The earliest known appearance of this jig is in the August 1842 edition of the Dublin Magazine, in which collector Henry Hudson remarks:
A merry pipe-tune, for which we are indebted to Paddy Coneely. One of its many rustic names may be said to be “The Two-penny Jig.” When we see a tune genuinely belonging to this class, we always desire to have a drone in the bass, even when arranging it for the piano-forte.
This piece of orchestral music was composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which premiered in Oslo in 1876, and was later extracted as the final piece of the “Peer Gynt Suite No. 1”, Op. 46.
A fantasy play written in verse, Peer Gynt tells of the adventures of the eponymous Peer. The sequence illustrated by the music of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” is when Peer sneaks into the Mountain King's castle. The piece then describes Peer's attempts to escape from the King and his trolls.
The simple theme begins slowly and quietly in the lowest registers of the orchestra. It is played first by the cellos and bassoons, signifying Peer Gynt's slow, careful footsteps. After being recited, the main theme is then very slightly modified with a few different ascending notes, but transposed up a perfect fifth (to the key of F-sharp major, the dominant key, but with flattened sixth) and played on different instruments: these are the King's trolls.
In order to respect the original key of the piece, we had to make use of low B, which can only be produced on a B foot flute. If your flute has a C foot, or if you find it difficult to play that low, simply transpose up an octave the two phrases that start on a low B. (Remember to revert to the written octaves after the half notes, or you'll run into the fourth register!)
There are many and varied opinions about the origins of this traditional song. Some of the proposed origins are Appalachian folk, old Irish folk, and Catskills folk. One theory is that it originates from the Negro Spirituals, and there was a deliberate concealment of the song's origins. Clearly the song is of a spiritual nature, as the “Wayfaring Stranger” sings of the hardships of his temporal life passing by and refers to his journeying on to a better place.
This song has been recorded countless times, but in the 1940s it became strongly associated with American folk singer Burl Ives, who made it one of his signature songs. Ives even used it as the title of his CBS radio show and his autobiography. For these reasons, Ives is sometimes referred to as “The Wayfaring Stranger”.
Here is a new étude from the first book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian composer Ernesto Köhler. It starts off in D minor, but visits the keys of G minor, A major, E major and C-sharp minor before returning to the principal key.
This jig can be found in Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. O'Neill names as his source for this tune “O'Reilly”, probably blind piper Marin O'Reilly, a contemporary of O'Neill's who won first prize in the pipers' competition at the annual Feis in Dublin in 1901.
It must however be pointed out that the jig is closely related to “Jackson's Walk to Limerick”, a tune which is traditionally attributed to 18th-century gentleman piper Walker ‛Piper’ Jackson.
This Largo is the third movement of the last of the six Op. 7 flute sonatas with bass accompaniment by French flutist and composer Jean-Daniel Braun, published in Paris in 1736.
This famous aria is sung by Tamino in the Finale of Act I of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Tamino plays his magic flute in hopes of summoning Pamina and Papageno, and the tones of his instrument summon a group of magically tamed beasts.
How strong is your magic tone!
For, gracious flute, gracious flute,
Through your playing
Even wild animals feel joy.
Then Tamino hears Papageno's pipes, which Papageno is blowing in response to the sound of Tamino's flute. Ecstatic at the thought of meeting Pamina, Tamino hurries off.
This study in triplets is taken from Giuseppe Gariboldi's Vingt petites études, or Twenty Studies. It opposes two long successions of triplets with a central 3/4-time section marked grandioso (“majestic”, “grand”).
This tune appears in both of Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's large collections Music of Ireland (1903) and The Dance Music of Ireland (1907). Curiously, O'Neill prints the jig twice, once as “The Merry Maiden” and once as “Willy Walsh's Jig”, with only a difference between the two in the last two measures. Both versions are sourced to “O'Reilly”; perhaps Martin O'Reilly, “The Blind Piper of Galway”, or possibly Philip O'Reilly from Cavan.
Arguably the best-known number ever written by Giuseppe Verdi, the “Chorus of Hebrew Slaves”, Va', pensiero, sull'ali dorate (“Fly, thought, on golden wings”), is regularly given an encore when performed today; indeed, it is the only encore Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine has ever allowed.
This chorus from the third act of Nabucco (1842), inspired by Psalm 137. recollects the story of Jewish exiles from Babylon after the loss of the First Temple in Jerusalem. The opera, with its powerful chorus, established Verdi as a major composer in 19th century Italy.
Some scholars initially regarded it as an anthem for Italian patriots, who were seeking to unify their country in the years up to 1861 and free it from foreign control. The chorus' theme of exiles singing about their homeland, and its lines like O mia patria, si bella e perduta (“O my country, so beautiful and so lost”) was thought to have resonated with many Italians. However, much of modern scholarship has refuted this concept, and fails to see connections between Nabucco and Italian nationalism.
As was his practice with most of his dances in his early years, Beethoven scored his 12 German Dances for orchestra first, then transcribed them for piano. The instrumentation he employed in the orchestral rendition of the third dance, which we present today in an arrangement for four flutes, was oboes, bassoons, horns and strings. Among the twelve dances, this third one is particularly notable for its skillful polyphonic writing.
Here is another relatively easy étude, in F major this time, from the first book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by flutist and composer Ernesto Köhler.
This jig, first found in Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1903), is an Irish version of the traditional Scottish tune “Blue Bonnets Over the Border”.
This Largo is the fourth and final movement of the last of the six Op. 7 flute sonatas with bass accompaniment by French flutist and composer Jean-Daniel Braun, published in Paris in 1736.
This barcarolle, titled “Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour”, is taken from Act II of the 1851 opera The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes d'Hoffmann) by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach.
Despite being the famous number in the opera, the duet was not written by Offenbach with Les contes d'Hoffmann in mind. He wrote it as the “Elves' Song” in the opera Die Rheinnixen (aka Les fées du Rhin, i.e. The Rhine Nixies), which premiered in 1864. Offenbach died in 1880 with Les contes d'Hoffmann unfinished, and it was Ernest Guiraud who completed the scoring and incorporated this excerpt from one of Offenbach's earlier, long-forgotten operas into the new opera.
The Barcarolle has been incorporated into many films, including Life Is Beautiful and Titanic. It also provided the tune for Elvis Presley's rendition of the song “Tonight is so Right for Love” in the 1960 film G.I. Blues.
Today's piece is étude No. 19 from Italian flutist and composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's Twenty Studies, Op. 132.
This jig appears to be unique to Chicago Police captain Francis O'Neill's early-20th-century collections Music of Ireland (1903) and The Dance Music of Ireland (1907). It is however related to an 18th-century tune known as “The Girl I Love”, which is attributed to the Irish gentleman piper Larry Grogan.
Published in 1910, “Red Pepper” is indeed a spicy rag well in keeping with the jolly cakewalking red peppers as illustrated on the front cover of the original sheet music.
Its composer was Thomas Henry Lodge (now better known as Henry Lodge), an American piano performer and composer of popular music. With the hits “Temptation Rag”, “Sure Fire Rag” and “Red Pepper” he established himself selling music in stores and on the vaudeville circuit. He worked in bars and cabarets before eventually becoming the pianist of the well-known dancers, Irene and Vernon Castle. In all his work, Lodge was fascinated with the minor tonality, and made more creative use of it than any other ragtime composer.
This Loure, a slow dance of the Baroque period, is the second movement of Georg Philipp Telemann's Concerto a tre for Flute, Horn and continuo.
Thanks to Anne for requesting this piece, and thanks to José Luis for contributing it!
This is étude No. 12 from Ernesto Köhler's 25 Romantic Studies, Op. 66. It is not particularly difficult, but it is important to play this piece with a vigorous rhythm so that it resembles a polonaise, which is a rather slow dance. Each time you meet two eighth notes on the first beat, play the first one very short and stress the second one.
This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903.
You probably know that a glen is a narrow valley, but maybe not that the Mayo of the title has nothing to do with the creamy sauce! Rather, it is the name of a large county in the West of Ireland.
A branle (or “bransle”, pronounced somewhat like ‛brawl’) is a 16th century French dance style which moves mainly from side to side, and is performed by couples in either a line or a circle.
The double branle is a simple form of branle, usually involving two phrases of two bars each. This form was not sufficiently different from the pavan to be of interest to composers, so pieces with this name rarely occur in the instrumental books of the time unless they are specifically designed for dancers.
Orlande de Lassus, also known as Orlando di Lasso, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance. He is today considered to be one of the two most famous and influential musicians in Europe at the end of the 16th century, the other being Palestrina. Lassus demonstrated complete competence in the expressive styles of the Italian madrigal, setting Petrarch and Ariosto alongside the best native speakers. Yet he also left essays in the simpler and lighter Italian genre of the villanella, two books' worth. “Matona mia cara” (“My Dear Lady”), from the second published collection, exemplifies his efforts in the genre. The text of this madrigal represents a particular subset of the broad category villanella, the todesca, in which German soldiers are the butt of various jokes. In this case, an inept German soldier stumbles upon his words as he tries to convince an Italian lady to accept his attentions.
Here is étude No. 20 from Giuseppe Gariboldi's Vingt petites études, or Twenty Studies. It's a 6/8-time Andante mosso in A-flat major. With this piece, the whole book is now available for download!
The earliest appearance of this jig is in Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland, published in 1903. O'Neill points to Sergeant James O'Neill (originally from County Down, Ireland) as the source for this tune.
Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style. His influential 555 sonatas were almost all written for the harpsichord, with a few exceptions for chamber ensemble or organ.
Wendy Carlos's top-selling album The Well-Tempered Synthesizer is certainly responsible for the growing popularity of sonata L. 164 during the 2nd half of the 20th century. If you haven't listened to it yet, you really should, because it's simply astounding.
Hänsel und Gretel is an opera by 19th-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck. The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, based on the fairy tale of German origin Hansel and Gretel. The whole opera is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the “Abendsegen” (“Evening Prayer”) from Act 2.
The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas. The composer happily provided some musical numbers, and the entertainment went off so well that he decided to expand what he had written into a three-act opera.
Thanks to Colleen for suggesting this piece!
Here is another relatively easy étude, in E minor this time, from the first book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian flutist and composer Ernesto Köhler.
This jig was entered into Book 2 of the large mid-19th-century music manuscript collection of County Cork uilleann piper and Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman (1828–1896), obtained from the music manuscript collection of John Edward Pigot (1822–1871).
Frédéric Chopin's Deux Valses (“Two Waltzes”), Op.69, were not published during his lifetime, and in fact are products of his earlier days. A rather clear distinction can be made between those of the composer's waltzes that could potentially be used for actual dancing purposes and those which serve more purely musical functions. In this publication, only the latter category is represented.
The Valse in B minor, Op.69, No.2 was composed in 1829, when Chopin was nineteen, and is one of several works that the composer hoped would be burnt upon his death (his wishes, as composers' wishes about such matters so often are, were ignored). Instead, it has become quite popular, and is often performed. It is a melancholy work with three primary melodies and a somewhat more optimistic middle section.
Telemann's Canonic Sonatas are duo sonatas, with both musicians playing from the same part. The first player begins, and the second player echoes, one measure behind. Published in 1723, the collection was originally entitled Six Canons or Sonatas for two German Flutes or two Violins, Compos'd by Georg Philip Telemann.
The Vivace we present today is the very first movement in the collection. It is sometimes found transposed to B-flat major, but the original edition has it in G major.