This Allegretto constitutes the seventeenth study from a collection of 18 Etudes for flute published in 1891 by Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen.
Though now known as a Canadian standard, this reel was originally composed (as “John McNeill's Reel”) by the brilliant Scottish fiddler Peter Milne (1824–1908), one of J. Scott Skinner's teachers and early playing partners.
There are various hypotheses as to how the piece earned the adjective “Big”. Some suggest it's because of the robust nature of the tune, while some think it refers to the actual John McNeil of the title, possibly one of the McNeils of Barra, in the Hebrides. Others yet believe the “Big” came about to distinguish the modern tune, with 8-bar parts, from Peter Milne's original, with 4-bar parts.
This beautiful allemande is the second movement of the third of six sonatas for flute and continuo that French flutist and composer Michel Blavet published in Paris in 1732.
This rondo is the second and last movement of the first of French flutist and composer François Devienne's Six Duos pour Deux Flûtes (“Six Duets for Two Flutes”), published in Paris around 1790.
This “Allegretto maestoso” in E major is the nineteenth piece from 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman.
This 3-part double jig is taken from Irish historian Patrick Weston Joyce's 1909 collection Old Irish Folk Music and Songs. Joyce writes he got it from a John Dolan of Glenosheen in 1845.
This tender Wiegenlied (German for “lullaby”) is one of the most famous of its kind. The German title translates as “Sleep, my little prince, fall asleep”.
For a long time, the composition was mistakenly attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as K. 350. Attribution for the melody, however, has recently shifted to either Bernhard Flies or Johann Friedrich Anton Fleischmann.
Thanks to Jackie for suggesting this piece!
This sarabande constitutes the second duet in F minor from the 55 Easy Pieces collection by French Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. The French title “La Marmiteuse” could be translated as “The Miserable One”.
This étude is taken from the second book of Italian composer Ernesto Köhler's Progress in Flute Playing. It is made up of two parts: a “pathetically slow” first part in A minor and a faster second part in A major.
Thanks to Gilda from Italy for contributing this piece!
This hymn tune, composed by Philip Bliss to words by Horatio Spafford, is possibly the most influential and enduring in Bliss's repertoire. It appears in many hymnals, and is often taken as a choral model. The actual name of the tune is “Ville du Havre”, after the name of the French ship whose sinking inspired Spafford's lyrics.
Thanks to Christine for suggesting this tune!
This joyous Allegro is the second movement of a Sonata in C major for recorder and basso continuo written by Italian composer Benedetto Marcello around 1712.
This is the opening movement of the second of French flutist and composer François Devienne's Six Duos pour Deux Flûtes (“Six Duets for Two Flutes”), published in Paris around 1790.
This “study for the evenness of fingerings” (“étude pour la régularité des doigtés”) is the twentieth piece from 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman.
This Irish tune, usually attributed to mouth organ player Phil Murphy, is one of the best known reels for harmonica, and is often played on other instruments as well.
Cullenstown is a small village located on the south coast of County Wexford, Ireland.
This rondeau is the third movement of the third of six sonatas for flute and continuo that French flutist and composer Michel Blavet published in Paris in 1732.
This is the opening movement of the ninth sonata from a collection of 12 “little sonatas” for two flutes by the prolific French Baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.
This Moderato in E minor is the fourth study from Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen's Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 30.
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
This Irish barndance is also known under the titles “If There Weren't Any Men (in the World)”, “Pearl O'Shaughnessy's”, “Scotch Polka” and “Fred Pidgeon's Polka”.
Sousa composed this march in 1908, intending the Sousa Band to perform it at the annual Boston Food Fair in the fall of that year. One of Sousa's more melodic, less military marches, it is the only work of any kind that he composed that year, and one of only a handful of compositions that he wrote between 1906 and 1910.
Thanks to Katie for suggesting this piece!
This arrangement of Sir John Stevenson's famous melody “The Last Rose of Summer” is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833. More information about the tune is available on the tune page for the flute-and-piano version.
Thanks to Joyce Kai for contributing this piece!
This lively Allegretto is the twenty-first piece from 50 Etudes mélodiques pour la flûte by French flutist and composer Jules Demersseman.
This Irish double jig was collected by Chicago Police captain Francis O'Neill around the turn of the 20th Century, and published in the 1903 collection O'Neill's Music of Ireland.
This Largo is the third movement of a Sonata in C major for recorder and basso continuo, written by Italian composer Benedetto Marcello around 1712.
Today we present duet No. 19 from the first volume of Luigi Hugues's La scuola del flauto (The School of the Flute).
Thanks to Paolo for contributing this piece!
This Allegro in F minor is the last piece from a collection of 18 Etudes for flute published in 1891 by Danish flutist and composer Joachim Andersen.
This Irish reel, which is also often played as a hornpipe, is taken from James and Francis O'Neill's 1907 collection Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems.
This pair of Tambourins constitutes the fourth movement of the third of six sonatas for flute and continuo that French flutist and composer Michel Blavet published in Paris in 1732.
This minuet is the closing movement of the second of French flutist and composer François Devienne's Six Duos pour Deux Flûtes (“Six Duets for Two Flutes”), published in Paris around 1790.