This is the sixteenth piece from a collection of 17 Capricci for Flauto Traverso by Italian flutist and composer Filippo Ruge. Born in Rome around 1725, Ruge appears to have spent most of his professional life in France, and especially in Paris, where several of his compositions were published, ranging from small-scale chamber music to large-scale symphonic works.
This song was originally composed for voice and guitar by English musician Alexander Lee (1802–1851), and dedicated to the popular singer Harriet Waylett, who would later become his wife. It is probably the best known among the many songs that Lee composed during his lifetime.
Come where the aspens quiver
Down by the flowing river;
Bring your guitar, bring your guitar,
Sing me the songs I love.
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.
This is the twelfth piece from 24 Etudes mélodiques, Op. 110 by German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer. This collection has also been published in English as 24 Melodic Exercises.
In The Book of World Famous Music (1966), James J. Fuld notes that this tune was mentioned in a letter dated 1716, but was not printed until 1745, when it appeared in James Oswald's The Caledonian Pocket Companion. It may have been inspired by the war of the Jacobite rising of 1715, as John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, was the loyalist war leader and many Scottish loyalists were Campbells.
Like many Scottish songs which are actually traditional or of unknown origin, this song is often attributed to the Scottish national poet Robert Burns. Burns did in fact write a version of it with some different verses, which was published in The Scots Musical Museum (1797).
Fanny Mendelssohn, also known as Fanny Hensel after her marriage to painter Wilhelm Hensel, was the older sister of the famous German composer Felix Mendelssohn. She was writing music at a time when it was considered unsuitable for a woman from the upper middle classes to have ambitions as a professional musician. For this reason, a number of her songs were originally published under her brother's name. The “Schwanenlied” (“Swan Song”) appeared in print in 1846, the year before her death, as part of the very first collection of songs to be published under her own name.
Thanks to Mira for suggesting this piece!
Today we propose the second movement of Italian Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli's Trio Sonata No. 11 in E-flat major. You may notice that the key signature has only 2 flats instead of 3, despite the piece being in E-flat major. This kind of discrepancy was relatively common during the Baroque period.
This piece was originally composed for two violins and continuo. As a consequence, a couple of notes have been altered in order to make it playable on the flute.
Thanks to Mario for contributing this piece!
Today's piece is the twenty-third study from 40 Esercizi per Flauto (40 Exercises for Flute), Op. 101, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
The earliest appearance of this tune in print is in Robert Bremner's A Collection of Scots Reels or Country Dances, published in London in 1757, under the title “Lady Hariot Hope's Reel”. The very popular melody subsequently appeared in many Scottish collections under titles such as “Lady Harriet Hope”, “Miss Hope”, and similar variants.
Some sources have identified Lady Harriet as Lady Henrietta Johnstone (1682–1750), married to Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun. This Lady Henrietta, however, also had a daughter who was a “Lady Henrietta Hope” (1706–1745), and a granddaughter with the same name (c.1750–1786). The earliest known publications of the tune could tally with any one of them!
This short minuet constitutes the fourth movement of Amusement palatin, a suite for solo instrument (“musette, vielle, flute and oboe” according to the original edition) and continuo by the French Baroque composer Nicolas Chédeville.
This short duet is taken from the Nouvelle Méthode théorique et pratique pour la flûte by the French flutist and composer François Devienne.
Thanks to Paul for requesting this piece!
This is the thirteenth piece from 24 Etudes mélodiques, Op. 110 by German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer. The piece is presented in two versions, the first in F-sharp major and the second in the enharmonic key of G-flat major.
As far as we can tell, the only appearance of this melody under the title “Old Virginia” is in Harding's All-Round Collection of Jigs, Reels and Country Dances, published in New York in 1905. It is interesting to note how the piece is designated as a ‘reel’, which usually denotes a fast duple-time tune, even though this melody is in 6/8 or jig time.
The tune is however very similar to the English jig “Off She Goes”, which dates back to the late 18th century and of which “Old Virginia” is probably just a variation (thanks to Tom for noting this).
This flute solo was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, Corrado Cristaldi from Italy.
“Reflexes” is a piece that recalls the sensations perceived by observing the encounter of light with the surface of the water moved by the current.
Freely inspired by the mythical Lake Pergo, a pleasant place where, for the ancient Mediterranean peoples, the rapture of Persephone (Kore) was consummated. The Seasons were born here.
Technically the piece is a short and witty study in which the new techniques of sound production and the attention placed on the phrasing emphasize the expressive value of simple melodies in search of the point of balance.
The piece features two extended techniques: flutter-tonguing and tongue pizzicato. Flutter-tonguing is a technique in which the performer flutters his/her tongue to make a characteristic “frrrr” sound, while tongue pizzicato is a way of producing a dry percussive sound through an extremely hard articulation. (Note that, due to technical limitations, these effects are not properly rendered in the MIDI and MP3 preview files.)
This melody is taken from an English-language adaptation of French composer Daniel Auber's 1828 opera La muette de Portici, also known as Masaniello. The air was originally part of Le concert à la cour, a different 1824 opera also composed by Auber.
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.
Today's piece is the twenty-fourth study from 40 Esercizi per Flauto (40 Exercises for Flute), Op. 101, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
This tune was named for Chicago piper Barney Delaney, who was brother-in-law to the famed music collector Francis O'Neill. O'Neill was critical of Delaney, not for his piping ability, which he respected, but for his miserliness with tunes which O'Neill feared would be lost when Delaney died. “Delaney's Frolics” was first recorded about the year 1900 by piper Patsy Tuohey, on a privately made and issued cylinder recording. The first publication of the melody was in P.W. Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909), under the title “The Dunboyne Straw-Plaiters”.
This musette is the fifth movement of Amusement palatin, a suite for solo instrument (“musette, vielle, flute and oboe” according to the original edition) and continuo by the French Baroque composer Nicolas Chédeville. The title “La Mozelle” appears to be an old French spelling of the name of the Moselle, a river that flows through France and Germany.
Today we propose the third and last movement of Italian Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli's Trio Sonata No. 11 in E-flat major. You may notice that the key signature has only 2 flats instead of 3, despite the piece being in E-flat major. This kind of discrepancy was relatively common during the Baroque period.
This piece was originally composed for two violins and continuo. As a consequence, a couple of notes have been altered in order to make it playable on the flute.
Thanks to Mario for contributing this piece!
This is the fourteenth piece from 24 Etudes mélodiques, Op. 110 by German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer. The piece is presented in two versions, the first in D-sharp minor and the second in the enharmonic key of E-flat minor.
The composition of this melody has been credited to Scottish fiddler and music publisher Robert Bremner (c. 1713–1789), who printed the first collections of specifically Scottish dance music between 1757 and 1761. The tune had previously appeared under the title “Lady Frances Wemys' Reel” in London publisher John Walsh's 24 Country Dances for the Year 1742.
Set as an air, the melody was used by Robert Burns for his song “Theniel Menzies' Bonie Mary”. Burns must have liked the tune, for his song “In Commin' by the Brig o' Dye” in The Caledonian Museum (1770) and three songs in his Merry Muses of Caledonia (published after his death, in 1800) were directed to be sung to it.
This is the seventeenth and last piece from a collection of Capricci for Flauto Traverso by Italian flutist and composer Filippo Ruge. Born in Rome around 1725, Ruge appears to have spent most of his professional life in France, and especially in Paris, where several of his compositions were published, ranging from small-scale chamber music to large-scale symphonic works.
This short duet is taken from the Nouvelle Méthode théorique et pratique pour la flûte by French flutist and composer François Devienne, published in 1794.
Today's piece is the twenty-fifth study from 40 Esercizi per Flauto (40 Exercises for Flute), Op. 101, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
The first printed appearance of this tune is in Francis O'Neill's collection Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody, published in Chicago in 1922. It is however very similar to another reel, titled “The Humors of Schull”, which had already appeared in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903).
This graceful aria is sung by the Princess in Act II of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1884 comic opera Princess Ida.
Thanks to Phil for suggesting this piece!
This is the seventh movement of the fourth of six Concerts à deux Flutes Traversières sans Basse by the French Baroque composer Michel Pignolet de Montéclair. Here the French word concert is a synonym of “suite”, and has nothing to do with the Italian concerto. The title of the movement, “La Françoise”, translates literally as “The French One” (although the modern French spelling would be “La Française”). The piece is followed by a Double, i.e. a richly ornamented version of the same melody.
Thanks to Marco for suggesting this piece!
This is the fifteenth piece from 24 Etudes mélodiques, Op. 110 by German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer. This collection has also been published in English as 24 Melodic Exercises.
The only known appearance of this charming reel in print is in Harding's All-Round Collection of Jigs, Reels and Country Dances, published in New York in 1905.
This piece is the sixth movement of Amusement palatin, a suite for solo instrument (“musette, vielle, flute and oboe” according to the original edition) and continuo by the French Baroque composer Nicolas Chédeville. The French word quille can mean either a ninepin/skittle, or the keel of a ship or boat.
“La biondina in gondoleta” (“The blonde in a gondola”) is a traditional Italian song from the city of Venice. Its melody is often attributed to the German composer Simon Mayr (1763–1845), but this attribution may very well be spurious, possibly an attempt to ennoble the origins of the popular piece.
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.
Today's piece is the twenty-sixth study from 40 Esercizi per Flauto (40 Exercises for Flute), Op. 101, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.