Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Up and Down Again

This tune dates back to at least 1698, when it was published as “Mad Moll” (the title of a 1611 comic play by Thomas Middleton, featuring the heroine Moll Cutpurse) in Playford's Dancing Master. Professor R.D. Cannon, in his article “English Bagpipe Music” (Folk Music Journal, 1972), suggests the progenitor of this large tune family is the Scottish jig “Up with Aley”.

The melody is better known in Scotland under the name “Brose and Butter”, with brose being an uncooked form of porridge obtained by mixing oatmeal with boiling water, milk, or stock. According to Robert Ford (Song Histories, 1900) “Brose and Butter” was a favorite air of Charles II of England during his exile.

Tune of the Day: Allegro

Published in 1728, Antonio Vivaldi's set of six Concertos for flute was not only the first collection of flute concertos published in Italy, it was nearly the first set of flute concertos ever published. Among these concertos, the most famous is arguably the one nicknamed “Il Gardellino” (or “Il Cardellino”), Op. 10 No. 3, a piece of program music that describes the singing of the goldfinch. The flute imitates the bird's singing, competing with the accompaniment in a series of rapid figurations. The opening Allegro, in particular, is as light and evanescent as the opening of “Spring” from The Four Seasons.

Tune of the Day: Allegro by Quantz

This is the opening Allegro of a Flute Duet in G major that the famous German flutist and composer Johann Joachim Quantz composed in 1759.

Thanks to Deb for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: Study in B-flat major by Kummer

This is the eighth study from German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer's 32 Etudes amusantes et instructives, Op. 129, first published in 1858.

Tune of the Day: Another Jig Will Do

This is a common slip jig at modern Irish music sessions, after it was popularized by the Boys of the Lough in the 1970s. The earliest appearance of the tune in print is found in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, published in Boston in 1883.

Tune of the Day: Elite Syncopations

Published in 1902, just three years after “Maple Leaf Rag”, this marvelous display of pianistic prowess shows Scott Joplin's potential for innovation and development. Of course, all ragtime music is rhythmically charged, forward-thrusting and syncopated, but there is a particular bounce to the step of “Elite Syncopations”.

The piece is marked "Not fast", but “fast” in this instance must be seen as a relative term: it is likely that in Joplin's time many pianists were playing his rags at breakneck speeds to show off their skill. It has been widely agreed that the composer's intention was that his pieces were not to be played at outlandish speeds, but in a controlled manner.

“Elite Syncopations” is built, as are all of Joplin's pieces, from several tuneful strands. In the last two sections, we move from the key of F major to the key of B-flat major, never to return.

Tune of the Day: Vivace by Telemann

This is the first movement from Georg Philipp Telemann's fifth Canonic Sonata for two flutes. As with all of these sonatas, the two players play the exact same melody, but (in this case) three measures apart.

Tune of the Day: Study in D major by Gariboldi

Today we present the seventh study from Italian composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's Etudes mignonnes (Dainty Studies), Op. 131.

Tune of the Day: Dublin Streets

This slip jig was included in the mid-19th-century music manuscript collection of County Cork uilleann piper and Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman. It first appeared in print in P.M. Haverty's One Hundred Irish Airs and R.M. Levey's First Collection of the Dance Music of Ireland, both published in 1858. The tune was probably derived from the Scottish jig “A Fig for a Kiss”, which was recorded as early as the mid-18th century.

Tune of the Day: Andante

This Andante is the third of four movements from Georg Philipp Telemann's Sonata in F minor, which was originally written for bassoon and basso continuo. The Sonata comes from Der Getreue Musikmeister, a musical periodical started in 1728 which consisted of vocal and instrumental selections accessible to students and amateur musicians.

Thanks to April for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: Larghetto by Quantz

This is the slow central movement of a Flute Duet in G major that the famous German flutist and composer Johann Joachim Quantz composed in 1759.

Tune of the Day: Study in A major by Kummer

This is the ninth study from German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer's 32 Etudes amusantes et instructives, Op. 129, first published in 1858.

Tune of the Day: Goober Peas

This traditional folk song probably originated in the Southern United States. It was popular with Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, has been recorded by many artists over the years, and is still frequently sung in the South to this day.

The lyrics of “Goober Peas” are a description of daily life during the latter part of the Civil War for Southerners. After being cut off from the rail lines and their farm land, they had little to eat aside from boiled peanuts (or “goober peas”) which often served as an emergency ration. Peanuts were also known as pindars and goobers.

The earliest sheet music for the song was published in New Orleans in 1866 by A. E. Blackmar, who humorously lists A. Pindar as the lyricist and P. Nutt as the composer.

Tune of the Day: Fantasia for Solo Flute No. 7

Telemann's seventh Fantasia for solo flute is in the majestic key of D major. The opening movement, rightly marked “Alla Francese”, has the attitude of a French overture, and sports a series of regal dotted rhythms, which are usually played in a very incisive manner. A rondeau in 3/8 time follows, which culminates in a repetition of the initial rhythmic pattern. A ternary-form Presto closes this Fantasia in worthy manner, reverting back to 4/4 time and introducing a very fast, brilliant final theme.

Tune of the Day: Cantabile by Telemann

This is the central movement from Georg Philipp Telemann's fifth Canonic Sonata for two flutes. As with all of these sonatas, the two players play the exact same melody, but one (as in this case) or more measures apart.

Tune of the Day: Study in B minor by Gariboldi

Today we present the eighth study from Italian composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's Etudes mignonnes (Dainty Studies), Op. 131.

Tune of the Day: Jerry Houlihan

This slip jig is taken from Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland, published in Chicago in 1903. According to Breandán Breathnach's Folk Music and Dances of Ireland (1971), “Jerry Houlihan” belongs to a cycle of tunes originating in the 17th century, or possibly even earlier.

Tune of the Day: Grave by Handel

“Grave” is an Italian adjective which could mean “heavy”, or “severe”; when used as a tempo indication, it directs to play at an extremely slow and solemn pace.

This particular movement is the first of Handel's Sonata in E minor for flute, Op. 1, No. 1b. This work should not be confused with the other flute sonata E minor, No. 1a, which is actually a compilation of Handel's favorite movements from his sonatas. The sonata we are presenting today, instead, was originally written in D minor for the violin, and subsequently transcribed by the composer himself for the Baroque flute.

The rhythm of this piece may look a bit complex at first glance; you must remember, however, that this is meant to be played very slowly. After having listened to the recording, you will see that it is not that difficult after all.

Tune of the Day: Presto by Quantz

This Presto is the final movement of a Flute Duet in G major that the famous German flutist and composer Johann Joachim Quantz composed in 1759.

Tune of the Day: Study in E minor by Kummer

This is the tenth study from German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer's 32 Etudes amusantes et instructives, Op. 129, first published in 1858.

Tune of the Day: Moll Roe

In his 1905 book A History of Irish Music, W.H. Grattan Flood writes:

A favourite pipe tune in 1726 was “Moll Roe,” or “Sweet Molly Roe,” written in praise of Miss Molly Roe, the daughter of Mr. Andrew Roe, of Tipperary. The song consisted of ten verses, each of which was written impromptu by ten bucks one night at the County Tipperary Clubhouse, in 1726. I have a long manuscript account of the circumstances under which this once very popular ballad was written, and communicated to a long since defunct magazine, in July, 1773, by Thomas Amory, the last of the assembled guests on the occasion. [...]

The old Irish tune to which this song was set was introduced under the name “Moll Roe” in Henry Brooke's Jack the Giant Queller, in 1748, and it was also called “Moll Roe in the Morning.” O'Keeffe included it in his Poor Soldier, in 1783, and O'Farrell printed it in his now scarce work, A Pocket Companion for the Irish Pipes, in 1810.

A different source for the title is given by Paul de Grae:

The “Moll Roe” referred to was an actual historical person, a redoubtable 17th century lady called Máire Ruadh Ní Mahon, thrice-married chatelaine of Leamaneh Castle in County Clare, whose impressive remains stand beside the road from Ennis up to The Burren (the castle's remains, that is, not Máire Ruadh's). She was a formidable character, who lost her second husband, Conor O'Brien (who built Leamaneh Castle on the occasion of their wedding in 1639, grafting it on to an existing 15th century tower house), fighting Cromwell's invading army. When his grieving soldiers bore his body back to the castle, she shouted from the battlements, “We want no dead men here!”, and refused them entrance. She subsequently married one of Cromwell's lieutenants (thereby securing the castle and lands for her young son), Coronet John Cooper, but some time later when husband no. 2 made some disparaging remark about husband no. 1, she kicked him from an upstairs window and killed him. I don't know who husband no. 3 was, but he must have been a very brave (or foolish) man indeed.

Moll Roe is an anglicization of the Irish Mall (Máire) Ruadh, or Red (haired) Mary.

Tune of the Day: Pastorale from L'Arlésienne

The second suite derived from Bizet's incidental music for L'Arlésienne opens with a Pastorale, originally the prelude to Act 2 of the play, and the most complete bit of music Bizet had composed for L'Arlesienne that he hadn't already used in the first suite. This broad Andante evokes the rolling Provençal countryside with a simple theme subjected to several treatments and interspersed with gentle, rustic woodwind passages. The middle Andantino notably features the flute and the piccolo as the solo instruments.

Choosing a tempo is not an easy task here. Most editions of the incidental music and of the suite indicate quarter = 54, so this was probably originally marked by Bizet himself. Nonetheless, today the piece is commonly played much faster, at about 80 beats per minute.

Tune of the Day: Scherzando by Telemann

This is the final movement of Georg Philipp Telemann's fifth Canonic Sonata for two flutes. As with all of these sonatas, the two players play the exact same melody, but (in this case) two measures apart.

Tune of the Day: Study in B-flat major by Gariboldi

Today we present the ninth study from Italian composer Giuseppe Gariboldi's Etudes mignonnes (Dainty Studies), Op. 131.

Tune of the Day: Dress Her Out in Fine Clothes

This 9/8-time jig is taken from Chicago Police captain Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907. The tune had previously appeared, untitled, in the mid-19th century music manuscript collection by County Cork uilleann piper and Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman.

Tune of the Day: Vivace by Telemann

This is the fourth and last movement of Georg Philipp Telemann's Sonata in F minor for bassoon (or recorder) and basso continuo. It's marked “Vivace”, which is Italian for “lively”, so it should be played at a lively tempo. As always, however, remember to play it slowly when you first sight-read it, even if you feel capable of rushing through the whole movement at performance tempo (which is highly unlikely for most people!).

Tune of the Day: Allegro assai by Quantz

This is the opening movement of a Flute Duet in A minor that the famous German flutist and composer Johann Joachim Quantz composed in 1759.

Tune of the Day: Study in F-sharp minor by Kummer

This is the eleventh study from German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer's 32 Etudes amusantes et instructives, Op. 129, first published in 1858.

Tune of the Day: Come Up Stairs With Me

This lively 9/8-time jig first appears in Chicago Police Captain Francis O'Neill's collection Music of Ireland, published in 1903.

Tune of the Day: Procession of the Nobles

The opera-ballet Mlada (which is the name of a main character) was composed between 1889 and 1890 by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

An orchestral suite was derived from the opera by the composer himself in 1903, and included five numbers. The final piece, which is known as the “Procession of the Nobles” and originally opened the second act of the opera, is by far the most famous; with its high-spirited brass fanfares and boisterous percussion, it comes extremely close to being a march... in 3/4 time!

If you find the opening too monotonous, you may want to skip directly to measure 20: that's the main theme.

Thanks to Elizabeth for suggesting this piece!