Wednesday 25 February 2026
Traditional Irish jig
This jig has been solidly absorbed into the core repertoire of several folk genres. British sources seem to predate all others, with the earliest appearance of the melody so far found in the Brown Family music manuscripts (hand of James Lishman, Lake District, Cumbria, c. 1800), and musician John Buttery's manuscript copybook, compiled around the turn of the 19th century. Buttery joined the 34th Regiment in Lincoln as a fifer and served the next 19 years with the regiment at various locations around the world. He later emigrated to Canada, bringing his music manuscript with him.
As “Roaring Jelly”, the tune was included by Nathaniel Gow in Part 3 of his Complete Repository c. 1806.
The first printing under the title “Smash the Windows” appears to be in W.M. Cahusac's Annual Collection of Twenty Four Favorite Country Dances for the Year 1809, published in London. However, an American publication of around the same time, G. Graupner’s Collection of Country Dances and Cotillions No. 2 (Boston, c. 1810), also contains the tune. American flute player R.B. Washburn, who compiled his tune and dance collection from 1816–1820, included it in his manuscript copybook.
Tuesday 24 February 2026
from “30 Caprices for Flute Solo”
Today's piece is the eighth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.
Monday 23 February 2026
from Sonata for Two Flutes No. 1
This Allegro in D major is the third movement of the first of Jean-Baptiste Loeillet's Six sonatas of two parts, made on purpose for two German flutes, composed in 1720.
Sunday 22 February 2026
from “Peer Gynt” by Edvard Grieg
Anitra’s Dance is part of the music to Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt – one of the most ambitious, but also one of the most troublesome tasks that Grieg ever undertook. The composer wrote: “You don't believe, do you, that I had any choice in the matter? I was asked by Ibsen in spring, and of course I rebelled at the thought of setting this most unmusical of all subjects to music. It all hangs over me like a nightmare”. Nevertheless, the result was a triumph.
The fourth act is set on the north coast of Africa, where Peer Gynt meets a Bedouin chief in the heat of the desert. He falls for the chief's daughter, Anitra, who dances enticingly for him.
Saturday 21 February 2026
Traditional Irish jig
The earliest appearance of this jig is found in John Thomas's manuscript collection (Wales, 1752). It was subsequently included in the 1770 manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers, and in the 19th-century Alex Sutherland manuscript of County Leitrim, Ireland.
Friday 20 February 2026
from “Thirty Easy and Progressive Studies”
Today we propose étude No. 25 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
Thursday 19 February 2026
from Sonata for Two Flutes No. 1
This ternary-form “Affettuoso e poco vivace” (affectionate and a bit lively) in D major constitutes the second movement of Jean-Baptiste Loeillet's Six sonatas of two parts, made on purpose for two German flutes, composed in 1720.