feel the amount of weight and pressure (or lack thereof) that the music
needed in that section. Serra was always surprised at the lightness of touch
demonstrated to her in this way and it was a useful tool to learn to calibrate it as
necessary.

When talking about Flexas’s own musical upbringing and other pedagogical influences,
Serra remembered that she often talked about ‘Mestre Garganta’ and Guido Agosti,
with whom Flexas studied in two different summer courses. Flexas had also told her
that she once played for the famous Nadia Boulanger, who did not tell Carme Flexas
anything new.

Si habéis llegado hasta aquí, os comparto un enlace al blog de la conocida escritora catalana Olga Xirinacs, que también estudió con Carme Flexas, y donde le rinde un bello tributo en uno de sus posts. AQUÍ.

Muchas gracias por leer,

Cecília