Wednesday 15 January 2025
from “The Tales of Hoffmann” by Jacques Offenbach
This barcarolle, titled “Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour”, is taken from Act II of the 1851 opera The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes d'Hoffmann) by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach.
Despite being the famous number in the opera, the duet was not written by Offenbach with Les contes d'Hoffmann in mind. He wrote it as the “Elves' Song” in the opera Die Rheinnixen (aka Les fées du Rhin, i.e. The Rhine Nixies), which premiered in 1864. Offenbach died in 1880 with Les contes d'Hoffmann unfinished, and it was Ernest Guiraud who completed the scoring and incorporated this excerpt from one of Offenbach's earlier, long-forgotten operas into the new opera.
The Barcarolle has been incorporated into many films, including Life Is Beautiful and Titanic. It also provided the tune for Elvis Presley's rendition of the song “Tonight is so Right for Love” in the 1960 film G.I. Blues.
Tuesday 14 January 2025
from Flute Sonata in G major
This Largo is the fourth and final 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.
Monday 13 January 2025
Traditional Irish jig
This jig, first found in Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1903), is an Irish version of the traditional Scottish tune “Blue Bonnets Over the Border”.
Sunday 12 January 2025
from “20 Easy and Melodic Studies”
Here is another relatively easy étude, in F major this time, from the first book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by flutist and composer Ernesto Köhler.
Saturday 11 January 2025
by Ludwig van Beethoven, arranged for Flute quartet
As was his practice with most of his dances in his early years, Beethoven scored his 12 German Dances for orchestra first, then transcribed them for piano. The instrumentation he employed in the orchestral rendition of the third dance, which we present today in an arrangement for four flutes, was oboes, bassoons, horns and strings. Among the twelve dances, this third one is particularly notable for its skillful polyphonic writing.
Friday 10 January 2025
from Giuseppe Verdi's opera “Nabucco”
Arguably the best-known number ever written by Giuseppe Verdi, the “Chorus of Hebrew Slaves”, Va', pensiero, sull'ali dorate (“Fly, thought, on golden wings”), is regularly given an encore when performed today; indeed, it is the only encore Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine has ever allowed.
This chorus from the third act of Nabucco (1842), inspired by Psalm 137. recollects the story of Jewish exiles from Babylon after the loss of the First Temple in Jerusalem. The opera, with its powerful chorus, established Verdi as a major composer in 19th century Italy.
Some scholars initially regarded it as an anthem for Italian patriots, who were seeking to unify their country in the years up to 1861 and free it from foreign control. The chorus' theme of exiles singing about their homeland, and its lines like O mia patria, si bella e perduta (“O my country, so beautiful and so lost”) was thought to have resonated with many Italians. However, much of modern scholarship has refuted this concept, and fails to see connections between Nabucco and Italian nationalism.
Thursday 9 January 2025
Traditional Irish jig
This tune appears in both of Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's large collections Music of Ireland (1903) and The Dance Music of Ireland (1907). Curiously, O'Neill prints the jig twice, once as “The Merry Maiden” and once as “Willy Walsh's Jig”, with only a difference between the two in the last two measures. Both versions are sourced to “O'Reilly”; perhaps Martin O'Reilly, “The Blind Piper of Galway”, or possibly Philip O'Reilly from Cavan.
