Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Away in a Manger (Cradle Song)

This is the tune to which “Away in a Manger” is most commonly set to in the United Kingdom. (In the US, the hymn is more often sung to the tune Mueller.) Originally titled “Cradle Song”, this tune was written by American musician William J. Kirkpatrick for the 1895 musical Around the World with Christmas. Kirkpatrick, like others before him, attributed the words of the hymn to Luther.

It seems that more than 40 different tunes have been written for “Away in a Manger”, and this multiplicity of settings can really become a source of confusion. There's even a story of a school teacher who had been teaching her children to sing the hymn to one tune, while the Sunday schools in her town were telling them to sing it to another. Both the day school and the Sunday school song books gave their tune as composed by Martin Luther. Which tune did Luther really write? Ironically, the answer is: neither!

Tune of the Day: With All My Heart

This jig appears to be unique to Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music Of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1907. It is part of an extended tune family including “Ask My Father” and “Oh! Hag You Have Killed Me”.

Tune of the Day: Study in A major by Köhler

This étude in A major is taken from the second book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian composer Ernesto Köhler.

Tune of the Day: I Have a Little Dreidel

Today we propose an arrangement for two flutes of the traditional Hannukah song “I Have a Little Dreidel”, kindly contributed to our collection by Anne McKennon.

A version of this piece for flute and piano is also available.

Tune of the Day: The Nutcracker March

This march is one of the most famous melodies of the ballet. The piece is simply called “March”, or “Marche” in French. However, instead of calling it, “The March from The Nutcracker”, most take the more direct route of saying, “The Nutcracker March”, or even “The March of the Nutcracker”.

Those vaguely familiar with the story of The Nutcracker may be surprised to learn that this is not actually a dance performed by the Nutcracker as he leads the toy soldiers to victory over the Mouse King. Instead, the march appears early in the first act, played during the lively party scene, which includes plenty of dancing, games and merriment. The cheerful rhythm of the piece helps to create a feeling of celebration among the holiday partygoers.

Tune of the Day: Ask My Father

The first appearance of this jig is found in Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. O'Neill obtained the tune form Chicago police patrolman, piper and flute player John Ennis, originally from County Kildare, Ireland.

Tune of the Day: Study in A minor by Gariboldi

This is étude No. 17 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.