This traditional Irish jig first appeared in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, published in Boston in 1883. It appears to be closely related to the popular tune “An Irishman's Heart to the Ladies”.
This is the standard march played for the bride's entrance at many formal weddings throughout the Western world. The piece comes from Wagner's opera Lohengrin, but its usual placement at the beginning of a wedding ceremony is not entirely in accordance with its placement in the opera. In the opera, the chorus is sung after the ceremony by the women of the wedding party, as they accompany the heroine Elsa to the bridal chamber.
One curious thing is that the marriage between Elsa and Lohengrin is an almost immediate failure, reaching irretrievable breakdown twenty minutes after the chorus has been sung. However, as we all know, this has failed to discourage the widespread use of the piece.
This is the opening movement of a sonata for 3 flutes in G minor by the German Baroque composer and music theorist Johann Mattheson. It was published in Amsterdam in 1708.
Here is another étude from the first of the three books which make up Ernesto Köhler's “Der Fortschritt Im Flötenspiel”, Op. 33. This one is in F major, 3/4 time. It starts out with a melodic theme, but soon begins to play with intervals and arpeggios. After a brief restatement of the initial theme, the piece ends with a short coda marked “Più vivo”, which can be translated as “more lively”.
This tune can be tracked all the way back to 1808, when it was published in Boston by musician and publisher Gottlieb Graupner in his A Collection of Country Dances and Cotillions. Graupner's collection makes the express claim that its tunes were “never before published”.
The word monfrina is a corruption of monferrina, a kind of country dance originating in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. This type of tune became fashionable in England in the early years of the 19th century, and was employed for country dances. In this country the name stood as monfrina, monfreda or manfredina.
Based on their strong similarities, the monfrina might have inspired some later Irish tunes, such as “Father Fielding's Favorite” and “John Byrne's”, through a melody titled “Ella Rosenburg” which appeared in Thomas Mooney's A History of Ireland (1845).
This Allegro is the fifth and final movement of the second of the six Op. 7 flute sonatas with bass accompaniment by French flutist and composer Jean-Daniel Braun, published in Paris in 1736.
Today's piece is a refreshing dance tune, kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, Paul Merkus from the Netherlands.
This is a short piece for two flutes, accompanied by harp. Alternatively, it can also be played as an unaccompanied duet or with guitar or piano accompaniment. It was originally written as a piano piece back in the year 2000, but has recently been arranged for this line-up.
Today we propose a little study by British flutist and composer John Clinton. It was first published in London in 1843, as part of his A Theoretical and Practical Essay on the Boehm Flute.
The earliest appearance of this jig is found in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, published in Boston in 1883. It bears similarities to another Irish tune, “Guiry's Favorite”.
This is the first movement, and the unifying device, of the famous suite for piano Pictures at an Exhibition. It has also become known through various orchestrations and arrangements, with Ravel's arrangement being the most recorded and performed.
According to critic Vladimir Stasov, in this piece Mussorgsky depicts himself roving through a picture exhibition, now leisurely, now briskly in order to come close to a picture that had attracted his attention, and at times sadly, thinking of the recently departed painter, who was his friend.
The melody and rhythm resemble Russian folk songs: the piece has simple, strong rhythms in asymmetrical meter. It is to be noted that while the original meter of the movement was a rather uncommon 11/4, published editions usually alternate 5/4 and 6/4.
This is the second movement of a sonata for 3 flutes in G minor by the German Baroque composer and music theorist Johann Mattheson. It was published in Amsterdam in 1708.
Here is another étude from the first book of Ernesto Köhler's Progress in Flute Playing. It is a very melodious cut-time Allegretto in G major.
This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music or Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. The melody, set in major mode, predates O'Neill's publication by twenty years, appearing in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) as “Golliher's Frolic”. It is possible O'Neill altered the title to honor piper Charles O'Gallagher, a member, like O'Neill, of Chicago's Irish Music Club at the turn of the 20th century.
This famous tango song was composed in 1935 by French-born Argentine singer Carlos Gardel. The title is a Spanish horse-racing phrase meaning “by a head”, which refers to a horse winning (or losing) a race narrowly – by just the length of its head. The lyrics, written by journalist Alfredo Le Pera, speak of a compulsive horse-track gambler who compares his addiction for horses with his attraction to women.
The tune has been featured in numerous films, including Scent of a Woman (1992), Schindler's List (1993), and True Lies (1994).
Thanks to Jenna for suggesting this piece!
This is one of those tunes that everybody knows, though very few know its name. It is taken from a Romantic opera by Léo Delibes, composed in the 1880s. Included in the work entitled Lakmé, the “flower duet” still fascinates listeners by the intensity of emotion it triggers. This is the reason for which it has been included in so many advertisements (particularly for British Airways) and movie soundtracks, not to mention its over-use by television shows.
There are a couple of things which might trouble you when trying to play this piece. The most noticeable one is perhaps its key, which demands the use of five sharp notes. The other one is its syncopated rhythm, with rests on most of the downbeats. But don't be afraid, you really just need to think of the musicality of the piece.
Today we propose a little study by British flutist and composer John Clinton. It was first published in London in 1843, as part of his A Theoretical and Practical Essay on the Boehm Flute.
The melody of this study is based on the famous duet “Là ci darem la mano” from Mozart's 1787 opera Don Giovanni.
The earliest appearance of this jig is found in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, published in Boston in 1883.
Clare is a county in western Ireland, renowned for its legacy in traditional Irish music and for an abundance of spectacular scenery.
Lewis Granom was an English composer and flutist, active during the second half of the 18th century. He wrote many songs and pieces popular in their day.
The siciliano we propose today is a slow 6/8 piece in minor mode.
This is the third movement of a sonata for 3 flutes in G minor by the German Baroque composer and music theorist Johann Mattheson. It was published in Amsterdam in 1708.
This is the first study from Italian flutist and composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's Twenty Studies, Op. 132. The piece is based on an extremely simple theme repeated at different heights, and on the alternation of staccato and legato articulation.
This lively 7-part jig is taken from Chicago Police captain Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in 1903. O'Neill cites as his source the manuscript collection of retired businessman and Irish music enthusiast John Gillan, who collected from musicians in his home county of Longford and the adjoining Leitrim.
Composer José Rufino Reyes y Siancas was inspired to create this national anthem for the Dominican Republic in 1882, after seeing the Argentine anthem in a newspaper.
The anthem is also known as “Quisqueyanos valientes”, after the first verse of the lyrics, although that was never the official title. Interestingly, the Spanish name of the Dominican Republic, “República Dominicana”, is never used in the anthem's official Spanish lyrics, nor is the word “dominicanos”. Rather, the anthem uses the indigenous word for the island of Hispaniola, “Quisqueya”.
Thanks to Leomar for suggesting this piece!
One of the best loved of Bach's secular cantatas, the Hunt Cantata, BWV 208, was composed in 1713 by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 35th birthday of Prince Christian of Saxen-Weißenfels. Movement 9, Aria 5, Schafe können sicher weiden (“Sheep may safely graze”), is certainly the most familiar part of this cantata.
We propose the original arrangement in B flat major, for soprano with 2 recorders and continuo. You may play the part of the soprano, or one of the two recorders.
Today we propose a little study by British flutist and composer John Clinton. It was first published in London in 1843, as part of his A Theoretical and Practical Essay on the Boehm Flute.
Irish music collector P.W. Joyce writes that he learned this tune as a child in County Limerick during the 1840s. Around the same time, it was entered in the music manuscript collection of Manchester musician John Roose as “The Fireman's Jig”. Another early version of the tune can be found in uilleann piper and cleric James Goodman's mid-19th-century music manuscripts.
This famous march, popularly known as the “Trumpet Voluntary”, was composed in honor of George, Prince of Denmark, by organist Jeremiah Clarke around 1700. For many years, though, the piece was incorrectly attributed to his elder, and more widely-known, contemporary, Henry Purcell.
The march is very popular as wedding music (it was played during the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles in St Paul's Cathedral) and was often broadcast by the BBC during World War II, especially when broadcasting to occupied Denmark. It is also used as the march of the Nobel prize laureates at the Nobel ceremonies in Stockholm on December 10 every year.
This minuet is the fourth and final movement of a sonata for 3 flutes in G minor by the German Baroque composer and music theorist Johann Mattheson. It was published in Amsterdam in 1708.
Here is another relatively easy study from Giuseppe Gariboldi's Twenty Studies, Op. 132. Try to pay careful attention to phrasing and dynamics.
This jig appears to be unique to Chicago Police officer Francis O'Neill's early-20th-century collections Music of Ireland (1903) and The Dance Music of Ireland (1907).
This Andante is the opening movement of the third of the six Op. 7 flute sonatas with bass accompaniment by French flutist and composer Jean-Daniel Braun, published in Paris in 1736.
This is certainly the best-known of the pieces from the suite of incidental music for Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, written by Mendelssohn in 1842. It is one of the most frequently used wedding marches, generally being played on a church pipe organ.
At weddings in many English-speaking countries, this piece is commonly used as a recessional, though frequently stripped of its episodes in this context. It is frequently teamed with the “Bridal Chorus” from Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin, or with Jeremiah Clarke's “Prince of Denmark's March”, both of which are often played for the entry of the bride.
The piece apparently became popular at weddings when it was selected by Victoria, Princess Royal (the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom) for her marriage to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.