Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: La plus que lente

Debussy wrote “La plus que lente” for solo piano in 1910. The title of this waltz may be translated as "The Even Slower Waltz" or, more literally, "The More Than Slow". Despite its title, “La plus que lente” was not meant to be played slowly: lente, in this context, refers to the valse lente genre that Debussy attempted to emulate. Typical of Debussy's caustic approach to naming his compositions, it represented his reaction to the vast influence of the slow waltz in France's social atmospheres.

“La plus que lente” is marked “Molto rubato con morbidezza”, indicating Debussy's encouragement of a very flexible tempo. Molto rubato (literally, “very stolen”) allows the player great rhythmic freedom, while con morbidezza means “softly”, “tenderly”.

The original version of this piece was scored in G-flat major (with six flats in the key signature), but flutists usually play it transposed to G major, since this key better fits the playing range of the flute... not to mention that it's way easier to read!

Tune of the Day: Merry Mary

This jig appears to be unique to Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907.

Tune of the Day: Zig-Zag

This is étude No. 8 from Ernesto Köhler's 25 Romantic Studies, Op. 66. Make sure not to insist on the eighth-notes that come after a triplet, and try to play the piece wittily but clearly.

Tune of the Day: Duet in E minor by Köhler

This is duet No. 5 from the first volume of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Ernesto Köhler. As for all duets of the collection, the second flute part is meant to be played by the teacher.

Thanks to Bruno for contributing this piece!

Tune of the Day: Presto

The B-minor sonata is the greatest and most difficult of Bach's flute works. Its historical significance, technical demands and timeless beauty, bring it to the forefront of his compositions and takes the rightful place as a staple in the solo flute literature.

The third movement of J.S. Bach's B-minor Sonata for Flute and Harpsichord is in two parts, beginning with a fugal presto that leads straight into a gigue-like section which is most notable for its witty syncopations and technical demands.

Tune of the Day: Three Halfpence A Day

This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907. O'Neill obtained this version of the tune from the manuscripts of Timothy Downing, a gentleman farmer of Tralibane, County Cork, who taught O'Neill the rudiments of the flute when the latter was a boy during the 1860s.

At one time, three halfpence a day was referred to as the common wage for an ordinary laborer or soldier.

Tune of the Day: Study in C major by Gariboldi

This is étude No. 16 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.