Page:The story of the flute (IA storyofflute1914fitz).djvu/190

 delicate filigree and arabesques. They use the instrument "rather to ornament and brighten a subject than to propound it." Sometimes, however, this degenerates into mere tinsel. Perhaps the most noticeable point about the modern use of the flute is the frequency of passages on the lower register, whose peculiar and unique beauty has been fully recognised by many recent composers. No one has more fully grasped the capabilities of the instrument than Bizetwho assigns the , Carmen, Act III., Introductory March. march in Act iii. of Carmen to the flute, playing staccato and pianissimo in the low register, with fine effect; so again in the Seguidilla, No. 10. Other fine flute passages in this work are the Entr'acte (ii.), where the two flutes play running passages in thirds along , Carmen, Seguidilla, No. 10.