quartet

Adagio and Fugue from BWV 564, by J. S. Bach

Arranged for Flute Quartet by John W. Pratt

Score and Parts for Flute 1, Flute 2, Alto Flute, and Bass Flute, PDF $21.25

Among J. S. Bach's big organ works, the Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue, BWV 564 is atypical in ways that make it especially adaptable to transcription for winds, as we noted when transcribing it for woodwind quartet. The middle movement Adagio has an elaborate and gorgeous melody which lies comfortably for flute and can benefit greatly from the shaded, nuanced dynamics and articulations that a solo flutist can provide. The four-part Fugue is unusual, too—light and lighthearted, happily adaptable to woodwinds. The Adagio and Fugue are particularly well-suited to a flute quartet and these (but not the Toccata) are included in John Pratt’s arrangement of the piece for two flutes, alto flute and bass flute. Note that the score is presented with the alto flute line in concert pitch and the bass flute line shown in bass clef so as to easily see the range of all the flutes' notes; in the parts, of course, the alto flute is transposed and the bass flute is in treble clef.

Score, 10 pages; Flute 1 part, 4 pages; Flute 2 part, 3 pages; Alto Flute part, 3 pages; Bass Flute part, 2 pages; Total, 30 pages.

Prelude and Fugue, BWV 532, by J. S. Bach

Arranged for Woodwind Quartet by John W. Pratt

Score and Parts, PDF $15.97

Score, 16 pages; Flute part, 5 pages; Oboe part, 6 pages; Bb Clarinet part, 6 pages; Bassoon part, 5 pages;Total, 46 pages.

Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C major, BWV 564, by J. S. Bach

Arranged for Woodwind Quartet by John W. Pratt

Score and Parts for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, & Bassoon, PDF $21.25

excerpted from JWP’s © foreword to the edition:
Among J. S. Bach's big organ works, the Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue, BWV 564 is atypical in ways that make it unusually well suited to transcription for woodwind quartet.  Unlike most, it has a middle movement, an Adagio with an elaborate and gorgeous melody which lies comfortably for flute and can benefit greatly from the shaded, nuanced dynamics and articulations that a solo flutist can provide.  The other winds bring out Bach's beautiful voice-leading in the Adagio's two inner parts and its marching but not martial bass.  The four-part Fugue is unusual, too—light and lighthearted, happily adaptable to woodwinds, with no call for great power and, rather than a climactic ending, a fading coda that defies convincing treatment on the organ. The exuberant Toccata starts with an extended manual solo passage ... mostly in 32nd notes, which ... I felt it would be more effective as a game of frequent handoffs between instruments than as a series of longer individual études. The pedal solo, mostly 16ths, calls for the extra weight of doubling.

Click to listen to a computer-generated audio sample from the end of the Toccata into the beginning of the Adagio.

Score, 17 pages; Flute part, 6 pages; Oboe part, 5 pages; Bb Clarinet part, 5 pages; Bassoon part, 4 pages; Total, 46 pages.

For Children, by Béla Bartók
piano pieces based on Hungarian and Slovakian folksongs

Selected pieces arranged as woodwind duos, trios, or quartets by John W. Pratt and presented in multiple editions, organized by instrumentation and nationality.

Béla Bartók was not only a major composer in a post-Romantic extended tonal style, but he was also a superb pianist with a precise technique, a scholarly explorer of folk music, and a serious pedagog. Folk melodies and harmonies strongly influenced his music, both indirectly and often directly, including many of his orchestral and chamber works, as well as solo piano pieces ranging in difficulty from easy to virtuosic. His For Children (Gyermekeknek, 1908-1909, Sz. 42) was written for solo piano, and the original Books 1 and 2 contained 42 pieces after Hungarian folksongs and 43 pieces after Slovakian folksongs, respectively. Besides the usual purposes of music written for children, Bartók sought to broaden their musical experience with, for instance, modal and other scales, and harmonies outside the traditional western canon. For Children  is by no means pablum; though the notes may be easy to play, these pieces have a lot else to offer. They were written when Bartók’s folksong research was well under way and his notational efforts at their peak. Students, teachers, and every-day players can make as much of them as they like ... as simple tunes for beginners content to learn basic notes and rhythms, or as more advanced studies on articulation, musicality, etc.        —extracted from the preface by JWP

John Pratt has arranged selected pieces from the For Children books as various duos, trios, and quartets for wind instruments.  As presented originally by Bartók, many of the folksongs are entirely or mostly in two voices, like Bach’s two-part inventions in style if not structure or harmony, and thus convenient for wind duo and no more childish for Bartók than Bach.  Many others are also adaptable to duos of flute or oboe and clarinet or bassoon, mostly by spreading the left-hand chords in time.  Still others of the For Children pieces are more suitable for a wind trio of flute (or oboe), B-flat clarinet, and bassoon, or a quartet of flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, and bassoon.  To compare the specific songs included in our editions with the complete set arranged for piano available in Bartók’s publications, visit the For Children listing on imslp.org.

All of the NSM editions described below are available as downloadable PDFs.  We provide scores, but not separate parts, as all players can easily play off copies of the scores, which are organized for convenient page turns when the PDFs are printed two-sided in their entirety.  Click the Preview button to view a page of the score from each edition. To order, in the table at the bottom of this webpage, check the box for the edition you would like to purchase, click Add to Cart, then click Checkout.

► Bartók - For Children, Book 1 - selected pieces arr. as Duets for Flute (or Oboe) and Clarinet 
This edition includes 25 pieces from Book 1 arranged as duets; all of them can be played by B-flat clarinet and either flute or oboe, but for six of the pieces we also include alternative versions with octave changes that are better suited to oboe.  The pieces included are Nos. 1-15, 22-26, 29, 31, 21, 40, and 42. Click to listen to computer-generated audio samples from the score; audio clips of #11 "Me and the Rain" with flute and clarinet and #32 "Wedding Day and Night" with oboe and clarinet are separated by a brief pause. 

Score, 26 pages; Total, 30 pages.
Preview: Book 1, Flute (or Oboe) and Clarinet

► Bartók - For Children, Book 1 - selected pieces arr. as Duets for Oboe (or Flute) and Bassoon 

Our oboe (or flute) and bassoon edition includes the same 25 pieces from Book 1 as our flute and clarinet edition described above, except here they are arranged and optimized as duets for oboe and bassoon, with alternative versions better suited for flute and bassoon provided for two of the folksongs.

► Bartók - For Children, Book 2 - selected pieces arr. as Duets for Flute (or Oboe) and Clarinet 

Our Book 2 edition of arrangements for flute (or oboe) and clarinet duo includes 23 pieces: Nos. 1-6, 8, 10-13, 16-20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 31, 35, and 36.  All of these pieces can be played by B-flat clarinet and either flute or oboe, but we also include alternative versions that are more suitable for oboe for three of the pieces. 

► Bartók - For Children, Book 2 - selected pieces arranged as Duets for Oboe (or Flute) and Bassoon 

The oboe (or flute) and bassoon edition includes the same 23 pieces from Book 2 described above for flute and clarinet, here arranged and optimized as duets for oboe and bassoon, with an alternative version better suited for flute for one of the pieces.

► Bartók - For Children, Book 1 - selected pieces arranged as Trios for Flute (or Oboe), Clarinet, and Bassoon 

In this trio edition, we present 20 songs from Book 1, including 14 that are also available as duo arrangements in the editions listed above and 6 that are only offered in our trio edition. The pieces are Nos. 1-9, 11, 13-15, 19, 20, 30, 35, 39, 41, and 42.  The trios are arranged for flute or oboe, B-flat clarinet, and bassoon.  Click to listen to a computer-generated audio sample from #39 "Insect Wedding".

Score, 21 pages; Total, 24 pages.
Preview: Book 1, Flute (or Oboe), Clarinet, and Bassoon Trio

► Bartók - For Children, Book 2 - selected pieces arranged as Trios for Flute (or Oboe), Clarinet, and Bassoon 

Here Mr. Pratt offers eighteen of Bartók’s Book 2 Slovakian folksongs in arrangements for a woodwind trio of flute or oboe, B-flat clarinet, and bassoon; the pieces included are Nos. 2, 3, 7, 9, 11-14, 16, 17, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, and 42.  Ten of these songs are also included in our duo arrangement publications.

► Bartók - For Children, Book 1 - selected pieces arranged for Wind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon)

This edition includes eleven of Bartók’s Hungarian folksongs in arrangements for a woodwind quartet of flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, and bassoon.  Two of these songs, Nos. 19 and 20, are also included in our trio arrangement publication, but none are replicated in the duo arrangement editions; the quartet publication includes Book 1 Nos. 16-21, 27, 28, and 36-38.

Score, 11 pages; Total, 14 pages.
Preview: Book 1, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon Quartet

► Bartók - For Children, Book 2 - selected pieces arranged for Wind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon)

This edition presents seventeen of Bartók’s Book 2 Slovakian folksongs in arrangements for woodwind quartet (flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, and bassoon).  Four of these songs, Nos. 11, 14, 25 and 28, are also included in our trio arrangement publication, and several are included in the duo arrangement editions. The Book 2 songs arranged here as quartets are Nos. 5, 8, 11, 14, 15, 18, 23- 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 34, 37, 38, and 43. Click to listen to a computer-generated audio sample that consists of ~32” of song #5 Bird in Flight (Theme & part of Var.1, through m34), followed immediately by #18 Former Flame in its entirety.

Sonata, Op.22, by Marion Bauer

Transcribed 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 changes in tessitura, articulation, phrasing and dynamics to highlight the unique voice of the alto flute.  Though execution may occasionally differ, the rhetorical and emotional shape of the work remains essentially the same."

P. H. Bloom, © January 7, 2014

We provide our alto flute transcription; the piano part is readily available as a free pdf download of the score from sources such as imslp.org/.   

Alto Flute part, 9 pages of music; Total, 12 pages.

3 Compositions, Op.40, by Amy Beach

Transcribed 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, and a great many songs.

Amy Beach's 3 Compositions for Violin and Piano, Op.40, were first published in 1898.   Written in the romantic style, the three pieces are (1) the beautiful but sombre La Captive, (2) a lovely, lyrical Berceuse, and (3) a lively but still tender Mazurka.  In addition to alto flute transcriptions of all three pieces, we include in our edition a version of the Mazurka transcribed for flute and piano (score and part), for those wishing to give this option a try as well.

Alto Flute part, 4 pages; Piano/Alto Flute Score, 10 pages; Alternate "Mazurka" Flute part, 2 pages; "Mazurka" Piano/Flute Score, 5 pages; Total, 29 pages.

Petite Fantaisie Hongroise No.1, Op.21, by J. Bloch 

Transcribed for Alto Flute and Piano by C.A.Vater

Piano Score and Alto Flute Part, PDF $5.99

József Bloch (1862-1922) was a Hungarian violin virtuoso, composer, and professor at the National Academy of Music and the National Conservatory (www.jewishencyclopedia.com).  His Petite Fantaisie Hongroise No.1, Opus 21, was written for piano and violin and published by Bárd, ca. 1901.  We thought this piece would work beautifully on alto flute, so we created a transcription of the violin part.  In the range written for the Petite Fantaisie Hongroise, the alto flute may evoke the dark, mournful tone of the modern tárogató, which is often referred to as the Hungarian national instrument.  We provide both our transcribed alto flute part and a re-notated edition of the piano score.   

Alto Flute part, 3 pages; Piano Score, 6 pages; Total, 12 pages.

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For those who would prefer to purchase a professionally-printed hard copy of this piece, rather than the PDF download offered above, our print edition of the Bloch Petite Fantaisie Hongroise No.1, Op. 21 transcribed for Piano & Alto Flute is available directly from NSM for $13.49 plus a $5.95 shipping and handling fee to addresses in the USA. Use the Contact Us form to let us know which hard copy publication(s) you would like to purchase, along with your email contact information and USPS mailing address. We will then send you a PayPal invoice for the sale and, once we receive notice from PayPal that you have paid for the item(s), we will ship your music to the address provided.

Sonata, Op.120 No.1, by Johannes Brahms

Transcribed for Alto Flute by J.W.Pratt

Alto Flute Part, PDF $8.99

Although written originally for clarinet, Brahms himself created two more versions of his Op.120 sonatas, for violin and viola. John W. Pratt, who transcribed these works for alto flute so expertly, writes in his foreword: "If Brahms was happy with versions for clarinet, viola, and violin, surely he would have welcomed arrangements for alto flute, especially since it is the mellow rather than the clarion aspect of the clarinet that he called on. In making our arrangements for alto flute, the violin versions have been particularly helpful, since the violin has the same lower range as the alto flute, but they required modification for several reasons. One, of course, is that the alto flute cannot play as loudly at the bottom of its range as the violin can. Another is that Brahms gave the violin double stops even though the clarinet is limited to a single voice." Our editions of the two Op.120 sonatas include only the alto flute parts, as Brahms' piano scores are freely available in the public domain. Here is a link to the listing of Op.120 No.1 on IMSLP.org, where the clarinet, viola, and violin versions with piano scores may be found. Our alto flute arrangements are based on the usual piano parts that accompany the clarinet as the solo instrument. The entire transcription of Op.120 No.1 works remarkably well, but the breathtakingly beautiful slow movement played on alto flute will steal your heart away.

Alto Flute part, 9 pages; Total 14 pages.

Sonata, Op.120 No.2, by Johannes Brahms

Transcribed for Alto Flute by J.W.Pratt

Alto Flute Part, PDF $8.99

This is the second of Brahms' two clarinet sonatas, transcribed for alto flute by John Pratt.  Although written originally for clarinet, Brahms himself created two more versions of his Op.120 sonatas, for violin and viola. Mr. Pratt, who transcribed these works for alto flute so expertly, writes in his foreword: "If Brahms was happy with versions for clarinet, viola, and violin, surely he would have welcomed arrangements for alto flute, especially since it is the mellow rather than the clarion aspect of the clarinet that he called on. In making our arrangements for alto flute, the violin versions have been particularly helpful, since the violin has the same lower range as the alto flute, but they required modification for several reasons. One, of course, is that the alto flute cannot play as loudly at the bottom of its range as the violin can. Another is that Brahms gave the violin double stops even though the clarinet is limited to a single voice." Our editions of the two Op.120 sonatas include only the alto flute parts, as Brahms' piano scores are freely available in the public domain. Here is a link to the listing of Op.120 No.2 on IMSLP.org, where the clarinet, viola, and violin versions with piano scores may be found. Our alto flute arrangements are based on the usual piano parts that accompany the clarinet as the solo instrument.

Alto Flute part, 8 pages; Total, 12 pages.

Cradle Song, Gondoliera, Mélodie, and Elégie, by Frank Bridge

Transcribed for Flute or Alto Flute (and Piano) by J. W. Pratt

Flute Part, Alto Part, PDF $11.99

Like the 4 Short Pieces for Violin and Pianoforte published in transcription by Noteworthy Sheet Music previously, these additional four short pieces by Bridge "provide a fine and delightful introduction to an accessible post-romantic composer who should be better known." Published by Bridge between 1903 and 1911, the works included in our second edition are transcriptions of Cradle Song, written for violin or cello and piano, Gondoliera for violin and piano, and Mélodie and Elégie for cello and piano. Mr. Pratt has created transcriptions of all four pieces for both flute and alto flute, and we include both instrument versions in this combined edition. We think Cradle Song and Elégie are particularly beautiful on the alto flute, but all are effective on either instrument, so we prefer to let our flutists decide on which instrument they choose to play each piece. We provide our flute and alto flute parts only; the original piano scores work well with our transcriptions and are available, along with the violin and cello parts, as free pdf downloads at imslp.org—click the links to access the scores for Cradle Song, Gondoliera, Mélodie, and Elégie.

Flute part, 6 pages; Alto Flute part, 6 pages; Total, 14 pages.