Salut d’Amour, Op. 12, by Edward Elgar

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

Piano Score and Part for Alto Flute, PDF $6.99

The English composer Edward Elgar held many positions throughout his career, including those of organist at St. George’s Roman Catholic Church in Worcester, conductor of the Worcester Philharmonic, Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham, and conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He achieved considerable prominence as a result of his many successful orchestral, vocal, and chamber music compositions. Elgar composed this piece in 1888, as an engagement gift to his beloved future wife. Though first written for piano solo, arrangements were created shortly thereafter by the composer himself for violin and piano, and for orchestra. Originally titled “Liebesgruss” (Love’s Greeting), but later changed to  Salut d’Amour, the piece is now one of Elgar’s most widely recognized works, and its immense popularity has led to arrangements for a wide variety of other instruments. We provide here a transcription of  Salut d’Amour  for alto flute and piano, which has been adapted from the editions published by Schott for violin and piano, oboe and piano, or orchestra and which are now in the public domain.

Score, 4 pages; Alto Flute part, 2 pages; Total, 10 pages.

Zwei Charakterstücke, by Karl Eduard Goepfart

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

Alto Flute part and Piano score, PDF $8.99

Karl Eduard Goepfart (1859-1942) was a German pianist, composer and conductor. His Zwei Charakterstücke, Op. 27 (Two Character Pieces) were written for oboe and piano and first published in Leipzig in 1888. The two contrasting pieces are the very charming Mässig schnell, gehend and Mässig langsam (in ruhiger Bewegung) with its playful, energetic Lebhaft section. We prepared a transcription of this under-appreciated work for alto flute, complete with piano score. The pieces work well on alto flute, providing the accompanying pianist is sensitive to the alto flute’s lower sound power and projection capability, especially in the low register, compared to that of the oboe.

Piano Score, 8 pages; Alto Flute part, 3 pages; Total, 16 pages.

Three Romances, Op.22, by Clara Schumann

Transcribed 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 provides 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 score, however, since high-quality PDFs of the piano and violin score are freely available in the public domain, and are easy to use along with our flute transcriptions of the violin line. To download one such PDF of the score, please visit the imslp website.

Alto Flute part, 5 pages; Flute part, 5 pages; Total 14 pages.

Les Regrets-Cantilène, Op.36, by Napoléon Coste

Transcribed for Alto Flute or Flute (or Oboe or Violin) and Piano (or Harp or Guitar) by C.A.Vater

Score, Alto Flute Part, and alternative Flute (or Oboe or Violin) Part, PDF $5.99

Napoléon Coste (1805-1883) became famous not only as a guitar soloist, but also as a major composer of some 60 works, most of which were written for guitar. His music is in the romantic French style and appreciated for its originality.  His Fantaisie, Op.36, Les Regrets-Cantilène, is a short, single-movement piece written for oboe or violin with piano or harp or guitar.  We created our Noteworthy Sheet Music edition from the difficult-to-read manuscript version in the public domain, available on imslp.org.  We include a score in concert pitch and a part suitable for flute, oboe or violin, as well as a part transcribed for alto flute in G.  The piece falls nicely within the sweet range of the alto flute and our transposition sounds appealing and completely natural on that instrument.  In fact, Les Regrets-Cantilène is gorgeous on either flute or alto flute.  Melodic and sentimental, the work is not overly demanding technically and should appeal to players of a moderate or higher skill level.

Score, 4 pages; Alto Flute part, 1 page; Flute (or Oboe or Violin) part, 1 page; Total 8 pages.

Lento - Bereavement, by Moritz Hauptmann

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

Piano Score and Alto Flute Part, PDF $3.99

Hauptmann's 3 Violin Duos, Op.16 were first published in 1832. The Lento (Bereavement) from Op.16 later was arranged for violin and piano by the renowned violinist, violist, and composer Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. It is this arrangement by Henri Ernst, published in 1880, that served as the basis for NSM’s transcription of the piece for alto flute and piano. The mournful simplicity of the Lento is perfectly captured and beautifully rendered by the alto flute.

Alto Flute part, 1 page; Piano Score, 2 pages; Total, 6 pages.