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As indicated by its title, this study should render the impression of a sweeping motion. The “poco a poco ravivando il tempo” marking at the beginning asks for a very gradually increasing tempo.
This is the second movement of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Flute Duet in F major. It is an extremely slow and meditative piece, marked “Lamentabile”, which in Italian would literally mean “mournful”. The movement is set in binary (AABB) form, and the first part starts out as a canon at the fifth; that is, when the first voice enters it repeats the melody exposed by the second voice, but a fifth higher.
Thanks to Jean-Marc for suggesting this piece!
The Sei Solo – a violino senza Basso accompagnato (“six violin solos without bass”), as Bach titled them, have a great historical significance, as they firmly established the technical capability of the violin as a solo instrument. The set consists of three sonatas da chiesa, in four movements, and three partitas, in dance-form movements. It was completed by 1720, but was only published in 1802. Even after publication, it was largely ignored until the celebrated violinist Josef Joachim started performing these works. Today, Bach's Sonatas and Partitas are an essential part of the violin repertoire, frequently performed and recorded.
This splendid Largo in F major constitutes the third movement of Sonata No. 3 in C major. Considered by some as the most beautiful of all solo works ever written for violin, it has always been an obvious choice for an encore at any performance.
The earliest appearance of this jig is found in Howe’s 500 Irish Melodies Ancient and Modern, published in Boston around 1880, under the (probably corrupted) title “Stop the Razor”. It was then included, as two separate settings, in Francis O'Neill's Music or Ireland (Chicago, 1903). Our version is a concatenation of these two settings, with parts 3 to 6 (the second setting) serving as variations.
This study in triplets is taken from 18 exercices pour la flûte traversière by French Romantic composer Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier.
Along with Guillaume Dufay and John Dunstaple, Gilles Binchois was one of the most famous composers of the early 15th century.
As Binchois avoided large-scale works, his three-part songs are his most important compositions. Typical features include rather short-breathed phrases, triple rhythm, and the apparent repetition of material. These repetitions actually demonstrate Binchois's flexibility, since it is rare for two phrases to have exactly the same rhythmic or melodic contour. The song “Je me recommande” is a fine example of his style, and illustrates many of the features that make Binchois a supreme miniaturist.
This is one of the musically richest movements from Le Carnaval des Animaux (“The Carnival of the Animals”), a musical suite of fourteen movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The melody is played by the flute, on top of tumultuous, glissando-like runs in the piano. These irregular piano figures are evocative of a peaceful, dimly-lit aquarium.
“Aquarium” has been featured in the trailers for the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the 1974 film The Godfather Part II, the 1994 film Only You, and the 2006 film Charlotte's Web. It also appears to be one of the influences on the main theme in Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and is especially prominent in the cue titled “The West Wing”.
As Trevor Wye points out in his popular Practice Books, this piece makes an excellent tone exercise.