Monday 19 April 2010
Wednesday 1 May 2024
Tune of the Day: Chaconne
by Sigfrid Karg-Elert
Sigfrid Karg-Elert composed his 30 Caprices for Flute between 1915 and 1918. The German composer wrote them specifically for Carl Bartuzat, a flautist bound for service in the war. These short exercises were designed to challenge linear one-staff thinking and, in short, keep the friend from becoming bored. They are now a standard set of technical, dynamic, and phrasing exercises for flute students all over the world.
The Chaconne, a form taken from the baroque era, is the last and most challenging of the thirty caprices. It is based on a ground bass (“Basso ostinato”) of four notes: F, Eb, Db, C.