The Ouverture-Suite in A minor, TWV 55:a2 contains two consecutive minuets. While the first is played by the strings alone, the second one features the flute as its leading instrument. This second movement is titled, in the French style, “Menuet II”. It will perfectly lend itself to a study in Baroque articulation.
Thanks to Greg for suggesting this piece!
Here is a new duet from the first volume of Ernesto Köhler's Forty Progressive Duets, Op. 55. In this ternary-form piece the upper voice plays a very simple but graceful melody, while the lower voice is busy playing scales and arpeggios.
Here is another étude by Danish flutist Joachim Andersen. This Adagio in C minor is study No. 20 from his Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 33.
This lively jig appears to be unique to Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1907.
Kinsale is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, on the southern coast of Ireland. In recent years, it has become a holiday destination for both Irish and overseas tourists, and is especially known for its restaurants and its annual gourmet food festivals.
As a composer, Polish statesman Michał Kleofas Ogiński is chiefly noted for his piano works, particularly the polonaises, the melancholy, lyrical mood of which suited the taste of the times and expressed Polish patriotism. Ogiński wrote about 20, published in many editions in Poland and abroad, the best-known being the Polonaise No. 13 in A minor, titled “Pożegnanie Ojczyzny” (“Farewell to the Fatherland”). Written in 1823, this piece became extremely popular in Russia and was soon arranged for a variety of instrumental settings.
This duet is No. 3 of the second volume of Luigi Hugues's La scuola del flauto (The School of the Flute). It is a ternary-form Allegro moderato in B-flat major, with a central section in F major.
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
This is étude No. 10 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
This jig appears to be unique to Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1907.
Dungarvan is a coastal town and harbor in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. It would appear that to this day the town is still renowned for its flowers: in 2018, it achieved a much-coveted silver medal in the Entente Florale Europe competition, organized by the European Association for Flowers and Landscape.
The “Vocalise-Étude en forme de Habanera” was originally written for low voice and piano in March 1907, and was commissioned by A.-L. Hettich as one of a series of studies by contemporary composers for use in his voice classes at the Paris Conservatoire. It was subsequently arranged in various instrumental versions, under the title “Pièce en forme de habanera”.
As you can see, Ravel was particularly fond of the characteristically Spanish habanera rhythm, which occurs not only in this piece, but also in his famous Rapsodie espagnole
This famous aria appears at the end of Act I of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. The Count Almaviva has ordered the young Cherubino to join his regiment in Seville, and leaves Figaro to cheer up the unhappy adolescent. Figaro sings to Cherubino about his new, harsh military life, from which women will be totally excluded.
You won't go any more, amorous butterfly,
Fluttering around inside night and day
Disturbing the sleep of beauties,
A little Narcissus and Adonis of love.
Here is another étude in double-tonguing by Danish flutist Joachim Andersen. This Moderato in B-flat major is study No. 21 from his Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 33.
This minor-mode jig is unique to Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907.
The Polovtsian Dances constitute the best known selections from Alexander Borodin's 1890 opera Prince Igor. They were originally part of Act II, but they are now often played as a stand-alone concert piece.
Dance No. 17, titled “Polovtsian Dance with Chorus”, has become particularly famous. Most of its themes were incorporated into the 1953 musical Kismet, best known of which is the “Gliding Dance of the Maidens”, adapted for the song ”Stranger in Paradise”. The most popular version of this song was sung by Tony Bennett, and it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in May 1955. Artie Shaw's “My Fantasy”, recorded in 1940, also has a tune virtually identical to this dance.
Here is another duet by Italian composer Ernesto Köhler. This common-time duet in D major is No. 11 of the first volume of his Forty Progressive Duets. The main theme is introduced by the first flute and then repeated by the second flute; in the central part, however, the second flute is relegated to an accompaniment function.
This étude in G major is taken from the second book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian composer Ernesto Köhler.
This jig appears to be unique to Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907.
The Double Dealer, a comedy accompanied by music, was one of two collaborations between Henry Purcell and William Congreve. At the time he wrote it, Congreve wasn't quite comfortable writing plays with music in them; however, the suite of instrumental music which Purcell composed for the play in 1693 greatly enhances it.
The light, easy-going Air in D minor was originally composed for keyboard, and in recent times it has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity due to its inclusion as one of the first pieces in Carl Humphries' The Piano Handbook. An interesting fact about this tune is that it's very easy to come up with a few nice variations.
Here is the first movement of Georg Philipp Telemann's fourth Canonic Sonata for two flutes. From a rhythmic point of view, this “Vivace ma moderato” may sound a little strange, because it is in 3/4 time but starts off giving the impression of being in 6/8.
This is étude No. 11 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
This jig appear to be unique to Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907. However, the first strain bears some resemblance to another tune known as “The Devil in Ireland”, which is first found in the 1823–26 manuscript collection of English fiddler Joshua Gibbons.
“La Cumparsita” (“The little parade”) is undoubtedly the most widespread tango, the one that every person recognizes apart from its version, the one used as an icon to represent the whole genre. It was initially a little march, composed by the young student of architecture, Gerardo Hernán Matos Rodríguez on an uncertain date, that we can place between the late 1915 and the early 1916, for the carnival marching band organized by the Federation of Students of Uruguay.
“La Cumparsita” is very popular at Milongas, traditional events where tango is danced; it is a common tradition for it to be played for the last dance of the evening.
This wonderful Marziale for two flutes in E minor is taken from Ernesto Köhler's collection of progressive duets, Op. 55 Vol. I. The first flute plays a “large”, songful theme, while the second flute is assigned a restless accompaniment mostly made up of sixteenth notes. At the beginning and at the end of the piece, however, the two flutes play in octaves, so play close attention to your intonation!
Here is another étude by Danish flutist Joachim Andersen. This “Moderato assai” in G minor is study No. 22 from his Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 33.
This jig appear to be unique to Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907.
In order to fit the range of the concert flute, we have transposed the melody up from G major to C major.
The word ‛punch’, first recorded in English in 1669, derives from a Hindi word, panch, meaning ‛five’, because of its five ingredients: spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar and spices. According to liquor historian David Wondrich, the drink became popular with British seamen who sailed into the tropics. In those times a sailor's beer ration was ten pints per day, but the warm temperatures caused the beer to spoil. As punch had more staying power in those climes, it quickly became a prized substitute.
This song is based on a poem by Friedrich Klopstock, in which the poet writes about the love of his own life, Margarethe Moller, whom he called Meta and, in poems, Cidli. This poem dates from 1753, the year before he married her.
In 1815 Franz Schubert set the poem to music, and the result is a wonderful fusion of styles and emotions. The main melody of the piece is sensual and loving, while the piano accompaniment is almost hymn-like in its choral progression. Yet both these seemingly contradictory elements fit effortlessly together.
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier was a prolific French composer of the Baroque period. His Opus 22, now known as 55 Easy Pieces in 18 Keys, or 55 leichte Stücke in 18 Tonarten, was first published in Paris in 1728. The Prélude in D major we present today is the very first duet of the collection.
This étude in B minor is taken from the second book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian composer Ernesto Köhler.
This jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1907. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th strains correspond to the version found in the mid-19th-century manuscript by uilleann piper and collector James Goodman. The first strain, seemingly not replicated in any other versions, is reminiscent of the first strain of O'Neill's “Church Hill”. O'Neill identifies his source as fiddler and patrolman Timothy Dillon, originally from County Kerry, who may have adapted that part and prefixed it to a three-part setting of “The Yellow Wattle”.
Published in 1899, “Maple Leaf Rag” was the first of Scott Joplin's piano pieces to be issued with his name, and his name only, listed as the composer. It is also one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces, and the first instrumental piece to sell over one million copies of sheet music.
“Maple Leaf Rag” is in many ways the prototypical Joplin rag, and a large number of the rags he later wrote are mere imitations of it. It is still a favorite of ragtime pianists, and has been described as an “American institution... still in print and still popular”. It also appears in the soundtracks of hundreds of films, cartoons, commercials, and video games.
Here is another duet from Joseph Bodin de Boismortier's 55 Easy Pieces, Op. 22. This is a light binary-form piece in D major.
This is étude No. 12 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.