Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Be Easy You Rogue!

This tune can first be found, under the title “Sean bhean críona an dranntáin” (“The old woman of the grove”), in volume 4 of the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork cleric and uilleann piper James Goodman. “Be Easy You Rogue!” is collector Francis O'Neill's free translation of the Irish title “Stadh a rogaire stadh!” (“Stop, you rogue, stop!”). O'Neill remarks that his version, which we propose today, is a “florid setting of an old jig or march in four strains”.

Tune of the Day: The Little Shepherd

Debussy dedicated his 1908 piano cycle Children's Corner to his five-year old daughter, writing in his dedication: “To my beloved little Chou-Chou, with the tender excuses of her father for that which follows”. The composer's sentiments were presumably an acknowledgment of the inevitable loss of innocence that comes with growing up, but his words take on a darker, more prophetic, hue in hindsight: only a decade later, Debussy was dead, and his daughter was to follow him next year.

The fifth piece in the suite, titled “The Little Shepherd”, is a witty piece in a pastorale style. It tells a story of a young shepherd, playing his pipe, dancing around the meadow, resting by a tree, and finally falling asleep. The expressive simplicity of the piece is conveyed by imitating soliloquy on shepherd's reed pipes which alternates with accompanied dance tunes.

Tune of the Day: Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden

This aria is sung by Pamina in Act II of Mozart's famous opera The Magic Flute. Pamina tries to speak with her beloved Tamino, but since Tamino must suffer the test of silence, he silently refuses to answer, and Pamina believes he no longer loves her.

Ah, I feel it, it has disappeared
Forever gone love's happiness!
Nevermore will come the hour of bliss
Back to my heart!

The present arrangement is taken from a collection of numbers from the opera published in 1792, a publication that is not listed in the Köchel catalogue.

Tune of the Day: Study in E minor by Andersen

Here is another étude by Joachim Andersen. This common-time Allegro moderato in E minor is study No. 4 from Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 33.

Tune of the Day: The Humors of Castle Comer

This jig is first found in R.M. Levey's 2nd collection of The Dance Music of Ireland, published in London in 1873. It is closely related to the more famous “The Rakes of Kildare”.

Castlecomer is an old town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland, dating back to the Middle Ages. It has been associated with the coal mining industry since the 17th century.

Tune of the Day: Radetzky March

This march was composed in 1848 by Austrian composer Johann Strauss Sr. It was dedicated to the Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, and became quite a popular march among soldiers. Despite its military nature, the tone of the piece is rather festive than martial, in accordance with its dedicatee's exuberant personality and popularity in the ballroom as well as the battlefield.

When the march was first played, in front of Austrian officers in attendance, they promptly clapped and stomped their feet when they heard the chorus. This tradition is carried over today: when the march is played as the last piece of music at the Vienna New Year Concert, the conductor turns to the audience to conduct their clapping instead of the orchestra!

Tune of the Day: Now is the Month of Maying

This charming piece is perhaps the best known of all English madrigals, and is the prototype of the pastoral-style madrigal, complete with references to nymphs, springtime, and dancing. It was composed by English organist Thomas Morley, and published in 1595.

Tune of the Day: Study in A major by Berbiguier

This Allegro in A major is the thirteenth étude from 18 exercices pour la flûte traversière by French Romantic composer Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier.

Tune of the Day: The Black Rogue

The “Black Rogue” title of this melody is derived from an old song (“An Rógaire dubh“ in Irish Gaelic) still sung in Irish to the tune.

That black haired rogue has my socks and my shoes,
And my handkerchief for a year and a day now.

The provenance of the tune is unclear, as it is claimed by both Irish and Scots, but it is widely known throughout Ireland. It has been said to have been composed by Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland musician Johnny McGill, born c. 1707. It was first printed in O'Farrell's Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes, published in 1804, and was then included three times in the music manuscripts of 19th-century Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman.

Tune of the Day: Träumerei

Kinderszenen (“Scenes from Childhood”), Op. 15, is a set of thirteen pieces of music for piano written in 1838 by German composer Robert Schumann. In this work, the great romantic Pianist provides us with his adult reminiscences of childhood. Schumann had originally labeled this work Leichte Stücke (“Easy Pieces”). Likewise, the section titles were only added after the completion of the music, and Schumann described the titles as “nothing more than delicate hints for execution and interpretation”.

“Träumerei” is one of Schumann's best known pieces. It was even used as the title of a 1944 German biopic on Robert Schumann. “Träumerei” is also the love song for Robert and Clara Schumann in the 1947 Hollywood film Song of Love, starring Katharine Hepburn as Clara Wieck Schumann.

Tune of the Day: Allegretto by Köhler

Here is a duet from the first volume of Ernesto Köhler's Forty Progressive Duets, Op. 55. After the exposition of the main theme, which opposes a sixteenth note run to a more lyrical melody, a short slow section in the key of G-flat major (beware the accidentals!) is introduced. The two flutes are treated almost equally in the very first part of the duet, but the second flute is subsequently relegated to an accompaniment role based on a characteristic rhythmic pattern.

Tune of the Day: Study in D major by Andersen

Here is another étude by Joachim Andersen. This 12/8-time Larghetto in D major is study No. 5 from Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 33.

Tune of the Day: The Ranting Rake

The earliest appearance of this jig is in the second volume of London publisher Smollet Holden's Collection of Favorite Irish Airs (1818), under the title “The Rakes of Irishmen”. It was later printed in the publications of flute player John Clinton and violinist Richard M. Levey, both born in Ireland but both of whom had successful careers in England on the concert stage, largely playing classical music.

Tune of the Day: Un bel dì vedremo

Madama Butterfly is a famous opera in three acts (originally two) by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. It is set in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1904. According to some scholars, the opera was based on events that actually occurred in Nagasaki in the early 1890s.

Pinkerton, a U.S. Naval Officer, marries Cio-Cio-San (aka Madama Butterfly), a young geisha, in a ceremony she takes more seriously than he. One day, Pinkerton finds that he has been deployed and must do a tour of duty. On the last morning he is with Butterfly he promises her that he will return with roses, when the robin builds his nest again.

At the beginning of Act 2, three years have passed, but Cio-Cio-San still refuses to believe that Pinkerton has abandoned her. She says that, “un bel dì” (“one beautiful day”), they will see a puff of smoke on the far horizon. Then a ship will appear and enter the harbor. She will not go down to meet him but will wait on the hill for him to come. After a long time, she will see in the far distance a man beginning the walk out of the city and up the hill. When he arrives, he will call “Butterfly” from a distance, but she will not answer, partly for fun and partly not to die from the excitement of the first meeting. Then he will speak the names he used to call her: “Little one. Dear wife. Orange blossom.”