Composed in the 18th century
Some of the "34 pièces pour flûte seule" are by well-known composers of the time, others cannot be identified.
The compilation selected by flautist Rien de Reede contains solo pieces by various composers from the 18th century. Most of them have titles such as Caprice, Fantaisie, Bohémienne or Gigue and are "technically challenging, but of delightful musical value", as the editor writes in the preface. Rien de Reede also mentions that, as Johann Joachim Quantz noted in his autobiography, flutists were forced to rewrite pieces for recorder or violin, as there was almost no solo literature for the transverse flute from 1719 onwards.
The parallels to violin music can be seen, for example, in the fact that many pieces, such as the Minuets by the Belgian composer Antoine Mahaut, contain chord breakdowns or large leaps over two octaves to suggest polyphony. Pieces with unusual titles such as the Bizzarria/Courante by Silvius Leopold Weiss, which is in the collection of Jean Daniel Braun, where a chromatic line in the upper voice is led from e3 to f sharp2 with a second melodic line at intervals of sixths and fourths. In addition to such rarities, there are also well-known pieces such as Alla Francese in D major, the Fantasia G major or the Minuetto "L'innconnue" with ten variations by an anonymous composer, which were already published in the Caprices by Johann Joachim Quantz are published. English composers such as Lewis Granom are also included. The collection by the French flautist Jean Daniel Braun, which makes up almost a third of the compilation, contains mainly dances such as Giga, Allemande, Minuetto and Rondeau. The work concludes with the unknown Capriccio by Wenceslao Zimmermann, which effectively jumps through all three octaves with chordal fragmentations in triplets.
This illustrious volume is a varied collection for flutists and transverse flutists from intermediate level upwards, combining familiar pieces with rarities and arousing interest in discovering unknown repertoire for solo flute.
34 pièces pour flûte seule, pieces from the 18th century, selected by Rien de Reede, UE 38064, € 17.95, Universal Edition, Vienna
