This study in G is the twenty-second piece from 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman. The first 15 bars are in the key of G minor, but the rest of the study is in G major.
This English country dance tune is used for a polka step in the North‑West morris dance tradition. In 1927, Anne Gilchrist published the tune in her article “The Lancashire Rush-Cart and Morris Dance” in the Journal of the English Folk Dance Society. It had been sent to her by Dr. Henry Brierley, a native of the cotton-mill town of Rochdale, Lancashire, who said the tune was used to accompany the Rochdale rushcart in the 1850s. Gilchrist writes:
The dancers held half a coco-nut shell in each hand, a half-shell also being strapped to each knee, and clapped the shells rhythmically to the following unvarying tune, played by the band. The dance was stationary, but according to his recollection the coco-nut dancers preceded the drawing-team of young men, ‘prancing’ in the procession. The tune has a general resemblance to Mr. Cecil Sharp's traditional versions of both Country Gardens and Hunt the Squirrel. I have seen no other record of this dance.
This 12/8-time Allegro is the fourth and last movement of a Sonata in C major for recorder and basso continuo written by Italian composer Benedetto Marcello around 1712. Near the end of the piece, Marcello surprises us with 4 bars in 3/4 time.
This short prelude opens the fifteenth section of the 55 Easy Pieces collection by French Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
This 3-part “Vivo” (“lively”) study in D major is the fifth piece from Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen's Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 30.
This traditional slow air in G minor is taken from Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies.
This Allegro is the fifth and final movement of the third of six sonatas for flute and continuo that Michel Blavet published in Paris in 1732.
Today we present the twentieth and last duet from the first volume of Luigi Hugues's La scuola del flauto (The School of the Flute).
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
This short Allegro in E-flat major is the twenty-third study from 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte, Op. 4 by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman.
This traditional Irish melody was made famous by an arrangement of the same name by Australian pianist, composer and folk music collector Percy Grainger. Grainger wrote his composition in 1907 as a birthday gift for his mother, using the melodies of two contrasting Irish reels, “Molly on the Shore” and “Temple Hill”.
Thanks to Amanda for suggesting this tune!
This relatively long Largo is the opening movement of a Sonata in A minor for recorder and basso continuo, written by Italian composer Benedetto Marcello around 1712.
This is the first movement of the third of French flutist and composer François Devienne's Six Duos pour Deux Flûtes (“Six Duets for Two Flutes”), published in Paris around 1790.
This little piece is the very first study from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.
This traditional reel is taken from George Petrie's The complete collection of Irish music, published in 1902. Petrie identifies it as a tune from County Cork.
In 1907, “Temple Hill” was used by Australian pianist, composer and folk music collector Percy Grainger for his famous composition “Molly on the Shore”.
This Largo is the opening movement of the fifth of six sonatas for flute and continuo by French Baroque composer and flute virtuoso Michel Blavet, first published in Paris in 1732. This sonata is nicknamed “La Chauvet”.
The courante we present today is the second movement of the ninth sonata from a collection of 12 “little sonatas” for two flutes by the prolific French Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
This “Andante maestoso” is the twenty-fourth piece from 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman.
This lovely jig appears in Brysson's A Curious Selection of Favourite Tunes with Variations, published in Edinburgh in 1790. The tune is known under many different names, including “Jackson's Frolic”, “The Donnybrook Boy”, “Friendly Jack” and “The Mulberry Bush”.
This 3-part Allegro constitutes the second movement of a Sonata in A minor for recorder and basso continuo, written by Italian composer Benedetto Marcello around 1712.
This Presto is the second movement of the third of French flutist and composer François Devienne's Six Duos pour Deux Flûtes (“Six Duets for Two Flutes”), published in Paris around 1790.
This little Allegretto is the second study from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.
This English country dance tune appears under the title of “Stingo, or the Oyle of Barley” in the first edition of John Playford’s The Dancing Master, published in 1651. It carried that title through all editions until 1690, when the name was changed to “Cold and Raw”, after Thoms D'Urfey's song “Cold and Raw, the North did blow”. ‘Stingo’ is evidently a brewed alcoholic beverage, as ‘Oil of barley’ is a euphemism for strong beer.
This Allegro is the second movement of the fifth of six sonatas for flute and continuo by French Baroque composer and flute virtuoso Michel Blavet, first published in Paris in 1732. This sonata is nicknamed “La Chauvet”.
This brunette constitutes the second duet in E-flat major from the 55 Easy Pieces collection by French Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
This playful Allegretto is the twenty-fifth and last piece from the first book of 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman.
This French country dance tune is taken from Robert Daubat's contradance book (tunes with dance instructions) Cent Contredanses en Rond, published in 1757. The title is French for “The Pleasant One”.
This gentle Largo in E-flat major is the third movement from Venetian Baroque composer Benedetto Marcello's Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 1, No. 4.
Thanks to Marcello from Italy for suggesting this piece!
This piece appears in the second of two volumes of works that Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his wife Anna Magdalena. Many of the compositions in this second volume, dating from 1725, are of questionable authorship, though they are often listed on J.S. Bach's works list. Other family members, including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, are known to have written some of the pieces, one of which might have been this Polonaise in G minor.
Thanks to Betty for suggesting this piece!
This little study in staccato articulation is the third piece from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.
Despite its name, this is not a waltz tune! “The Zeak Waltz” is a hornpipe tune from Cornwall, the Celtic and most south-western part of England. It appears in Ralph Dunstan's 1929 The Cornish Song Book, where it is listed as “a march formerly very popular at outdoor Sunday school treats”; this association leads to the speculation that ‛Zeak’ might be short for Ezekiel.
As with all hornpipes, this tune is commonly played with a swing on eighth notes.
This Rondo is the third movement from the fifth of six sonatas for flute and continuo by French Baroque composer and flute virtuoso Michel Blavet, first published in Paris in 1732. This sonata is nicknamed “La Chauvet”.
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