Under the title “Ellis' Jig”, this tune first appears in Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. However, it has very strong similarities with the Scottish song “The Roses Blaw”, which probably dates back to the late 18th century.
Japanese composer Tamezo Narita composed this beautiful yet pacific song in 1916, two years after entering the Tokyo Music Academy. In recent times, James Galway popularized the song among flutists, including it in many of his albums.
Thanks to Johann from Sri Lanka for suggesting this piece!
This Largo in B minor is the fourth 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 ninth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.
This jig first appeared in Francis O'Neill's celebrated collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. However, its first strain is clearly part of the same family as “The Creel of Turf”.
This piece originally came just before Act 2 of Bizet's famous opera Carmen. It's a little march, later sung by Don José, concerning his military platoon. The lighthearted air was later also included as an instrumental piece in Carmen Suite No. 1, where the theme is introduced by the bassoons, and then, as usual, distributed among the woodwinds for its few repetitions.
This prelude opens the second section of the 55 Easy Pieces collection by French Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
Today we propose étude No. 27 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.
This jig first appears in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1903). Collector George Petrie, whom Paul de Grae believes is O'Neill's source for the tune, describes it as a “rebel's march in 1798”, a reference to the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against the British Crown.
This is the fourth and final movement of Handel's Sonata in G minor for Recorder. Handel later reused this movement for his Flute Sonata in E minor, making only a few changes to the melody.
This Allegro in D major is the fifth and last 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 tenth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.
This variant of the famous “Greensleeves” tune is taken from Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1907). Its title was a common name for the red-coated British Army (which always had a large number of Irish conscripts), but also refers symbolically to the union of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Under the title “The Bunch of Currants”, a very similar tune had previously appeared in R.M. Levey's First Collection of the Dance Music of Ireland (1858).
The Goldberg Variations are a set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741, the work is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer.
The aria is a slow sarabande in 3/4 time, and features a heavily ornamented melody. It is played at the beginning of the Variations, and then repeated at the end of the work. It is also found in Book II of the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, copied by Bach's wife herself. In this instance, the aria bears neither the name of the composer nor the title of the piece: it is therefore possible that the author of this wonderful piece is anonymous. However, as musicologist David Schulenberg has pointed out, “the Aria is neither Italian nor French but specifically German galant in style, and certain details point directly to Bach, especially the beautiful broadening out of the rhythm into steadily flowing notes in the last phrase”.
This is the third duet in E minor from the 55 Easy Pieces by Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. The French title “La Seduisante” can be translated as “The Seductive One”.
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
Today we propose étude No. 28 from Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's collection of 30 Etudes faciles et progressives.