These two minuets constitute the fourth movement of Partita No. 2 in G major for solo flute by German flutist and composer Johann Georg Tromlitz, which was first published as part of his Sechs Partiten für Querflöte solo.
This short study for two flutes, supposedly based on a “Russian air”, is taken from the celebrated Méthode de flûte by French flutist Jean-Louis Tulou, published in Paris in 1835.
Today we propose the fourth study from 26 Übungen (26 Exercises) by German flutist and composer Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, first published in 1835.
This popular tune has been often published from the later 18th century on in both fiddle and fife collections. Its oldest known appearance is in Rutherford's Compleat Collection of 200 of the Most Celebrated Country Dances, published around 1756. Some later publications have called it “Paddy O'Whack”. The title is from a song by the same name, the chorus of which goes:
Di du mack whack,
And where are ye from?
The town of Ballyhack
Where seven praties weight a ton.
Several other songs have been set to the air, including “Villikins and His Dinah” and the American “Sweet Betsy from Pike”.
This gavotta is the fifth and final movement of Italian Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli's Violin Sonata No. 11 in E major, which was originally published in 1700 as part of his 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 5.
This tune was composed by English poet, dramatist and songwriter Thomas Haynes Bayly.
Cried William when just come from sea,
“Does any one know my Annette?
Oh! say is she faithful to me?
Alas! 'tis so long since we met!”
“Yes, yes,” an old gossip replies,
“We all know her very well here,
She has red lip and bonny black eyes
And she lives with her own granny dear.”
“Grenadier! did you say? did you say grenadier?”
“Yes, yes,” the old gossip replied,
“She lives with her own granny, dear.”
Oh, dear! oh, dear!
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.
This study, written half in D-sharp minor and half in E-flat minor, is the fourteenth piece from the first etude book written by Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen, his 24 grosse Etüden für Flöte, Op. 15, first published in Hamburg in 1885.
This melody is best known as the vehicle for a humorous and much-anthologized song dating from the mid-19th century:
My name it is Nell, quite candid I tell,
And I live near Coothill I will never deny,
I had a large drake, the truth for to speak,
That my grandmother left me and she going to die.
He was wholesome and sound he'd weigh twenty pound,
The universe round I'd rove for his sake;
Bad wind to the robber, be him drunk or sober,
That murdered Nell Flaherty's beautiful Drake.
According to a commentary on the website of the National Library of Scotland,
The drake of the title is believed to be a coded reference to Robert Emmet (1778–1803), who helped to plan and led an uprising against British rule in Dublin in 1803. The uprising went wrong after an explosion at an arms depot, and Emmet was captured and hanged for his part in the uprising and the assassination of the Lord Chief Justice. Nell Flaherty represents Emmet's fiancée, Sarah Curran, (1782–1808). The author curses those (i.e. the British authorities) who killed Nell Flaherty's drake and urges the readers to keep up the fight. Irish Home Rule was a volatile subject in Britain in the nineteenth as well as the twentieth century, hence the coding in this song.
This gigue is the sixth and final movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 3 for Violin, BWV 1006, which he composed in 1720. In order to fit the range of the flute, we have transposed the piece from E major to A major.
Thanks to Emee for suggesting this piece!
Composed by Gustaf Nordqvist in 1921, this song was one of the most common Christmas carols in Sweden during the 20th century. The Swedish lyrics, penned by hymnwriter Edvard Evers, describe Christmas as white and snow-filled, and depict Christmas blessings with a wish that Christmas bring light and peace.
Many thanks to Mark for contributing this arrangement for flute trio!
Today we propose the fifth study from 26 Übungen (26 Exercises) by German flutist and composer Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, first published in 1835.
To be practiced with single and double tonguing, as well as in dotted rhythm.
The first appearance of this jig in print is, under the title “Irish Whiskey”, in James S. Kerr's Merry Melodies, published in Glasgow around 1880.
Today we have a new contribution from our guest composer from the Netherlands, Paul Merkus. This piece for flute and piano was written back in 1985.
The Andantino is my first piece for flute and piano with a prelude. The flute starts off silent to give the piano the opportunity to place both consonances and dissonances in a dynamic spectrum in a series of chords, which come to rest by means of a pedal point. This is somewhat inspired by Chopin's Prelude Op. 45, which also begins with a prelude of mere chords. The prelude serves as an upbeat to the melodic entry of the flute, which is then taken over by the piano. After a relatively modest middle part in a major key, the flute follows with a reprise of the minor main theme, but then in a radiant high position.
This old melody, named after the city of Besançon in eastern France, may well date back to the 17th century. One of its earliest known appearances is, as “Berger, secoue ton sommeil profond” (“Shepherd, shake off your drowsy sleep”), in a collection titled Recueil de Noëls anciens au patois de Besançon (1842). Today, the melody is better known as the vehicle for the Advent carol “People, Look East”, which was written in 1928 by English author Eleanor Farjeon.
Many thanks to Mark for contributing this arrangement for flute trio!
This study is the fifteenth piece from the first etude book written by Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen, his 24 grosse Etüden für Flöte, Op. 15, first published in Hamburg in 1885.
This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. O'Neill had the tune from a 17-year-old fiddler named George West, who, although gifted musically, was somewhat indigent and did not own a fiddle. He had formed a symbiotic musical relationship of sorts with one O'Malley, who did own a fiddle and who eked out a meager living playing house parties despite the loss of a finger from his left hand. O'Malley, however, invariably could only make it to midnight before he got too drunk to bow, at which time West took over his fiddle and finished the night's engagement.
First published in 1834, the three nocturnes that make up Chopin's Op. 15 are characterized by a more personal approach than his earlier works. The Nocturne in F major, set out in simple ternary form, contrasts a very simple melody with a fast and dramatic middle section in F minor. Some critics have remarked that this nocturne has little to do with night, as if sunlight is “leaking from the piece's seams”.
Thanks to Ming for suggesting this piece!
Several authors have commented that this carol evokes the tradition of erecting a crèche to honor the Christ Child. However, according to both William L. Simon (Merry Christmas Songbook, 1981) and Nancy J. Skarmeas (The Carols of Christmas, 1993), the tune to this carol has been known since the 14th Century — not as a sacred hymn, but as a lively dance for French nobility. Both authors state that the carol, with words and music, first appeared in a compilation of Christmas music, Cantiques de Premiere Advenement de Jesu-Christ, published in 1553 by poet and painter Nicolas Denisot, whose hobby was the collection of Christmas music.
Many thanks to Mark for contributing this arrangement for flute trio!
Today we propose the sixth study from 26 Übungen (26 Exercises) by German flutist and composer Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, first published in 1835.
Care is to be taken that the rhythm is steady and that the passing from one note to another is clear and accurate. The surest way of achieving this is by small and gentle movements of the fingers. In fortissimo passages, it is well to bear in mind Hans-Peter Schmitz's maxim “Forte playing — piano fingering”.
Dating from sometime between the 13th and 16th centuries, “Entre le bœuf et l'âne gris” (“Between the ox and the grey donkey”) is one of the oldest Christmas carols still sung today. It is also known as “Le sommeil de l'enfant Jésus” (“The sleep of baby Jesus”).
This polonaise is the fifth and final movement of Partita No. 2 in G major for solo flute by German flutist and composer Johann Georg Tromlitz, which was first published as part of his Sechs Partiten für Querflöte solo.
Not much is known about this old “Carol of the Birds”. Some hymnals refer to the tune as “Bas-Quercy”, which is the name of a small region in the southwest of France where it may have originated. In the English-speaking world, the melody is usually associated with the lyrics “Whence Comes This Rush of Wings?”.
Many thanks to Mark for contributing this arrangement for three flutes!
This study is the sixteenth piece from the first etude book written by Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen, his 24 grosse Etüden für Flöte, Op. 15, first published in Hamburg in 1885.
The lyrics for this carol (“Josef, lieber Josef mein”) may well date back to 14th-century Germany. By the late 15th century, they became linked with this very lovely and equally old anonymous tune. The carol appears as a lullaby sung by the Virgin Mary in a manuscript dating from around the year 1500, as part of a mystery play acted in a church around the crib.
Before it was affiliated with “Joseph Dearest”, the tune was attached to a well-known Latin hymn, “Resonet in laudibus”.
“Joy to the World” is a carol that hardly needs any presentation. The hymn was originally written in 1719, but it was initially sung to tunes entirely unrelated to the one commonly used today. This first appeared in Lowell Mason's 1836 book Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, where it was given the name “Antioch” and attributed as being “From Handel”. Any resemblances between Handel's works (particularly the Messiah) and “Joy to the World”, however, have been dismissed as “chance resemblance” by modern scholars, who rather tend to explain this attribution by Mason's well-known admiration of Handel's work.
Many thanks to Mark for contributing this arrangement for three flutes, and a very merry Christmas to all!
Today we propose the seventh study from 26 Übungen (26 Exercises) by German flutist and composer Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, first published in 1835.
This jig, also known by the title “The Merry Huntsman”, is taken from Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903.
This Allegro moderato is the first of 8 Caprices for solo flute by German violinist and composer Anton Stamitz, composed around the 1780s.
This melodious Andante for two flutes is taken from the celebrated Méthode de flûte by French flutist Jean-Louis Tulou, published in Paris in 1835.
This study is the nineteenth piece from the first etude book written by Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen, his 24 grosse Etüden für Flöte, Op. 15, first published in Hamburg in 1885.
This lesser-known new year's song appears in Chicago police officer Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in 1903.