The earliest appearances of this tune are found in two collections from the year 1858, namely in the first volume of R.M. Levey's The Dance Music of Ireland (published in London) and in the second volume of P.M. Haverty's One Hundred Irish Airs (published in New York).
This Sonatina in G major for solo piano is generally attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven. However, since the work was published in Hamburg, Germany after Beethoven's death, its authenticity is doubted. The work comprises 2 movements: the first, in common time, is titled “Moderato”; the second is titled “Romance” and is in 6/8 time.
This is duet No. 2 from the first volume of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian Romantic composer Ernesto Köhler. The lower voice was originally intended to be played by a teacher, but unlike other duets from the same collection it is not hard to play.
This study in articulation is étude No. 23 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
This jig is taken from Chicago collector Francis O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907, but it is certainly much older, as there are records of it under various names (and in different keys) since at least the early 19th century.
A cruiskeen is a small jug or pitcher, especially for holding liquor, popular in Irish and Scottish vernacular.
Originally written in 1875 for Act IV of the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, “Solveig's Song” (that is, the song sung by the character Solveig) was later included as the last movement of the second suite extracted from the work.
Perchance both winter and spring will pass
and next summer, and the entire year: —
but at last you will come, that I know for sure;
and I'll still be waiting, for I once promised I would.
Thanks to Françoise from France for suggesting this piece!
This is the first movement of Georg Philipp Telemann's Canonic Sonata No. 2 for two flutes, although it was published as Sonata No. 6 in at least one collection. As with all canons, both players can play from the same part.
This is the sixth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.
The earliest appearance of this jig is found in John Sutherland's late-18th-century manuscript collection Music for the Bagpipe, containing mostly Scottish and English tunes. The present version is taken from Francis O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907.
The Seguidilla aria forms part of Act I of the famous French opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. The beautiful gypsy, Carmen, sings it in an attempt to seduce her captor, the soldier Don José, into going with her to her friend Lillas Pastia's inn.
After Bizet's death, this number was also included by Ernest Guiraud in Carmen Suite No. 1, the only movement of the suite that began as an aria.
More generally, a seguidilla is a quick triple-time Castillian folksong and dance form, whose name is a diminutive of seguida, from seguir, i.e. “to follow”.
This binary-form Vivace in D major opens the first of Belgian Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Loeillet's Six sonatas of two parts, made on purpose for two German flutes, first published in London in 1720.
Today we propose étude No. 24 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
The earliest appearance of this jig is found in the third volume of Edward Bunting's The Ancient Music of Ireland, published in Dublin in 1840. Bunting collected the tune in 1802 from an old harper from County Leitrim named Charles Byrne (also called Charley Berreen), who is believed to have been born around 1712.
After beginning his musical career, Italian flutist and composer Ernesto Köhler moved to Vienna at the age of twenty, and then, in 1871, on to Saint Petersburg. He remained in Saint Petersburg for the rest of life as a member of the orchestra of the Imperial Opera. The “Souvenir Russe” for flute and piano was clearly dedicated to his Russian experience. Starting from a slow theme in minor key, the piece then evolves towards a lively Allegretto, passing by two flute cadenzas.
Here is another piece from the first volume of La scuola del flauto (The School of the Flute) by Luigi Hugues. This duet prominently features some long chromatic passages.
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this duet!
This 10/8-time étude is the seventh piece from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.
This jig appears, with directions for a country dance, in Morris/Maurice Hime's Forty Eight Original Irish Dances never Before Printed with Basses for the Piano-Forte, published in Dublin in 1804.
Westmeath is the name of a county in central Ireland, now part of the Eastern and Midland Region.
Vivaldi's first concerto for Flute is actually an adaptation of the Concerto in E-flat major for violin, strings and basso continuo, RV 253. Called in both cases “La tempesta di mare” (“The Sea Storm”), the work starts with an Allegro which presents a characteristic repeated-note theme. The opening closes on a big half cadence, and moves into the quiet central Largo, with the flute soloist becalmed in the eye of the storm. A powerful theme is then introduced in the final Presto, which closes the work.
Thanks to Andrew for suggesting this piece!
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.
Today we propose étude No. 25 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“Primeiro amor” (Portuguese for “First Love”) was written by Brazilian flutist and composer Pattápio Silva (1880–1907). During his short life, Silva wrote more than a thousand compositions and arrangements, many of which are still being recorded today by prominent musicians.
Thanks to Ezequiel for suggesting this piece!
This is the second duet in E minor from the 55 Easy Pieces by Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. The French title “La Craintive” could be translated literally as “The Apprehensive One”.
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
This study in syncopation is Etude No. 26 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.