Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

It is believed that this traditional tune stems from a 15th century French processional for Franciscan nuns, but it may also have 8th century Gregorian origins. It is one of the most solemn Advent hymns.

The words were com­bined from var­i­ous an­ti­phons by an un­known au­thor, pos­si­bly in the 12th cen­tu­ry; they were subsequently trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by John M. Neale in the mid-19th century. Neale's orig­in­al trans­l­a­tion actually be­gan, “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Em­man­u­el”.

The lyrics echo a num­ber of pro­phet­ic themes. The ti­tle comes from Isai­ah 7:14: “Be­hold, a vir­gin shall con­ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Im­man­u­el.” Im­man­u­el is Hebrew for “God with us.”

Tune of the Day: Largo by Braun

This Largo is the opening movement of the last of the six Op. 7 flute sonatas with bass accompaniment by French flutist and composer Jean-Daniel Braun, published in Paris in 1736.

Tune of the Day: The Humors of Ayle House

The earliest known appearance of this jig is found in the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork cleric and uilleann piper Canon James Goodman. Various different settings of the tune have since been published, at first mostly in Mixolydian mode (with C-naturals), but with later ones tending more and more to a plain major mode.

Tune of the Day: Study in E major by Gariboldi

Here is étude No. 14 from Italian flutist and composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's Twenty Studies, Op. 132. It is marked “scherzando”, an Italian term that literally means “joking”; therefore, this study should be played in a very brilliant style, and at a fast tempo.

Tune of the Day: Zum Ziele führt dich diese Bahn

In the Act I finale of “The Magic Flute”, three boys lead the hero Tamino into a grove wherein three temples stand: in the center, the Temple of Wisdom; on the right, the Temple of Reason; on the left, the Temple of Nature. Singing a calm, stately trio they tell him some wise advice for his quest:

To your goal leads this path;
Therefore, listen to our lesson:
Be steadfast, patient, and remain silent.

This piece was arranged as a flute duet by the great German composer Bernhard Romberg.

Tune of the Day: Gymnopédie No. 2

The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie. These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopédies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music. Though gentle, they are somewhat eccentric, and when composed they defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars feature an alternating progression of two major seventh chords, the first on the subdominant, G, and the second on the tonic, D. This kind of harmony was almost entirely unknown at the time.

Tune of the Day: The Frieze Breeches

This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's The Dance Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1907. O'Neill states that the tune was “in some form known all throughout Munster. A strain remembered by from my mother's singing of it was added to Delaney's version, making a total of six in our printed setting.”

Frieze is a coarse woolen fabric with a rough surface. The title refers to clothing made from the material, once common in Ireland. However, the title is often rendered as “The Friar's Britches” due to the similarity of “frieze” and “friars” when spoken.