Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Fantasia for Solo Flute No. 3

Published in 1732, the twelve Fantasias for Solo Flute by Georg Philipp Telemann have become a staple of the solo flute repertoire. They were originally written for the transverse flute, but have been enthusiastically embraced by recorder players, many of whom insist that Telemann really wrote them for the recorder.

The third Fantasia is in the key of B minor. It starts off with a few slow and melancholic opening gestures, but soon bursts into a frenetic Vivace, and finally ends with a lively ternary gigue.

Thanks to John for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: Is it the Priest You Want?

The earliest appearance of this oddly-titled jig is found in the third volume of Edward Bunting's The Ancient Music of Ireland, published in Dublin in 1840. Even in such an old book, the notes call this tune “very ancient”!

Tune of the Day: Study in C major by Karg-Elert

This is the fourth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.

Tune of the Day: Affettuoso by Telemann

Here is the third movement from the fourth of Telemann's Sonates sans Basse à deux Flutes traverses, ou à deux Violons, ou à deux Flutes à bec, or “Sonatas without Bass for Two Transverse Flutes, or Two Violins, or Two Recorders”. This slow movement is marked “Affettuoso”, which in Italian literally means “affectionate”, “tender”, “warm-hearted”.

Tune of the Day: Entr'acte No. 3

In 1823 Schubert provided an overture and ten numbers for a play called Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (“Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus”) by Wilhelmine von Chézy. The play was a resounding flop, closing in two nights, but the music was well-received. Even so, Schubert did not take advantage of the evident high regard the audience had for it by extracting the music for concert purposes; that service was not performed until 1867, when George Grove and Arthur Sullivan made their famous discovery of a treasury of forgotten Schubert scores.

The Entr'acte No. 3 in B-flat major is one of the two best-known pieces in the score, the other being Ballet Music No. 2. Schubert reused the main theme of this entr'acte in the second movement of his String Quartet in A minor, D.804 and, in a modified form, in the Impromptu in B-flat, D.935, No. 3.

Tune of the Day: Tim the Thatcher

This tune is taken from Chicago Police Chief Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland, published in 1903. The source for this tune was Mary O'Neill, the sister of Sergeant James O'Neill, who also emigrated to Chicago. They are no relation to Francis O'Neill, but James assisted greatly on Chief O'Neill's volumes, and Francis wrote in a letter to A.P. Graves that Mary was skillful on the mandolin and violin.

Tune of the Day: Study in D minor by Gariboldi

This study in articulation is étude No. 21 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.