This page presents the basic tenets and stated objectives of our society.

 

About our Society

The International Artwhistling Philharmonic Society (IAPS) is an independent organisation founded "to explore the applications of human whistling in art music and establish genuine artistic standards of whistling performance, education, and literature consistent with those of other instrumental traditions." Our values are Art, Music, Education, Research, and Standards.

Ordinary whistling has been staged since the days of music hall (vaudeville), but has rarely been used or appreciated for more than novelty. At the same time, we think there is an alternative approach to human whistling which may interest friends of the Arts. More musicians are now discovering that the mouthflute, if properly developed, can be as flexible as any wind instrument, and is capable of most art music repertoire with surprisingly little or no transcription - making it a valuable secondary tool (or solo medium) for performers, scholars, composers, conductors, educators, and music aficionados.

 

Definition of Artwhistling™

The International Artwhistling Philharmonic Society thus recognises a distinction between whistling, staged whistling (Kunstpfeifen), and artwhistling™ (Pfeifkunst). The last is a term we coined to describe this growing movement in human whistling; specifically:

Artwhistling™ (Pfeifkunst) is human whistling approached from the perspective and interests of the art music community. Artwhistling therefore excludes non-musical and novelty-oriented uses of human whistling, but embraces the music of every century, the repertoire of all instruments, and the musical potential offered by all whistling techniques. Artwhistling encourages the mouthflute as a valuable tool for furthering a formal understanding of music; it is not a promotion of whistling per se.

 

Our Values The artwhistling movement is founded upon:   Art. We believe in the importance of art as an integral facet of human experience and civilisation. Through standards of excellence evolved over time-honoured tradition, art challenges people to appreciate and reach greater potentials, thereby enriching the lives of both performer and audience. In contributing to art, each of us contributes to posterity. Music. The world's collective traditions of art music represent one of the pinnacle achievements of human civilisation. We believe that everyone can and should have the opportunity to enjoy and experience art music, not only as listeners, but through active participation as well. Education. We believe that education promotes understanding, respect, and human development; and that education should be accessible to everyone. We also believe that art experience and creativity, including music, are an integral part of a general education ; and that formal music study is an asset to becoming broadly informed about music. Research. Ours is the first society committed to research in human whistling, including acoustic, physiological, and musical aspects. Our society includes scientists, medical professionals, linguists, and musicologists whose combined research and experiments yield the newest discoveries in a remarkably unexplored field. These contributions (discussed in our Members Forum, published in Siffleur, and collected in our Archives) make our society the most complete and authoritative source of information on human whistling anywhere in the world. Standards & Artistic Integrity. Because the idea of artwhistling is essentially a musician's perspective of the medium, our approach departs from the usual bird stereotypes and focus on media exposure which have so long dominated performed whistling. We are interested in musical value; and toward that end, we believe there is no reason why the same standards of 'art' that apply to other instruments cannot also apply to whistling. At the same time, we understand that standards reflect our ideals and direction, not our current ability. We all start out as beginners. But we do not serve music if we simply manufacture our own standards and call what we do 'art'. Rather, the music world at large has always looked to well-established traditions because we grow from the accomplishments of those who came before us, because great music is timeless, and because art makes music a better experience for everyone.

 

Welcome to the next great revolution in art music.

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