Today's tune was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, piper Roddy Campbell from the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. He writes:
Catherine Lillian does much work for local good causes in our community. Recently she has taken an interest in my electronic pipe to the extent that she is not only learning to play but has persuaded husband Malcolm to buy her one!
This is the second movement of Johann Joachim Quantz's Sonata in F major for flute and continuo, QV 1:82. It is one of many works for flute that Quantz composed for his student and patron Frederick II, King of Prussia.
The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is a folk dance dating back to the Middle Ages, taking place each year in Abbots Bromley, a village in Staffordshire, England. The modern version of this picturesque dance involves reindeer antlers, a hobby horse, Maid Marian (portrayed by a man in a dress), and a Fool (or Jester).
There is no special or traditional tune for the dance, but one of the melodies most commonly associated with it is the one we present today, known as “The Wheelwright Robinson's Tune”. Andrew Bullen (Country Dance and Song, May 1987) notes:
It was sent to [British folksong collector Cecil] Sharp in 1910 by a Mr. Buckley, an Abbots Bromley resident who noted the tune in 1857 or 1858. He learned it from William (or Henry) Robinson, the town's wheelwright and a very good fiddle player. While he never played for the dance, he was the only one in the village who remembered the tune, which he said was still used when he was a young man. We know that Robinson was born in the 1790's, because he sold his shop in 1878 while he was in his eighties. Robinson indicated that the tune was ancient in his day.
This study is the fifty-sixth piece from 58 Esercizi per flauto (a.k.a. First Exercises for Flute, or Die ersten Übungen für Flöte) by Italian Romantic flutist and composer Giuseppe Gariboldi.
This tune first appeared as “The Bow-Legged Tailor” in Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. It is however very similar to “Sheriff Muldoon's”, one of several compositions credited to a “J. Hand” in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, which had been published in Boston 20 years earlier.
Today we propose the fifth air from Italian flutist Tebaldo Monzani's Twelve Airs as Solos for a German Flute with a Violoncello or Bass Accompaniment, published in London around the year 1800.
This Presto is the fourth and final movement of a duet for two flutes or violins by Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann, first published in 1728 as part of Der getreue Musikmeister (“the faithful music master”), a musical journal aimed at amateurs.
Today's study is the twelfth piece from 48 Études pour hautbois ou saxophone, composed around 1835 by German oboist and clarinetist Franz Wilhelm Ferling.
Today's tune was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, piper Roddy Campbell from the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. It is dedicated to his grandson in Brisbane, Australia.
Today we propose an arrangement for flute and guitar of Frédéric Chopin's Prelude No. 7, which was kindly contributed to our collection by Peter Pope.
This Andantino in the style of a mazurka, originally in the key of A major, is the shortest of Chopin's 24 preludes.
This lively Allegro for two flutes is the last duet from François Devienne's XXIV Duos faciles pour deux flutes à l'usage des commençans (24 Easy Duets for two flutes for use by beginners). It was first published in Leipzig around 1800.
This study is the fifty-seventh piece from 58 Esercizi per flauto (a.k.a. First Exercises for Flute, or Die ersten Übungen für Flöte) by Italian Romantic flutist and composer Giuseppe Gariboldi.
Killashandra is a town in County Cavan, Ireland, which was once a thriving center for the linen trade. The title “The Killashandra Lasses” is first found in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1903), but the tune belongs to a wide and varied melodic family dating back to the 18th century. Related tunes include “Judy McFadden's”, “The Humors of Castlelyons”, and “The Rambling Pitchfork”.
This is the third and final movement of Johann Joachim Quantz's Sonata in F major for flute and continuo, QV 1:82. It is one of many works for flute that Quantz composed for his student and patron Frederick II, King of Prussia.
Today we propose the first piece from Duos faciles et progressifs pour 2 flûtes (Easy and progressive duets for 2 flutes) by Austro-Hungarian flutist and composer Adolf Terschak. It was first published in Paris in 1874.
Today's piece is the thirteenth study from 48 Études pour hautbois ou saxophone, composed around 1835 by German oboist and clarinetist Franz Wilhelm Ferling.
Today's tune was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, piper Roddy Campbell from the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. He writes:
Mìcheal (note — English MichAEl, Gaelic MìchEAl). Mìcheal's early death some years ago was a big loss to us all in Barra. He played pipes, sang, and was one of the wittiest persons I have ever known. He and I met often in The Castlebay Bar and in fact became real boozum pals!
Franz Schubert composed his song cycle Winterreise (“Winter Journey”) for tenor voice and piano in 1827, a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller.
The last song in the cycle is “Der Leiermann”, usually translated as “The Hurdy-Gurdy Man”.
There, behind the village, stands a hurdy-gurdy man;
with numb fingers he plays as best he can.
Barefoot on the ice he totters to and fro,
and his little plate remains forever empty.
No one wants to listen, no one looks at him,
and the dogs growl around the old man.
And he lets everything go on as it will;
he plays, and his hurdy-gurdy never stops.
Strange old man, shall I go with you?
Will you turn your hurdy-gurdy to my songs?
Thanks to Thibaut for suggesting this piece!
This is the opening movement of a flute duet in B-flat major by the prolific Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann. It was first published by Telemann himself in 1727 as part of a collection of 6 flute duets, TWV 40:130-135.
This study is the last piece from 58 Esercizi per flauto (a.k.a. First Exercises for Flute, or Die ersten Übungen für Flöte) by Italian Romantic flutist and composer Giuseppe Gariboldi.
The earliest known appearance of this jig is in Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. It is, however, part of a family of tunes which notably includes “The Frost is All Over”, and which can be traced back to the early 18th century, if not even earlier.
Today we propose the sixth air from Italian flutist Tebaldo Monzani's Twelve Airs as Solos for a German Flute with a Violoncello or Bass Accompaniment, published in London around the year 1800.
Today we propose the second piece from Duos faciles et progressifs pour 2 flûtes (Easy and progressive duets for 2 flutes) by Austro-Hungarian flutist and composer Adolf Terschak. It was first published in Paris in 1874.
Today's piece is the fourteenth study from 48 Études pour hautbois ou saxophone, composed around 1835 by German oboist and clarinetist Franz Wilhelm Ferling.
Today's tune was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, piper Roddy Campbell from the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. He writes:
This is a jokey tune with a jokey title. Apologies for the repetition!
The title is, of course, an alteration of a verse from the famous “Skye Boat Song”.
Today we propose an arrangement for flute and guitar of Frédéric Chopin's famous Valse in A minor, which was kindly contributed to our collection by Peter Pope.
This waltz has had a very troubled history. It was only published in 1860, 11 years after the composer's death, and for almost a century it was wrongly attributed to Charlotte de Rothschild, whose family had patronized Chopin as well as many other famous artists, and ended up in possession of the manuscript. Only in 1955, after the manuscript was donated to the Paris Conservatoire, the piece's true origin was discovered.
This is the second movement of a flute duet in B-flat major by the prolific Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann. It was first published by Telemann himself in 1727 as part of a collection of 6 flute duets, TWV 40:130-135.
Today we propose the first study from 24 Studi di perfezionamento per flauto, Op. 15, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues. It was first published in Milan in 1904.