Antonín Emil Titl  

SKU: A0.1035207

The French violinist Henri Vieuxtemps wrote Souvenir d’Amérique, opus 17 for violin and piano, in 1843, during his first concert tour in the United States. This set of variations, based on the melody of the popular song Yankee Doodle, became the entertaining surprise encore piece at Vieuxtemps’ recitals. Its humorous spirit, together with its virtuosic firework displays and imaginative use of playing techniques, made Souvenir d’Amérique an instant audience favorite.

My flute  arrangement of this work is based on the original edition and the excellent arrangement for flute and piano made by the Italian virtuoso  Alberto Roberti (1833-1908). While adapting it for flute  and string orchestra, I realized that small compositional changes would be necessary to make it successful as a flute piece, at the same time, I always tried to preserve the composer’s original musical effects. I also added several register changes to the String orchestra  parts as well as dynamic indications.I very much hope that this brilliant musical gem will be a welcome addition to the flute repertoire and that it will give joy and pleasure to both the player and the listener.

James Strauss

SKU: A0.1035213

Air a la grecque - This short Adagio for flute and unfigured bass is the oldest known example of quartertone music, inspired by the Greek enharmonic genre. The piece can be found in Delusse’s L’art de la flûte traversière, where also a fingering table for quartertones on the 18th-century flute can be found.

SKU: A0.1035218

José Felipe Correia Lisboa, was a classical composer born in Brasil in 1770, and this Variations are and exemple of the musical level in South America in the 18th century - original for flute and orchestra and here in a reduction for flute and piano.

SKU: A0.1035219

Writing to his brother Modest on 18/30 January 1877, Tchaikovsky mentioned that the violinist Iosif Kotek had ordered a piece from him for a forthcoming concert. Four days later Kotek wrote to Tchaikovsky: Thank you in advance for the waltz; it will surely be wonderful, as is everything that you compose... this shall be a piece to impress everybody. In another letter from mid/late February, we read: Incidentally, about the waltz. Why force yourself if you are tired? Of course, I would be delighted and infinitely glad if you were to write the waltz, especially since it is for me. I am still very glad that you have even started to think about this.

In the period from March to August, we find no further references to work on the Valse. But, given that in March and April, Tchaikovsky wrote his Fourth Symphony, and that in May he was completely absorbed in composing the opera Yevgeny Onegin, it is likely that by this time the Valse had already been completed.

It seems that the waltz was partly or wholly orchestrated by Kotek after Tchaikovsky completed the version for violin with piano. This is suggested by two letters from Kotek to Tchaikovsky: in October 1878, the violinist reported to Tchaikovsky on an unsuccessful performance of the piece: Could my instrumentation be the reason that the waltz did not please?, and early in 1879 he wrote: I think that I badly orchestrated the Waltz ... what extraordinarily empty sounds!. None of Tchaikovsky's letters refer to the orchestration of the piece.

Here for the very first time in aversion for flute and piano - I tried to not transcribe the violin part, but re-write the solo part as it was made for flute.