Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Grand Solo No. 1 by Kuhlau

Friedrich Kuhlau, a German-Danish pianist and composer of the late Classic and early Romantic eras, wrote several compositions for flute. The ”Allegro con gusto” (meaning “with taste” or “with pleasure”) we propose today is the opening movement of the first of 3 Grand Solos for flute and piano, Op. 57. Some editions mark the piano accompaniment as “ad libitum”, meaning that the piece can very well be played by a solo flute without any accompaniment.

Many thanks to Lily for contributing this piece!

Tune of the Day: Wellesley Waltz

This waltz for three flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833. The title might refer to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, who was in command of the English armies facing Napoleon during the Peninsular War (1807–1814).

Tune of the Day: Study in F minor by Drouet

This study in octaves is the sixty-eighth piece from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.

Tune of the Day: The Guard House

This tune dates to the latter 18th century, first appearing in a Skillern collection published in London in 1776. The same tune was later published by Robert Petrie under the title “The Marchioness”.

Tune of the Day: Adagio by Leonardo Vinci

Totally unrelated to the more famous 15th-century polymath Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Vinci was an early 18th-century Italian composer, best known for his operas. His sonata in D major for flute, of which we present today the opening Adagio, is one of the few of his instrumental works to be still played today.

Thanks to Ivana for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: Sauteuses by Naudot

These two sauteuses (which literally means ‛jumpers’ in French, probably alluding to the typical rhythm they feature) constitute the fourth movement of the first of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. The French term babiole humbly indicates something of little value or importance, a trifle.

Tune of the Day: Study in B minor by Boehm

This octave jump-packed Allegro in B minor is the twenty-second piece from a collection of 24 “Caprice-Études” for flute by Theobald Boehm, the German inventor who perfected the modern Western concert flute. These studies originally served as a proof of the playability of Boehm's improved instrument in all 24 keys, but they are also very useful technical exercises.

Tune of the Day: Dunkeld House

This jig was composed by the famous Scots fiddler-composer Niel Gow around the 1770s for his patron John Murray, the Duke of Atholl. Dunkeld House in Perthshire was one of the latter's seats, lying near to Inver, the birthplace of the great fiddler. In his book Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century (1984), scholar David Johnson wrote that the tune, which has “an unmistakable air of friendship (for Murray) about it”, is still popular in Scotland. It was first published in Gow's First Collection of Niel Gow's Reels (1784).

Tune of the Day: Corrente by Corelli

This courante is the second movement from Italian Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli's Violin Sonata No. 7 in D minor, which was originally published in 1700 as part of his 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 5. As conductor Andrew Manze put it, this is “arguably the finest and most influential set of violin sonatas ever assembled. All other baroque sonatas can be defined as being pre- or post-Corelli'”.

Tune of the Day: The Maid of Llangollen

This flute duet, based on a melody by James C. Clarke, is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.

Tho' lowly my lot and tho' poor my estate,
I see without envy the wealthy and great;
Contented an proud a poor shepherd to be,
While the maid of Llangollen smiles sweetly on me.

Llangollen is a small town in north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains.

Tune of the Day: Study No. 69 in A major

This Largo is the sixty-ninth piece from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.

Tune of the Day: Celtic Humor

This A-minor jig, probably of Irish origin, is taken from Harding's All-Round Collection of Jigs, Reels and Country Dances, published in New York in 1905.

Tune of the Day: Presto by Telemann

This Presto is the second movement, and first “aria”, of Georg Philipp Telemann's Partita No. 3 in C minor, TWV 41:c1, originally published in 1716 as part of the Kleine Kammermusik (“little chamber music”) collection. The original edition indicates that the melody is intended to be played by an oboe, a violin, or a flute.

Tune of the Day: Très lentement by Naudot

This very short, slow piece in C minor is the fifth movement of the first of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. This can be a good piece to experiment with baroque ornamentation.

Tune of the Day: Study in G major by Boehm

This Allegro in G major is the twenty-third piece of a collection of 24 “Caprice-Études” for flute by Theobald Boehm, the German inventor who perfected the modern Western concert flute. These studies originally served to demonstrate the playability of Boehm's improved instrument in all 24 keys, but they are also very useful technical exercises.

Tune of the Day: Courtney's Jig

This lovely D-major jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922); O'Neill copied it from O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes, published circa 1808.

Tune of the Day: Italian Polka

This arrangement for flute and piano of Sergei Rachmaninoff's “Italian Polka” was kindly contributed by Corrado Botta.

This energetic polka was originally composed for two pianos around 1906. The original key was E-flat minor, but the present arrangement is in the much easier key of D minor. A version for solo flute in the original key is also available in our collection.

Tune of the Day: The Harper's Song

This 2/4-time “Allegro Moderato” for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.

Tune of the Day: Study No. 70 in B-flat major

This songful Allegretto is the seventieth piece from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.

Tune of the Day: Larry O'Gaff

This tune, dating back at least to the first half of the 19th century, is also known under quite a few other titles, most notably “Daniel O'Connell” and “Bundle and Go”. It is also the air to the drinking song “Humors of Whiskey”.

Tune of the Day: Allegro by Mozart

This Allegro is the opening movement of the third of 5 Divertimentos for three basset horns composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from 1783 to 1785. These pieces were later rearranged for solo piano and published as the Six Viennese Sonatinas, which is why this piece is also known as the Allegro from Sonatina No. 6.

Tune of the Day: Chaconne by Naudot

This chaconne is the closing movement of the second of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. The French term babiole humbly indicates something of little value or importance, a trifle.

Tune of the Day: Study in E minor by Boehm

This “Vivo” (“lively”) etude in E is the twenty-fourth and final piece from a collection of 24 “Caprice-Études” for flute by Theobald Boehm, the German inventor who perfected the modern Western concert flute. These studies originally served as a proof of the playability of Boehm's improved instrument in all 24 keys, but they are also very useful technical exercises.

Tune of the Day: Pas cadencé

“La pas cadencé” is possibly the most famous French fife tune. It was probably composed during the Napoleonic era, in the early 19th century. The French expression “pas cadencé” designates the ordered and synchronized walking of military formations.

Thanks to Freddie for suggesting this tune!

Tune of the Day: Allegro by Vinci

Totally unrelated to the more famous 15th-century polymath Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Vinci was an early 18th-century Italian composer, best known for his operas. His sonata in D major for flute, of which we present today the second movement, is one of the few of his instrumental works to be still played today.

Tune of the Day: The Coburg Waltz

This waltz for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833. Coburg is a town in the German region of Bavaria.

Tune of the Day: Study in D major by Drouet

This flamboyant study in trills is the seventy-first piece from French flutist and composer Louis Drouet's 72 Studies on Taste and Style for the Boehm Flute, published in 1855.

Tune of the Day: The Basket of Oysters

This 4-part jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922); O'Neill copied it from O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes, published circa 1808.

Tune of the Day: Preludio by Corelli

This Vivace is the opening movement of Italian Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli's Violin Sonata No. 7 in D minor, which was originally published in 1700 as part of his 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 5. As conductor Andrew Manze put it, this is “arguably the finest and most influential set of violin sonatas ever assembled. All other baroque sonatas can be defined as being pre- or post-Corelli'”.

Tune of the Day: Gracieusement by Naudot

This “gracious” piece constitutes the opening movement of the third of Jacques-Christophe Naudot's 6 Babioles pour 2 Vieles, Musettes, Flutes-a-bec, Flutes traversieres, Haubois, ou Violons, sans Basse. The French term babiole humbly indicates something of little value or importance, a trifle.