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The Pixie Flute:
Among our oldest Norwegian folk instruments we find the ram's
horn, the lur (a kind of straight wooden trumpet) and the willow
pipe. The ram's horn and the lur were originally not instruments
at all but tools used on the summer dairy farms in the mountains.
With their powerful tones one could scare away beasts of prey
and at the same time call the cattle. Gradually they developed
into quite passable instruments. The willow pipe, however, with
its gentle, natural tone was only used as a musical instrument.
The wooden flute came later (it is about 200 years old), and
for the first time there came a wind instrument with a fixed
pitch range (scale), which was a great step forward. In the course
of time the wooden flute acquired many names - tyskarfløyta
(german flute), tyssefløyta (gurgling flute) and tussefløyta
(pixie flute). The first name probably came about because the
Norwegian wooden flute was originally an imitation of the German
recorder. Gradually the name was changed to tussefløyta
(pixie flute), and this is connected with an interesting tradition
about the instrument for which written evidence is to be found
in the University Library at Bergen. It is said that skilled
players "could attract the winged creatures of the forest"
with the tones of the flute. According to ancient superstition
the tones of the flute had bewitching and magic powers, and they
believed at that time that they were connected with the netherworld,
the world of the pixies. I have often noticed myself that the
tones of the flute have attracted the attention of birds in the
forest, and I have had many enjoyable experiences together with
my pixie flute on my wanderings through forests and over mountains.
Since this instrument is so eminently capable of interpreting
Nature in all her moods, I have gradually composed a large number
of pieces for the pixie flute. Many of these tunes are to be
found in Pixie Flute Books 1 and 2, and now the third book is
ready.
EGIL STORBEKKEN.
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