Women Composers
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Bauer - Sonata - Alto Flute
Sonata, Op.22, by Marion BauerTranscribed for Alto Flute by Peter H. Bloom (originally for viola)
Alto Flute Part, PDF $11.79
The following notes are excerpted, with permission, from the complete copyrighted foreword written by Peter H. Bloom for the Noteworthy Sheet Music edition of his transcription:
"The career of Marion Eugenie Bauer (1882-1955) as a composer, editor, writer, teacher, supportive colleague and mentor continues to assert a significant impact on the trajectory of American Music. It's mysterious that her legacy has been so rarely recalled and her music so infrequently performed in the six decades following her death. ... In 1906 she was the first of generations of American composers to study in Paris with the redoubtable Nadia Boulanger. ... We're fortunate that the composer crafted her own superb transcription of this sonata for clarinet and piano. In order to achieve the equivalent musical impact, her viola and clarinet versions differ in some places. The piano part, nevertheless, remains unchanged. Sometimes we've opted for the clarinet version, sometimes the viola version, and sometimes a conflation of the two. We have also made a few adaptive
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Bauer – Sonata, Op.22 – Alto Saxophone
Sonata, Op.22, by Marion BauerTranscribed for Alto Saxophone (and piano) by Paul Cohen (originally for viola and piano)
Alto Saxophone Part, PDF $11.79
Paul Cohen is one of America's most sought-after saxophonists for orchestral and chamber concerts and solo recitals. In addition to being a renowned performer and recording artist, he is also a talented arranger, lecturer, and collector of rare and historical instruments. Dr. Cohen holds MM and DMA degrees from the Manhattan School of Music; he currently serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and Rutgers University. We at NSM were pleased for the opportunity to collaborate with him on this publication of his transcription of Marion Bauer’s Sonata for alto saxophone.
from Dr. Paul Cohen’s preface to the NSM edition © April 7, 2021:
“Bauer composed this sonata in 1932 or 1935. It originally was written for viola, and dedicated to the memory of her friend and colleague, Albert Stoessel who was a distinguished
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Beach - 3 Compositions - Alto Flute & Piano
3 Compositions, Op.40, by Amy BeachTranscribed for Alto Flute and Piano by C.A.Vater
Piano Score and Alto Flute Part, PDF $10.50
Amy Marcy Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire in 1867 and began composing music at the age of four. Initially home-schooled as a pianist, she continued her music studies in Boston and made her professional debut as a pianist at age 16. She later became a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At 18, she married the prominent Boston physician Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach and began using "Mrs. H. H. A. Beach" as her professional name. She continued to perform occasionally as a pianist, but for many years she focused her musical skills primarily on composing. After her husband's death in 1910, Mrs. Beach resumed her performing career, beginning with a three year tour of Europe, while also continuing to write music. Her works were received with great acclaim, and Amy Beach became one of America's leading composers and the first American woman composer to achieve widespread recognition in the United States and abroad. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 150 numbered works, spanning a variety of genres that included piano pieces, chamber music, orchestral works, sacred choral music,
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Gifford - The Pied Piper of Hamelin - An Operetta
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Marjorie Otis GiffordAn Operetta, from the Poem by Robert Browning
Facsimile Edition by Noteworthy Sheet Music, LLC, PDF $24.99Marjorie Otis Gifford (1909-2003) was a composer, choirmaster, and long-time music and piano teacher in CT and NY. At age 24, she put music to Robert Browning's classic poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin, creating a children's operetta for her students. In her preface to the operetta, Mrs. Gifford states that perhaps the best performance of The Pied Piper was at the Lenox School in NYC, where she was teaching in 1938; that production was directed by Antoinette Perry, who later became known as 'Tony' of the Tony Awards. Indeed, there are additional famous personalities and much fascinating history associated with the remarkable life of Marjorie Otis Gifford.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin operetta was brought to NSM's attention by Gale Finlayson, daughter of composer and music educator Walter Finlayson, and we created our facsimile edition of the operetta at Gale's request. Marjorie Otis Gifford and Walter Finlayson were great friends, and in her preface Mrs. Gifford credits Mr. Finlayson with putting her operetta down on paper. NSM has received permission to publish the operetta from both the executor
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Li Qi - Fog - Flute Alone
Fog, by Li Qi
Contemporary Composition for Solo Flute, PDF $5.99Fog was written in 2012 by the up-and-coming young composer Li Qi. In addition to receiving other projects and awards, Li Qi was selected by the Wellesley Chamber Music Workshop to compose the program's commissioned piece for 2016, An Autumn Dusk in the Mountains for flute1, flute2/alto flute, cello, and piano.
Short, interesting, and challenging, Fog will appeal to advanced flutists and their audiences. Inspired by the poem "Stray Birds" by Rabindranath Tagore, the piece strives to capture in a musical way the recurring interplay between fog and sunlight, as a representation of the circle of life with all its sorrow, joy, and continuously-unfolding beauty. A recording of a 2012 performance of Fog by Heath White at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, has been posted on YouTube; please click the link to listen.Our front cover image is from Wikimedia Commons: "The Mount Emei" by pookieevans (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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Schumann, Clara - Three Romances - Alto Flute or Flute (and Piano)
Three Romances, Op.22, by Clara SchumannTranscribed for Alto Flute or Flute (and Piano) by C.A.Vater
Alto Flute Part and alternative Flute Part, PDF $8.99
Clara Schumann’s Drei Romanzen für Pianoforte und Violine, Op. 22, were written in 1853 and dedicated to the Schumanns’ great friend, the famous Hungarian violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, with whom Clara performed the Three Romances when they concertized together on tours across Europe. The Romances are lovely, short pieces; melodic and expressive, they epitomize the Romantic era and represent true chamber music in the sense that both instruments are featured comparably, rather than the piano having a merely accompaniment role. They are nicely adaptable to wind instruments, and are particularly lovely when played on alto flute. Our transcription required few modifications to bring the original violin part completely in range for alto flute and provide flute-friendly, musically-appropriate alternatives to the occasional violin double-stop. Some flutists may wish to mix and match the three movements, preferring to play one or two of the Romances on alto flute and the third on concert flute, or vice versa; so, to that end, we have included in this edition a complete alternative part adapted for C-flute. We do not provide a re-notated copy of the
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Schumann, Clara – Sechs Lieder - trans. for Alto Flute (and piano)
Sechs Lieder, by Clara SchumannTranscribed for Alto Flute by C. A. Vater
Part for Alto Flute (in lieu of voice); PDF $5.99
In her Sechs Lieder, Op. 13, Clara Schumann set to music six German poems—two written by Heinrich Heine (Ich stand in dunklen Träumen and Sie liebten sich beide), three by Emanuel Geibel (Liebeszauber, Der Mond kommt still gegangen, and Die stille Lotosblume) and one by Friedrich Rückert (Ich hab’ in deinem Auge). Many of Clara Schumann’s songs were composed as gifts for her beloved husband Robert; they are romantic, melodic and highly expressive, and the Sechs Lieder of Op. 13 appropriately convey the broad array of intense emotions portrayed in the poetry that inspired them. These songs, which are absolutely charming, are nicely adaptable for a solo instrument in lieu of voice. They have been transcribed previously for violin or cello, and likely other instruments as well, but are particularly lovely when played on either alto flute or clarinet, instruments for which the voice line falls completely in range. Our Noteworthy Sheet Music editions of Op. 13 for alto flute or clarinet do not include re-notated versions of the score, since a high-quality PDF of the original piano and voice score is
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Schumann, Clara – Sechs Lieder - trans. for Clarinet (and piano)
Sechs Lieder, by Clara SchumannTranscribed for Clarinet by C. A. Vater
Part for B-flat Clarinet (in lieu of voice); PDF $5.99
In her Sechs Lieder, Op. 13, Clara Schumann set to music six German poems—two written by Heinrich Heine (Ich stand in dunklen Träumen and Sie liebten sich beide), three by Emanuel Geibel (Liebeszauber, Der Mond kommt still gegangen, and Die stille Lotosblume) and one by Friedrich Rückert (Ich hab’ in deinem Auge). Many of Clara Schumann’s songs were composed as gifts for her beloved husband Robert; they are romantic, melodic and highly expressive, and the Sechs Lieder of Op. 13 appropriately convey the broad array of intense emotions portrayed in the poetry that inspired them. These songs, which are absolutely charming, are nicely adaptable for a solo instrument in lieu of voice. They have been transcribed previously for violin or cello, and likely other instruments as well, but are particularly lovely when played on either alto flute or clarinet, instruments for which the voice line falls completely in range. Our Noteworthy Sheet Music editions of Op. 13 for alto flute or clarinet do not include re-notated versions of the score, since a high-quality PDF of the original piano and voice score
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Vercoe - Butterfly Effects - Flute(s) and Harp
Butterfly Effects, by Elizabeth VercoeContemporary Composition for Flute(s) and Harp
Flute Part and Harp Score, PDF $26.99
Butterfly Effects is an intriguing and varied piece in seven sections for flute and harp in which the flutist is asked to play bass, alto, piccolo and concert flutes. The titles are the names of butterflies: Mourningcloak, Banded Blue Pierrot, Common Jezebel, Question Mark, Monkey Puzzle, Karner Blues, and Psyche.
Excerpted from Elizabeth Vercoe's preface: "Butterfly Effects for flute and harp was written for the duo "2", with flutist Peter H. Bloom and harpist Mary Jane Rupert, who premiered the first parts of the piece in Bangkok and the entire work in Illinois in 2010. Along with the butterflies themselves, a quotation from Zhuangzi was the starting point for the music: "Am I a human who dreamt of being a butterfly or am I now a butterfly who dreams of being human?" The Taoist philosopher's dream illustrates, among other lessons, his sense of oneness with all living beings. // All seven movements are short, some only a minute in length. Mourningcloak, for alto flute and harp, is somber and reflective. Banded Blue Pierrot (concert flute) is short and glittering. Common Jezebel is
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Vercoe - Fantavia - Flute & Percussion
Fantavia, by Elizabeth VercoeContemporary Composition for Flute and Percussion, PDF $12
Described by the New York Times as a piece with 'timbral adventures and lovely moments', Fantavia for flute and percussion is based on the rhythms and melodies of North American birdcalls. Some of the calls are as familiar as the orioles and robins of a suburban back yard, while others like the common loon are recollected on awakening at dawn in the wilderness. Although a literal transcription was the starting point for each call, the music is intended as a fantasy.
Fantavia has been performed at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, at Merkin Hall in New York, at the National Flute Convention in Colorado and on several U.S. tours of the Armstrong Duo.
The Duo recorded Fantavia on a Centaur compact disc entitled “ -
Vercoe - To Music - Flute Alone
To Music, by Elizabeth VercoeContemporary Composition for Solo Flute, PDF $6.99
Dr. Elizabeth Vercoe has been a composer at the St. Petersburg Music Festival in Russia, the Cité International des Arts in Paris, and the MacDowell Colony, and held the Acuff Chair of Excellence at Austin Peay State University in 2003. She has won many awards, commissions, and publications along with grants from the Artists Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her music is recorded on the Centaur, Capstone, Owl, Leonarda, and Parma labels and is published in print edition by Arsis Press.
To Music (2003) is a short, atmospheric solo for flute in four contrasting sections. At times the music is virtuosic, occasionally calling for multiphonics and other special effects. The titles of the four sections are taken from the haunting poetry of the Russian writer, Anna Akhmatova, a poet deeply interested in music.
Click to access a recording of
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Vercoe – Duos – Two Flutes
Duos, by Elizabeth VercoeOriginal Compositions for 2 Flutes, $0.00 (free!)
Elizabeth Vercoe's Duos for two flutes are available as free downloads from the composer's own website at http://www.elizabethvercoe.com/. Dr. Vercoe kindly offered to allow Noteworthy Sheet Music, LLC to make these duets available from our website as well. The Duos are "fun and quite easy. They are suitable for intermediate students."
Photo of Elizabeth Vercoe courtesy of Caroline Alden.
Just click on the links below to download the Duos at no charge:
Duos 1-5 for 2 flutes -
Vercoe – Kleemation – Flute & Piano
Kleemation, by Elizabeth VercoeOriginal Composition for Flute and Piano
Flute Part and Piano Score, PDF $16.95
Kleemation for flute and piano is in five short movements based on five drawings by Paul Klee titled: Goodbye to You, Please!, Afraid on the Beach, More Will Be Marching Soon, and Woman Sowing Weeds. Described as "highly abstract yet accessible," the piece was commissioned by Austin Peay University in Tennessee and received its premiere there in 2003. The New England premiere was at the Duxbury Art Museum in 2004 by the duo "2" (flutist Peter H. Bloom and pianist Mary Jane Rupert). "2" has since performed the piece on tours in the U.S., Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Click to read a testimonial to Elizabeth Vercoe's composition Kleemation written by Mr. Bloom.
Kleemation was recorded by "2" and can be heard on the PARMA
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