This trill-filled Andante is the fifth piece of a collection of 24 “Caprice-Études” for flute by Theobald Boehm, the German inventor who perfected the modern Western concert flute. These studies originally served to demonstrate the playability of Boehm's improved instrument in all 24 keys, but they are also very useful technical exercises.
This military parade march, usually played by fife and drum corps, appears to date back to the 18th century, when Frederick the Great was king of Prussia (the historic state corresponding more or less to today's Germany).
Thanks to Freddie for suggesting this tune!
This Vivace is the third movement, and second “aria”, of Georg Philipp Telemann's Partita No. 3 in C minor, TWV 41:c1, originally published in 1716 as part of the Kleine Kammermusik (“little chamber music”) collection. The original edition indicates that the melody is intended to be played by an oboe, a violin, or a flute.
This slow air was composed by Englishman Rev. William Leeves (1748–1828), rector of Wrington in Somerset, to words by Scottish travel writer, artist and socialite Lady Anne Barnard (née Lindsay). While the melody is technically English in provenance, it is commonly accepted as Scottish. It was a favorite of many famous Scottish fiddlers, including J.S. Skinner and Peter Milne, the ‛Tarland Minstrel’, who received a silver medal from Queen Victoria at Balmoral for his rendering of “Auld Robin Gray”.
The present arrangement for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.
This “Tirolienne” is the final piece from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855. The indication “double coup de langue” in the second half of the piece suggests to use double tonguing to play the sixteenth notes.
This B-flat-major jig is taken from Harding's All-Round Collection of Jigs, Reels and Country Dances, published in New York in 1905. The word ‛shaugraun’ comes from the Irish seachránaí, meaning ‛wanderer’. The Shaughraun is also the title of a 1874 melodramatic play by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault.
This minuet is the second movement of the third of 5 Divertimentos for three basset horns composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from 1783 to 1785. These pieces were later rearranged for solo piano and published as the Six Viennese Sonatinas, which is why this piece is also known as the minuet from Sonatina No. 5 in D major.
These two sauteuses (which literally means ‛jumpers’ in French, probably alluding to the typical rhythm they feature) constitute the second movement of the third of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. The French term babiole humbly indicates something of little value or importance, a trifle.
This study in triplets is taken from the fourth part of the Méthode pour la flûte by French Romantic flutist and composer Louis Drouet, published in Paris in 1828.
The Preußischer Präsentiermarsch (“Prussian Inspection March”), is a German military march composed by King Frederick William III of Prussia sometime around 1820. A traditional inspection march used in every German military since the mid-19th century, it is also a favorite piece of German marching bands, played in civil functions and parades.
Thanks to Freddie for suggesting this tune!
Totally unrelated to the more famous 15th-century polymath Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Vinci was an early 18th-century Italian composer, best known for his operas. His sonata in D major for flute, of which we present today the third movement, is one of the few of his instrumental works to be still played today.
The present arrangement for two flutes of George Alexander Hodson's song “The Gem That Decks Her Queenly Brow” is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.
This slow study in B minor is the sixth piece from Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen's Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 30. It may seem a bit repetitive, but do not jump to hasty conclusions! You do not want to play this study too quickly; instead, make sure you pay close attention to rhythmic regularity, to accents, and to dynamics.
This traditional Irish tune bears the name of the 18th-century gentleman piper Walker ‛Piper’ Jackson, of the townland of Lisdaun, County Limerick. It appears in the first volume of O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes, published c. 1805. Coggie is the name for a cup or small barrel.
This Vivace in Rondo form is the fourth movement, and third “aria”, of Georg Philipp Telemann's Partita No. 3 in C minor, TWV 41:c1, originally published in 1716 as part of the Kleine Kammermusik (“little chamber music”) collection. The original edition indicates that the melody is intended to be played by an oboe, a violin, or a flute.
This “very slow” piece in C minor is the third movement of the third of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. The French term babiole humbly indicates something of little value or importance, a trifle.
This study is taken from the fourth part of the Méthode pour la flûte by French Romantic flutist and composer Louis Drouet, published in Paris in 1828.
This cavalry march was composed around 1792 by Michael Haydn, brother of the more famous Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. It was dedicated to Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and that's why the piece also goes by the name of “Josias Coburg-Marsch”.
Thanks to Freddie for suggesting this tune!
This Adagio is the third movement of the third of 5 Divertimentos for three basset horns composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from 1783 to 1785.
This minuet used to be a very popular tune, judging from the numerous times it appears in late-18th-century publications and manuscripts. The composer of the melody, however, has not been established, as several Italian musicians of the period carried the name Martini.
This arrangement for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.
The Andantino in A major we present today is the seventh piece from Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen's Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 30.
This hornpipe tune of English provenance is known by numerous titles, including “The Hunter's Hornpipe”, “The Bridge of Lodi”, and “Murray's Hornpipe”. One of its earliest appearances is in Yorkshire musician William Calvert's 1812 manuscript, as “Admiral Lord Nelson's Hornpipe”.
Totally unrelated to the more famous 15th-century polymath Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Vinci was an early 18th-century Italian composer, best known for his operas. His sonata in D major for flute, of which we present today the idyllic fourth movement, is one of the few of his instrumental works to be still played today.
These two jigs constitute the fourth movement of the third of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. The French term babiole humbly indicates something of little value or importance, a trifle.
Today's study is taken from the fourth part of the Méthode pour la flûte by French Romantic flutist and composer Louis Drouet, published in Paris in 1828.
From 1854 to 1896, the Czech Josef Wiedemann served as military bandmaster in the 42nd Infantry Regiment of the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Army. It was for this regiment that he wrote his best known work, the Wagramer-Grenadiermarsch, also known as the 42er-Regimentsmarsch.
Thanks to Freddie for suggesting this tune!
Tchaikovsky started composing his Romeo and Juliet in 1869. This orchestral work is styled an Overture-Fantasy (even though the overall design is a symphonic poem in sonata form), and is based on Shakespeare's play of the same name.
The Overture's yearning love theme signifies the couple's first meeting and the scene at Juliet's balcony, and is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest melodies ever written. When Tchaikovsky showed it to pianist and conductor Mily Balakirev, Balakirev wrote Tchaikovsky: “I very much want to hug you for it”. Over the last century, it has been used as the quintessential “love at first sight” music in numerous movies, TV series, and even video games (most notably, the kissing music in The Sims).
Thanks to Philip for suggesting this tune!
The Requiem Mass in D minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer's death. The eccentric count Franz von Walsegg had commissioned the work from Mozart anonymously through intermediaries. The count, an amateur chamber musician who routinely commissioned works by composers and passed them off as his own, wanted a Requiem Mass (a Mass for the Dead) he could claim he composed to memorialize the recent passing of his wife. Mozart received only half of the payment in advance, so upon his death his widow Constanze was keen to have the work completed secretly by someone else, submit it to the Count as having been completed by Mozart and collect the final payment. The task was ultimately given to Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who completed Mozart's fragments and added his own orchestration and several new movements. In particular, Süssmayr finished the “Lacrymosa” (an incorrect variant of the Latin lacrimosa, ‛tearful’), of which only the first 8 bars were composed by Mozart.
Many thanks to Lily for contributing this wonderful arrangement for four flutes!
The “Presto ma non troppo” in F-sharp minor we present today is the eighth piece from Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen's Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 30.
This Irish tune is known under many different titles, including “Irishman's Health to the Ladies”, “Sweet Biddy Daly”, and “Irish Miller”. Its earliest known appearance is in Howe's 1000 Jigs and Reels, published in Boston circa 1860.
This gavotte was originally the fifth of five movements in Giovanni Battista Martini's Sonata No. 12 in F major for Organ or Harpsichord. This sonata was part of Martini's Sonate d'intavolatura per l'organo e il cembalo, first published in Amsterdam in 1742.
A notable arrangement for piano solo of this piece was done in 1880 by Georges Bachmann, who published it as “Les moutons” (French for “the sheep”), Op. 40. More recently, the piece was included in Book 3 of the Suzuki Method for the Violin, and this greatly contributed to its rise in popularity.
Thanks to Betty for suggesting this tune!