This Presto is the second movement of the first sonata from Sonate a flauto solo con cembalo, o violoncello (“Sonatas for solo flute with harpsichord or cello”) by Italian Baroque composer Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani, originally published in Venice in 1720.
This is the eleventh duet from Trente-six Petits Duos Mélodiques Faciles et Chantants pour deux Flûtes (36 Easy Flute Duets) by French Romantic composer Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier.
This study in double tonguing is the sixteenth piece from 30 Studi, Op. 32, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
This study has also been published as the eleventh piece in a selection of 24 Studies for Flute from Hugues's Opp. 32 and 75.
“Ciuri ciuri” (“Flowers, flowers”) is one of the most popular folk songs from the Italian island of Sicily. Its melody was written in 1883 by composer and conductor Francesco Paolo Frontini to lyrics by an unknown author.
Flowers, flowers of all the year,
The love you gave me I give you back.
This Vivace is the second movement of the last of 12 sonatas for flute and continuo by Italian composer Pietro Antonio Locatelli, originally published in Amsterdam in 1732.
This song was composed by the famous Irish poet, singer and songwriter Thomas Moore, based on an earlier song and tune by the same title.
Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you?
Our bed shall be roses all spangled with dew.
Will you, will you, will you, will you
Come to the bower?
According to tradition, this tune was played by a fifer and drummer from the rag-tag army of Sam Houston at the battle of San Jacinto in 1836. However, according to Davis family lore, there were no fifers or drummers in Houston's forces at the time, only two fiddlers. Houston's plan was to draw near the Mexican forces under Santa Anna by parading his men, as if on drill, before sounding a final charge. He hoped such a non-aggressive appearing maneuver would allay the Mexican alertness and allow him an element of surprise. To that end, he had the fiddlers play something the Texans would know, but not particularly martial in nature. Not knowing any marches, the fiddlers over and over played “Will You Come to the Bower?”, a love song popular on the frontier, and it was to the strains of the song on stringed instruments that the Texans marched in their crude fashion. Houston's trick worked, and he was victorious.
During the second half of the 19th century, the song was adopted by the Fenian movement (a movement dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic), and a new lyric gained wide currency:
Will you come to the bower o’er the free boundless ocean,
Where the stupendous waves roll in thundering motion;
Where the mermaids are seen and the fierce tempest gathers,
To loved Erin the green, the dear land of our fathers.
Will you come, will you, will you, will you come to the bower?
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.
This is the fourth piece from 24 Etüden zur Förderung der Technik (24 Studies for the Development of Technique), Op. 12, by German flutist Emil Prill. It was first published in Bremen in 1913.
The oldest appearance of this tune is in The Hibernian Muse, printed in London in 1787. Tune collector Francis O'Neill writes:
This lamentation derives its importance from the historical prominence of General Sarsfield as the Irish Commander at the Siege of Limerick. That circumstance obviously accounts for its being confounded in later times with “Limerick's Lamentation”.
This Largo in G minor is the third movement of the first sonata from Sonate a flauto solo con cembalo, o violoncello (“Sonatas for solo flute with harpsichord or cello”) by Italian Baroque composer Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani, originally published in Venice in 1720.
This is the twelfth duet from Trente-six Petits Duos Mélodiques Faciles et Chantants pour deux Flûtes (36 Easy Flute Duets) by French Romantic composer Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier.
Today's piece is the fourteenth study from 30 Studi, Op. 32, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
This study has also been published as the twelfth piece in a selection of 24 Studies for Flute from Hugues's Opp. 32 and 75.
This lovely little love song is named after Eriskay, a small island in the southern section of the Westen Isles of Scotland. It is famous as the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie first landed at the start of his ill-fated Jacobite Rebellion in 1745.
When I’m lonely, dear white heart,
Black the night and wild the sea,
By love’s light, my foot finds
The old pathway to me.
Thanks to Peter for suggesting this tune!
This Allegro is the third movement of the last of 12 sonatas for flute and continuo by Italian composer Pietro Antonio Locatelli, originally published in Amsterdam in 1732.
The “Carnival of Venice” folk tune traces its roots back to at least the early 19th century, when it was popularized by violinist Niccolò Paganini, who wrote twenty variations on the original tune. Since then, the tune has been used for a number of popular songs such as “If You Should Go to Venice” and “My Hat, It Has Three Corners”. As you probably know, there is also a famous arrangement for the flute by Briccialdi.
The present arrangement for two flutes appeared in Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.
This is the fifth piece from 24 Etüden zur Förderung der Technik (24 Studies for the Development of Technique), Op. 12, by German flutist Emil Prill. It was first published in Bremen in 1913.
The origins of this popular song are unclear. It has been credited to several people, and is often erroneously described as a traditional Māori (the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand) song.
The tune first became known in 1913, when it was published by W.H. Paling and Co. as a piano-variations piece in Australia, called “Swiss Cradle Song” and credited to “Clement Scott”. Some sources say that, after a tour of New Zealand, the British music critic and travel writer Clement Scott wrote the tune. However, the family of an Australian, Albert Saunders, has long claimed that the “Clement Scott” who wrote the tune is a pseudonym for Saunders. Australian composer Clarence Elkin also claimed to be the author.
Māori words were added around 1915 and the tune was slightly changed. It became known as “Pō Atarau” and was used as a farewell to Māori soldiers going to the First World War. After this, some New Zealanders mistakenly thought the song was an old Māori folksong.
The song achieved world-wide popularity in 1948, when no less than seven recordings of the song reached the Billboard charts in the USA. The most notable of these recordings was Bing Crosby's, which was No. 1 for three weeks, and (quite appropriately, considering the lyrics) the final No. 1 hit of his career.
Now is the hour, when we must say goodbye.
Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea.
While you're away, oh, then, remember me.
When you return, you'll find me waiting here.
Thanks to Peter for suggesting this tune!
This is the fourth and final movement of the first sonata from Sonate a flauto solo con cembalo, o violoncello (“Sonatas for solo flute with harpsichord or cello”) by Italian Baroque composer Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani, originally published in Venice in 1720.
This movement has actually no tempo indication in the original manuscript, but it usually appears as an “Allegro” in modern editions.
This is the thirteenth duet from Trente-six Petits Duos Mélodiques Faciles et Chantants pour deux Flûtes (36 Easy Flute Duets) by French Romantic composer Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier.
Today's piece is the seventeenth study from 40 Nuovi Studi, Op. 75, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
This study has also been published as the thirteenth piece in a selection of 24 Studies for Flute from Hugues's Opp. 32 and 75.
This fine hornpipe is taken from Act I of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1887 comic opera Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse.
Thanks to Peter for suggesting this tune!
This Presto is the fourth and final movement of the last of 12 sonatas for flute and continuo by Italian composer Pietro Antonio Locatelli, originally published in Amsterdam in 1732.
This piece was originally a chorus from André Grétry's 1776 opera Les mariages samnites (The Samnite Marriages), sung in Act I by a group of young girls. The theme is well known to pianists because of a set of variations composed by Mozart in 1781.
The present arrangement for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine (Philadelphia, 1833), in which it appears with the title “March des samnites” and is erroneously attributed to Mozart.
This is the sixth piece from 24 Etüden zur Förderung der Technik (24 Studies for the Development of Technique), Op. 12, by German flutist Emil Prill. It was first published in Bremen in 1913.
This air appears in Francis O'Neill's collection Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody, published in Chicago in 1922. The cited source is a P.J. Healey of San Francisco. O'Neill writes:
Although suggestive of an English origin, “The Dark-eyed Gypsy” was the name of a popular song in Tipperary, Mr. Healey's native county.
This is the first movement of the second sonata from Sonate a flauto solo con cembalo, o violoncello (“Sonatas for solo flute with harpsichord or cello”) by Italian Baroque composer Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani, originally published in Venice in 1720.
This is the fourteenth duet from Trente-six Petits Duos Mélodiques Faciles et Chantants pour deux Flûtes (36 Easy Flute Duets) by French Romantic composer Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier.
Today's piece is the seventh study from 40 Nuovi Studi, Op. 75, by Italian flutist, composer and arranger Luigi Hugues.
This study has also been published as the fourteenth piece in a selection of 24 Studies for Flute from Hugues's Opp. 32 and 75.
This air appears in Francis O'Neill's collection Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody, published in Chicago in 1922. The cited source is a P.J. O'Donohue of San Francisco. O'Neill writes:
I am informed by our liberal contributor, Mr. Francis E. Walsh of San Francisco, that variants of the above air are known to several of his musical acquaintances but by different names such as “Knuck Usnach Gathering”; “Knuck Costhnach”; “The Coming of Lugh”; and “The Poor Man's Friend”. Mr. O'Donohue, whose setting is presented, insists that it is the true air of “Willy Reilly”, the old time favorite of an earlier generation. The melody is the real thing however.
The Hill of Uisneach (Irish: Uisneach or Cnoc Uisnigh) is a hill and ancient ceremonial site in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is a protected national monument, consisting of numerous monuments and earthworks including a probable megalithic tomb, burial mounds, enclosures, standing stones, holy wells and a medieval road.
Telemann's Ouverture-Suite in A minor, TWV 55:a2 contains two consecutive passepieds. While the first is played by the strings alone, in the second one only the flute and the bass appear.
This old air, better known today as the tune of Thomas Moore's 19th-century song “Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms”, has been claimed alike by England, Scotland and Ireland, but according to Scottish musicologist George Farquhar Graham the probability seems to be that it is an old English dance tune. English composer Matthew Locke's 17th-century folk song “My Lodging is in the Cold, Cold Ground” was set to this tune some time after its original setting to a different, also traditional, air.
The present arrangement for two flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833.