Les Fifres

The Fifers - Rondeau - Rondo

This lively piece Les Fifres was originally composed for the keyboard.

It is part of Jean-François Dandrieu's Premier Livre de pièces de clavecin, first published in Paris in 1724.

In this light-hearted piece Les Fifres [The Fifers], Jean-François Dandrieu depicts joyful fifers marching down the road.

A fife is a small and high-pitched transverse flute which was used mainly to accompany drums in military marches.

Dandrieu's Les Fifres features a the musical form of the Rondeau [rondo] :

• Refrain [Theme] : mm. 1-16, repeated
• Couplet 1 [Verse 1] : mm. 17-32
• Refrain [Theme] : mm. 1-16
• Couplet 2 [Verse 2] : mm. 33-48
• Refrain [Theme] : mm. 1-16

This score is an arrangement for flute with piano accompaniment.

It is appropriate for Grade 5 flute students.

Please note that the ornaments in this score are authentic and taken from a facsimile of the first printing.

The flute part contains indications for performing the ornaments in accordance with the performance practice of the Baroque period.

During the Baroque period, every French composer had his own personal way of playing ornaments, which he would explain in detail in his works.

In the case of Jean-François Dandrieu, we have referred to his Premier Livre de pièces d'orgue, where Dandrieu includes a table explaining his use of ornaments .

This table is entitled Explication et expression des signes qui marquent les agrémens.

In this particular piece Les Fifres, the ornaments are :

• Pincé simple [mordent] (as in measure 2 of the piano part) : a biting ornament played on the beat, very rapidly, beginning on the main note and biting the lower note


• Tremblement simple [trill] (as in measure 3 of the piano part) : the trill is played on the beat, starting on the upper auxiliary note


• Tremblement lié [trill slurred into from preceding note] (as in measure 7 of the flute part) : the first note of this trill is actually the preceding note, which is in fact its upper auxiliary note


• Tremblement ouvert [trill with termination] (as in measure 31 of the flute part) : a special ending (or termination) is added to the end of the trill, leading into the next note

Finally, please note also that in this score, the dynamics are editorial and should therefore be regarded as mere suggestions to the players.

Duration : 02:09

Source : Jean-François Dandrieu, Premier Livre de pièces de clavecin (Paris, 1724).