Saturday 14 March 2026
by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged for Flute solo
The Goldberg Variations are a set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741, the work is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer.
The aria is a slow sarabande in 3/4 time, and features a heavily ornamented melody. It is played at the beginning of the Variations, and then repeated at the end of the work. It is also found in Book II of the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, copied by Bach's wife herself. In this instance, the aria bears neither the name of the composer nor the title of the piece: it is therefore possible that the author of this wonderful piece is anonymous. However, as musicologist David Schulenberg has pointed out, “the Aria is neither Italian nor French but specifically German galant in style, and certain details point directly to Bach, especially the beautiful broadening out of the rhythm into steadily flowing notes in the last phrase”.
Friday 13 March 2026
Traditional Irish jig
This variant of the famous “Greensleeves” tune is taken from Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1907). Its title was a common name for the red-coated British Army (which always had a large number of Irish conscripts), but also refers symbolically to the union of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Under the title “The Bunch of Currants”, a very similar tune had previously appeared in R.M. Levey's First Collection of the Dance Music of Ireland (1858).
Thursday 12 March 2026
from “30 Caprices for Flute Solo”
Today's piece is the tenth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.
Wednesday 11 March 2026
from Sonata for Two Flutes No. 1
This Allegro in D major is the fifth and last movement of the first of Jean-Baptiste Loeillet's Six sonatas of two parts, made on purpose for two German flutes, composed in 1720.
Tuesday 10 March 2026
from Sonata in G minor by George Frideric Handel
This is the fourth and final movement of Handel's Sonata in G minor for Recorder. Handel later reused this movement for his Flute Sonata in E minor, making only a few changes to the melody.
Monday 9 March 2026
Traditional Irish jig
This jig first appears in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1903). Collector George Petrie, whom Paul de Grae believes is O'Neill's source for the tune, describes it as a “rebel's march in 1798”, a reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against the British Crown.
Sunday 8 March 2026
from “Thirty Easy and Progressive Studies”
Today we propose étude No. 27 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.