Those of you who joined the programme in week 1 with F tonal centre might understandably have expected B flat this week. I thought a lot about the best order to release each package, and decided to flout the convention of moving around the circle of 5ths, and instead tackle each week by gently increasing the number of sharps and flats.

In F major, I threw the whole box of articulation patterns into the exercise, but from now on we’ll be exploring those patterns in a more extended way. This week, we’re slurring over the whole bar. The extended slur is probably the most common way of practising scales, but in an exercise where the scale pattern moves up bar by bar, starting the slur on the bar line can lead to choppiness in the phrasing.

You can see what I mean in the comparison of the Gariboldi scale pattern below, and my suggested alternative. With the same musical idea in mind, I’ve also extended the dynamic movement over two bars instead of one, to coincide with the suggested breathing pattern.

Here’s this week’s free scale package for you to work on:

G Tonal Centre

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If you've just joined us, you can find Week 1 (F major/F minor) and an introduction to the whole project here.

And a new publication 🎶

If you’re looking for something new, fun and accessible for you or your students, I’m happy to be able to introduce our new publication, Christmas Flute Duets: 32 Festive Favourites. This is a bumper collection of traditional carols and secular favourites suitable for early to intermediate players, with something to please everyone. It’s ideal for Christmas season lessons, concerts, school and church performances for young and old.

Christmas Flute Duets is available for instant download here, and will be available in print edition from mid-November in the US and worldwide. I’ll post a link when the print edition is in store, but if you’re a teacher whose students might like some light Christmas entertainment before then, you can get the PDF straight away. We had a lot of fun creating this duet book, so I hope you enjoy it!

Happy fluting!

love, Elisabeth

Every week I’ll be sending out a “scale of the week”. To keep it interesting, musical, and (dare I say) even fun, backing tracks at three different tempi will also be available to download separately. Playing along with the backing tracks will have the added benefit of helping you focus on intonation as well as dexterity. Tracks will be available from mid-November and you’ll be the first to receive them.

About the scale exercises

My starting point is a forgotten 19th-century scale book by A. P. Vivian, which I first discovered many years ago. Although it’s been long-since overshadowed by the iconic technique books of Taffanel and Gaubert, and later Moyse, Vivian’s vision for scale learning has actually come full circle in flute pedagogy. His exercises focus on parallel (tonic) major/minor relationships, with a complete exploration of interlinked arpeggio patterns, chromatic scales and cadential trills built into every key. It’s a holistic understanding of tonality and technique.

The problem with Vivian’s original is that it’s difficult to use, especially in the minor patterns and arpeggios. Things we take for granted in modern editions (little details like bar lines and key signatures…) are either ignored or very idiosyncratic. Complex meandering patterns are not given any context, making them intimidating and hard to decipher.

My Scale Mastery project revises and adapts Vivian’s original material and adds explanatory text. I’ve also included a comprehensive set of core scale and arpeggio patterns in simple and extended forms, to make it useful and progressive for players of all standards, as well as standard articulation patterns.

Each week I’ll send out a new download package in my newsletter. You can subscribe here to receive it completely free week by week. You’ll also be able to find earlier packages and other free materials on the Flutes Inspired website.

Subscribe now

Here’s an original page from D minor — with a surprising key signature and a crazy dose of accidentals — and a page of the revised version which fixes the glitches and signposts each pattern for easier learning. You can download Week 1: F tonal centre below.

The 7-page package contains:

Core Elements — the essential technical vocabulary clearly laid out: major and minor scales, arpeggios, broken chords, dominant and diminished sevenths, scales in thirds and extended-range patterns. These can be used as a systematic scale programme, to support other learning, or simply as a daily warm-up.

The newly revised Vivian exercises — extended patterns that develop finger coordination, fluency, flexibility and control. They also develop an understanding of how different scales, patterns and chord structures relate to one another. In my view, this is one of the most useful things about studying scales in this way: it improves your instant recognition of fragments, making sight-reading much faster and easier.

From November, piano accompaniment backing tracks at slow, medium and fast tempi, composed and recorded by John Alley, will be available to download on the website here. Subscribers will also receive the download links via this newsletter as soon as they are released.

Week 1: F major/F minor

Download your complete package here, or find it on the Scale Mastery page at Flutes Inspired.

F Tonal Centre

207KB ∙ PDF file

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Feel free to share this newsletter with students and friends. This is a completely free resource for everyone. Happy practising!

Elisabeth

Flutes in France 2027 courses are now open for applications. I would love to welcome you to our home and studio for a week of exceptional fluting, food, wine and friendship.

Come and experience the French flute dream with us — and flute players from around the world — in beautiful southwest France. Courses are warm and supportive, and are focused on the specific needs of adult flutists. Learning is underpinned with clear technical and musical goals and inspiring performance opportunities, all in an atmosphere of friendship and sharing.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, I hope you might enjoy this short video glimpse of one of our May courses earlier this year.

Course dates for 2027 are:

• May 3-8 — 2 places remaining. Reserve list open.

• May 23-28 — FULL. Reserve list open; reply to this email to add your name.

• October 3-8 — applications open 12 October. Reply to this email to put your name on the pre-application list now.

Find out more here 🪈

Apply for Flutes in France here 🎶

“Every year I wonder if the next course can possibly be as inspiring as the last. Every year it exceeds my expectations. The teaching, the friendships, the music-making and the beautiful surroundings combine to create an unforgettable experience.” Deborah, Oregon, USA

New publications - with more to come

We’ve got half a dozen new books coming out over the next month. Two volumes of duets for flute and alto flute with piano accompaniment are now available — on the shelf in the UK and Europe (and in the US/Canada from November), or as downloads with free piano accompaniment tracks. Then, in the next newsletter, I’ll introduce two beautiful new books for Christmas, plus something very special for alto flute lovers.

French Duets for Flute and Alto Flute

Six beautiful French duets for flute and alto flute, featuring music by Fauré, Hahn, Chausson and Hüe, all with piano accompaniment. Lyrical intermediate-advanced repertoire for concerts, lessons and ensemble playing.

Opera Duets for Flute and Alto Flute

Favourite opera arias arranged as duets for flute and alto flute with piano accompaniment. Eight glorious melodies by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, Puccini, Delibes, Gluck and Lehár, ideal for players at easy to intermediate level but musical fun for all!

love,

Elisabeth

It’s been a bit of a crazy summer. May was back-to-back courses: two Flutes in France (more on that in the next newsletter), followed by a wonderful retreat back at lovely Hawkwood College, and an Oxford flute day.

Once we were home again, it was time for the final push on the huge restoration project that I’ve been working on for nearly a year. I designed and project managed the whole project myself, so I’m more than a bit proud of it.

The rear of the house was cut off from the garden by a 17th century barn that had fallen into total dereliction. Dark, dirty, and a bit dangerous, it was definitely not my favourite place. But I’d always had a vision to do something spectacular with it.

The project involved first demolishing the internal structure, knocking windows into the 18 inch thick walls, and preserving and restoring the historic features. It soon expanded into building a mezzanine bedroom and bathroom we didn’t even have in the original plan. When the internal structure was demolished, a wall fell down. Whoops. And behind it was a secret chamber we couldn’t ignore.

Probably my proudest achievement though is the preservation and restoration of a section of the ancient circular brick floor. Originally the circular bricks surrounded the grindstone which was pulled around by donkeys. You can also see the stone mangers where the donkeys would have been fed. Restoring these two historic artefacts was my passion project, and I spent whole weekends on my hands and knees, scrubbing away hundreds of years of dirt.

The new room also has a great acoustic, and it didn’t take long for some of our Flutes in France-ers to discover it was a superb chamber music space.

I think the before and after photos speak for themselves!

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Meanwhile, at NFA…

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, there was a rather special Aurea Capra moment at this year's National Flute Association Convention in Portland. We were so proud that the wonderful Sonata by Jonathan Slade, which we publish and which John has recorded with Gareth Davies (Principal Flute, London Symphony Orchestra) was performed by Gareth in recital, with Jonathan there to hear it. It received all the accolades it truly deserves. Listen to Gareth with John here.

And then there was a wedding!

Which really needs no further explanation.

Enjoy the rest of your summer ❤️🎶

Elisabeth

We’ve just had an amazing first Flutes in France May course (with another one starting in 9 days time), and there’s been a lot going on. New books to press, a couple of big concerts and SO MUCH building work. I can’t wait to share what we’ve done in transforming our 17th century barn into a spectacular space.

Today’s email though is just to let you know about a last minute opportunity.

Flutes Inspired at Hawkwood

I’m running a course at the absolutely beautiful Hawkwood, from 1-4 June. It’s like a mini-Flutes in France in terms of content, with all the same opportunities for playing, enrichment and support, and I’ve just heard that there’s a last minute place available. I’d love YOU to grab it!

I can’t recommend Hawkwood highly enough. It’s a true retreat in the Gloucestershire countryside, surrounded by woodlands, organic gardens, and with exceptional food catering to every dietary requirement.

Come and join us. All the information is here at Flutes Inspired Hawkwood and booking is direct with the venue. This is the ONLY available place on a Flutes Inspired course remaining for 2026, so I’d love to see you there.

Love, Elisabeth

Before arriving in Bangkok, we spent the holiday season with family in Melbourne, Australia. One of the highlights was a beachside break on Phillip Island, about two hours south of Melbourne. There, we were treated to wonderful displays of wildlife in a truly unspoilt setting. On the pristine empty beaches, we watched thousands of soldier crabs disappear under the sand and marvelled at the transparent eggs of the moon snails along the tide line. We saw koalas in the bush and wallabies grazing in the garden at dusk. And on one blustery evening, we watched as hundreds of penguins made their way out of the ocean and up the beach to their nesting burrows at Cape Woolamai. It was utterly captivating.

But now it’s down to work again and I’m “back at my desk”, albeit with a view of skyscrapers. The year ahead is shaping up to be extremely busy and I’m looking forward to meeting flute players from around the world on my courses. I’ll write about upcoming events in more detail in my next newsletter, but for now, here are some dates for your diary:

FLUTES IN FRANCE

• Course 1 May 3-8 — 1 place still available

• Course 2 May 24-29 — Fully booked

• Course 3 October 4-9 — Fully booked

FLUTES INSPIRED UK

• Flutes Inspired Hawkwood, Gloucestershire, June 1-4. More info and bookings here.

• Flutes Inspired Benslow, Hertfordshire, September 14-17. More info and bookings here.

FLUTES INSPIRED FLUTE DAYS

• Oxfordshire Flute Day June 7. Register here.

• Edinburgh Flute Day Sept 12. Register here.

• Cambridgeshire Flute Day Sept 20. Register here.

NEW MUSIC IDEAS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Micro Etudes: A best-selling new approach to technique: bite-size exercises with big results. NFA pedagogy award winner.

Sonata for Flute and Piano by Jonathan Slade: A major new sonata recorded by Gareth Davies and John Alley, and premiered in recital by Michael Cox, this work is grabbing attention around the world.

Four Arias from the Passions by J.S. Bach: Get ahead on your music preparation for Lent and Easter with these exquisite arrangements of Bach’s greatest Passion arias arranged for two flutes and keyboard. Can also be played by flute and violin.

French Music for Alto Flute: A collection of gorgeous French romantic and impressionist works for alto flute and piano.

Happy fluting!

love, Elisabeth

12 Carols through the Keys

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My next newsletter in the New Year will come to you from Melbourne where we are spending the holidays with my family. But until then, I wish you all a joyful, peaceful, and blessed holiday season, however you celebrate it.

With love,

Elisabeth

It’s flexible too: you can substitute violin, oboe or recorder for one of the flute parts, and the piano part is also great on harpsichord or organ. The music ranges from joyful to serene, and every piece is drawn from real baroque Christmas repertoire. This is the perfect book for holiday concerts and Christmas worship.

Here’s what one reviewer says:

“A beautiful volume! There is some wondrous music in this book which could be subtitled Baroque’s Greatest Christmas Hits. The slower pieces, such as the fabulous ‘Frohe Hirten’ from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, work really well with the flutes sharing the melodies between them to sound like voice and obbligato. ‘Sound the Trumpets’ and ‘Laudamus te’ provide a more upbeat contrast helped along by the accompaniments. The arrangements are all excellent so everything works very well, and the addition of the lovely Manfredini instrumental is a bonus. This is such a beautiful volume which is perfect for all sorts of Christmas events. Don’t miss it!” (Chris Hankin, Just Flutes)

Buy PDF and backing tracks

Buy US and Canada

Buy UK and Europe

Last year (in mid-summer!) we recorded one of my favourites, Handel’s How Beautiful are the Feet from Messiah.

Inside you’ll find:

• Handel O thou that tellest good tidings from Zion (Messiah)

• Bach Frohe Hirten (Christmas Oratorio)

• Handel Pifa Pastoral Symphony (Messiah)

• Handel How beautiful are the feet (Messiah)

• Purcell Sound the trumpet

• Vivaldi Laudamus te (Gloria)

• Manfredini Christmas Concerto

It’s a real treasury of Christmas music for you, your students, and anyone who loves to make music with friends. Happy festive fluting!

Love, Elisabeth

A Calendar of Carols

For you, your students, or your church community, my go-to choice is A Calendar of Carols: 25 Traditional Christmas Carols for solo flute or flute duet with optional piano accompaniment. This book ticks all the boxes: all your favourite carols in easy flexible arrangements, including lyrics and quirky festive illustrations. As one reviewer says:

“If you are looking for a book of classic Christmas carols this is perfect. All the great ones are here in excellent arrangements. Add in the possibility of using an oboe or a violin, and also a singer as all the words are included, and you have a volume that will be forever useful. This really is a gold star book!”

For a taste of what’s inside, here’s my arrangement of Hark the Herald Angels Sing for flute duet with piano.

Buy PDF and backing tracks

Buy US and Canada

Buy UK and Europe

And a here’s Away in a Manger accompanied by a glimpse of our village here in France in Christmas mood (last year).

Next week, I’ll be sharing a bit of A Baroque Christmas: Baroque Classics for two flutes and piano. This is an intermediate/advanced book of beautiful baroque gems perfect for Christmas concerts and church services.

Happy festive fluting!

Love, Elisabeth

Adult flutists from the US, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and the UK all came together for a week of wonderful fluting, delicious food and wine, concerts, and flute friendship. In five intensive days, we explored and performed a wealth of flute choir and chamber music, as well as focusing on learning and skill building in group technique classes.

As well as receiving individual lessons, every participant also enjoyed accompaniment coaching with John Alley, in preparation for collaborative lessons and informal performances of their solo pieces.

John, Principal Pianist with the London Symphony Orchestra for 25 years, is a legendary accompanist, bringing his exceptional musicianship, humour, and support to every session. We are very fortunate to have such an amazing “house pianist” and I know every participant really valued that opportunity. I also particularly enjoyed discovering some new music from 20th century Nordic composers, shared by our Norwegian and Finnish participants.

In well-earned breaks from our flute-playing, we enjoyed gourmet meals at home, a lunch in nearby Duras (complete with its imposing chateau), as well as a glimpse of French rural life at the agricultural fair (the Comice agricole), a wine tasting with local vigneron Vincent from Domaine du Vieux Bourg, and more than a few freshly-baked baguettes and éclairs from the village boulangerie. Plus the non-stop sunshine meant drinks by the pool and evenings by candlelight on the terrace. As one participant said to me, it was a flute francophile’s dream!

The week finished with a fabulous concert (and a very appreciative audience) in the 12th century church of Saint-Eutrope followed by a celebration dinner at L’Étape Gasconne. The atmosphere was elated, and there were lots of promises to meet again soon. In fact, same time next year!

And what did the participants themselves have to say? It seems they all agree 😍

Want to join us next year, or put your name on the list for 2027? You’ll need to be quick. We have three courses in 2026 but there are now only a few remaining places. You can find out more here. You can also contact me personally below for more information. I’m always happy to hear from you.

Flute Day 21 September

On Sunday 21 September, I’m in Oxford for a flute day at Marsh Baldon. Join me and pianist John Alley for a day of flute fun, with group technique sessions and lots of flute ensemble playing, as well as opportunities to perform and receive individual feedback. Flutes Inspired Flute Days are always super popular and there are now just 4 places left for the Oxford event. I’d love to see you there!

Flutes Inspired Flute Day with Elisabeth Parry and John Alley

• Date and Time: Sunday 21 September, 10am - 5 pm

• Venue: Marsh Baldon Hall, Marsh Baldon, South Oxfordshire OX44 9LL. Easy parking available on site

• Cost: £50. Includes light refreshments and lunch provided. Music available to try and to buy.

• Who: Open to adult flute players of approx. Grade 5+

• Bring: Your flute(s) and music stand

For more information and to reserve your place just send me a message!

Fantastic Aurea Capra Promotion at Just Flutes

If you’re in the UK or Europe, Just Flutes, Europe’s biggest flute supplier and sheet music specialist, are having a 20% OFF promotion on all our titles. This promotion includes our best-selling Christmas books A Calendar of Carols and Baroque Christmas - perfect timing if you’re thinking about concert repertoire for the coming term or music for Christmas services. There’s also some great books for alto flute, lots of Bach, and our ever-popular French series. Have a browse and grab a bargain! Click here for the Just Flutes Aurea Capra Promotion.

An “accidental holiday”

It was meant to be a 4 day trip, a quick run back to England to do a chamber music concert. But on our way home, the battery light came on just north of Paris. France effectively shuts down in August and it was eight days before the garage could get hold of a new alternator. What could we do but make the most of it and enjoy an “accidental holiday”… by train? We decided to explore some of the great gothic cathedrals, taking in Orléans, Chartres, and Paris (with a few other impromptu corners along the way).

We’re back in Paris for the French Flute Festival later in the year but it’s rare that we have time to just meander around.

I hope you also had a great summer :)

love, Elisabeth

Recordings and publications

Since my last newsletter, we’ve been in London recording the new Slade Sonata for Flute and Piano with Gareth Davies, Principal Flute of the London Symphony Orchestra. It was a fantastic day and I’m really excited to launch this amazing piece in September with a full-length video. In the meantime, if you’re in the UK, Michael Cox will be giving the premiere of the Slade Sonata in his recital at the Just Flutes Festival (15-17 August). Michael and the composer, Jonathan Slade will be there signing copies so if you’re at the festival do come and say hello.

Over at NFA 2025 in Atlanta it’s great to see all our music on display with Theodore Presser, as well as with Carolyn Nussbaum and Flute Center of New York. Do drop by and take a look!

We’ve also been busy recording and editing the pieces selected from our book L’Amour: French Romantic Melodies for the new 2026 ABRSM exam syllabus for Grades 5 and 7. The videos will be released in September for teachers thinking about new exam repertoire for their students in the coming year.

Concerts and festivals

In summer, our part of southwest France is home to a festival of outdoor concerts, Les Mecredis Cachés. This year the audiences have surpassed all previous records with nearly 700 people per concert turning out to hear a range of artists and styles. Next week, we’ll be performing a “classics meets jazz” programme centred around the Bolling Suite, and it’s been a lot of fun working with some great French jazz colleagues putting this programme together.

We also worked with a French choir for another festival, Musiques au fil du Dropt. This musical project brought together around 50 people who had never sung before, training them to a stage where they were able to sing in four-part harmony at the opening concert. I’m a passionate believer that musical ability and achievement can be fostered in adults of any age and experience, and that is the vision that I bring to my flute teaching. This was the first time I’ve brought these ideas to vocal coaching, however, and it was inspiring to see the result and the growth in both their musicianship and confidence.

And the house restoration continues…

On top of all that, we’ve embarked on the next stage of the house restoration. Having finished the pool, we’re now restoring the 18th century barn attached to the back of the house. So far the (non-original) internal structure has been demolished, opening up the vaulted ceiling and exposing the oak roof timbers. The most exciting moment was when a demolished wall exposed a “secret chamber” which will be converted into a mezzanine. We’ve also exposed the ancient grindstone surround which will be protected with a conservation-grade viewing panel in the new floor.

But in the meantime, I’ll be here…

Love, Elisabeth

Would you like to join us for some fine fluting in southwest France in 2026? Here’s a glimpse of what you could enjoy on a Flutes in France course.

If you’d like to know more, a few weeks ago I wrote about our fabulous Flutes in France May course which we’d just finished. You can read about it here:

We’re on the new ABRSM flute syllabus!

If you’re a teacher who uses the ABRSM exam system in the UK and around the world, then you’ll know that a new syllabus has just been released for 2026 onwards. It’s always great when the options are refreshed but it can also get boring pretty quickly if all your students are playing the same three pieces from the grade book. The off-book syllabus options are often the most interesting (especially, it must be said for the examiners).

So we were absolutely thrilled to discover that our book, L’Amour: French Romantic Melodies for Flute has been selected for the syllabus for both Grade 5 and Grade 7. The two chosen pieces are absolute treats. For Grade 5 we have Godard’s gorgeous Berceuse and for Grade 7, Les oiseaux dans la charmille (the Doll Song) from Offenbach’s Tales from Hoffman. We’ll be recording these in the next few weeks so that students can have reference recordings and accompaniments, and I’ll let you know when they’re up on YouTube.

In the meantime, here’s a quick taster of both pieces:

Grade 5: Godard Berceuse

Grade 7: Offenbach Les oiseaux dans la charmille (The Doll Song)

Flutes in France May course always falls during the peony season, when the local fields are awash with acres of beautiful blooms for export. I buy bunches of them at the farm gate to fill the house for the course. I love them!

This year we had the special privilege of playing at the village VE Day celebrations. Here we are with some of the veterans and, in the background, the village choir. If you look closely, you might notice that John put his keyboard skills to unexpected use by joining in on the melodica—its reedy sound was surprisingly effective in the Marseillaise. One participant said to me, “If I tried to explain back home how charming this all is, no-one could begin to imagine it!”

As usual, food (and, of course, free-flowing wine) featured strongly and this year we enjoyed all-locally-sourced produce prepared by a Cordon Bleu chef. Lunch in the medieval village of Monségur was also a treat, and on our way back we stopped at an artisan chocolatier where no-one resisted the delights on offer.

It wasn’t all play and no work, though—we were there to flute and every day was filled with flute choir, chamber music, lessons and coaching sessions, informal concerts and masterclasses. I loved working with everyone and was so proud of the standard we produced. The final concert included music by Pachelbel, which took advantage of the wonderful church acoustic, Dvorak, Strauss, Sousa and others. Jorunn from Norway introduced a beautiful work by Norwegian composer Ole Bull, and Clare and Jane delighted the audience with Rossini’s Cat Duet—complete with cats’ ears knitted for the occasion. Here’s a glimpse of the flute ensemble playing a Slavonic Dance by Dvorak (arr. Judy Nishimura, pub. Alry) in the final concert:

But what do the people that really matter—our Flutes in France participants—have to say about it all? And would you like to be part of the Flutes in France experience next year?

Our next course (Oct 25) is fully booked but bookings for 2026 will open in two weeks time, on 1 June. Keep an eye on the newsletter for all the details, and if you’d like to put your name on the “interested” list to be first in line just reply to this email.

Love, Elisabeth

French Music for Alto Flute

Our newest book, French Music for Alto Flute, is a box of delights, full of French romantic and impressionist pieces by Fauré, Hahn, Saint-Saëns, Chausson, Godard, Duparc and Franck arranged for alto flute and piano. These lyrical melodies are perfect partners to the voice of the alto, and explore depths of expression, melody, and colour. They make lovely short concert pieces or, of course, just something delicious to play for your own enjoyment.

Here’s a taste of what’s inside the gorgeous Monet-inspired covers:

• Fauré Après un rêve

• Saint-Saëns Softly awakes my heart

• Hahn A Chloris

• Godard Berceuse

• Duparc Extase

• Chausson Le Colibri

• Fauré Au bord de l’eau

• Fauré Rencontre

• Franck Panis angelicus

French Music for Alto Flute (Elisabeth Parry and John Alley, Aurea Capra Editions) is now available from music retailers worldwide. The PDF download edition which comes with recorded piano backing tracks recorded by John Alley is available from the website here.

Buy UK print edition

Buy US print edition

NFA Newly Published Music Awards

We were thrilled to get the news that this year - for the 5th year in a row - our publications have been honoured in the NFA Newly Published Music Awards.

Rejoice Greatly: Flute Music for Weddings and Celebrations and An die Musik: A Lieder Album were both winners in the Flute and Piano category. We put our heart into these books, so it’s great to know that the NFA thinks they’re a valuable contribution to the repertoire too. Thank you NFA!

Piles of repertoire and timetables are spread out in the studio, while outside I stand on the terrace, heart in mouth, watching a nacelle (high lift) reach 50 feet into the sky to hoist shutters down for repair and painting. Those shutters are heavy: solid oak with forged ironwork, 200 years old, and showing the ravages of time. It’s a delicate operation (and an expensive one)… as well as the kind of thing you don’t account for when you fall in love with a house in France.

A new flute sonata

I’m also busy at the moment learning a major new sonata by Jonathan Slade which we’ll be performing several times over the next few weeks. John and I have been privileged to work with Jonty in publishing his Sonata for Flute and Piano. It’s a challenging and exciting work in four movements suitable for advanced players, although the beautiful slow movement is very accessible for less experienced players.

Jonty has recorded this slow movement as a taster and I’ve included his lovely video in this newsletter. I’ve also asked him to share some of his thoughts in a guest post below. I hope you enjoy reading about how Bach has inspired his work.

Embracing Bach’s magic in a new composition

Guest post by Jonathan Slade

I’m very lucky to spend a good amount of my professional life playing the music of Bach. Maybe it’s the richness and complexity of his writing, but somehow I never tire of it. Even during the sixth St. John Passion of the season, I still feel the awe I sensed when hearing it for the first time: the effortless interplay of melodic lines, the immense unfolding drama he weaves into the fabric of his music, all in service of a deeply held faith.

Some of the most striking moments in his choral music are those in which he interpolates, often surprisingly, a chorale or chant melody as a central voice or cantus firmus, a device which carries great religious symbolism and emotional power. I’ve linked a couple of my favourite examples: the haunting solo trumpet line in ‘Suscepit Israel’ from the Magnificat and the gentle chorale in ‘Mein Teurer Heiland’ from the St. John Passion that seems to act as a healing balm as we process Jesus’ death.

With this extraordinary music circulating in my head so often during different times of the year, it’s perhaps unsurprising that my own should be influenced by it. I’ve always enjoyed reusing and adapting themes in my compositions, but I particularly wanted to see if I could use a central chorale as a means not only of connecting different movements, but also serving as some kind of narrative arc that leads the listener from the anxiety and drama in the first movement to the redemption in the last.

A small problem, though: I am not Bach.

My one advantage was not being bound by the same harmonic conventions, meaning I could think a little outside the box. I started by writing the chorale itself, which appears in its original form in the first movement, a hushed solo flute dancing almost menacingly underneath. It reappears, rhythmically slightly altered, at the very start of the slow movement, this time acting as an accompaniment for a new, rather lonely flute melody.

With each movement, I used the chorale as the starting point to try and achieve the best result musically and dramatically. The listener has to wait for its reappearance in the third movement: after several interrupted attempts it returns towards the end, transformed and distorted into a kind of demonic dance in the piano. Similarly, it is at the very conclusion of the final movement that the chorale emerges for the final time, intended as a blazing hymn of hope as the demons are finally put to rest.

Follow Jonty on Instagram @jonathanslademusic

Buy the sonata

First (and a real favourite of mine):

J S Bach Four Arias from the Passions

This book contains four arias from Bach’s St Matthew and St John Passions arranged for two flutes and piano. These unique arrangements give flute players the opportunity to play some of Bach’s greatest Easter music. 

The flute duet score is arranged from the vocal solo and instrumental obbligato parts, and the choral and orchestral score has been arranged to create a new piano accompaniment. These wonderful arias work beautifully both in church services and in concert performance.

Four Arias from the Passions (arr. and ed. Elisabeth Parry and John Alley, published by Aurea Capra) won first prize in the NFA Newly Published Music competition 2020 and has been a best-seller ever since. As one reviewer writes: “This book is a real treat and you will return to it every Easter time for for years!”

During lockdown (five long years ago) I recorded one of the duets, “Ich will dir mein Herze schenken” from the St. Matthew Passion, playing both parts against John’s recorded accompaniment—as we had to back in those difficult days. Not the easiest way to create a video recording, but it still gives a glimpse of this beautiful music.

Buy and download now

My next recommendation contains four essential Easter flute obbligatos that every flute player and Bach lover will want to play:

J S Bach Flute Obbligatos vol. 1 (with piano accompaniment)

This book is the first in our project to arrange piano accompaniments for all of Bach’s flute obbligatos from the cantatas and passions. Volume 1 contains:

• Aus Liebe from the St Matthew Passion

• Ich folge dir gleichfalls from the St John Passion

• Zerfliesse, mein Herze from the St John Passion

• Seele, deine Spezereien from the Easter Oratorio BWV 249.

plus Domine deus and Benedictus from the Mass in B minor.

The accompaniments make these obbligatos into performable solos for flute and piano. As one reviewer says: “Integrating the vocal line into the accompaniment means that we can really gain experience from these arrangements and have insider knowledge when it comes to playing the original. Such a good idea!”

Bach Flute Obbligatos vol. 1 (arr. and ed. Elisabeth Parry and John Alley, published by Aurea Capra) was a winner in the NFA Newly Published Music competition 2021.

In this video Japanese flutist, Rie Shimizu, performs our arrangement of Domine Deus from the B minor Mass—not strictly for Easter, of course, but a beautiful addition to any Lent or Easter service.

Buy and download now

And coming soon…

Three new publications arrived today and there’s something for alto flute fans in that box!

Love, Elisabeth

Since my last email—which I’ve just realised to my dismay was before Christmas—I’ve been busy with no less than 5 new publications which have now gone to press. Today, as Easter is fast approaching I wanted to tell you about two in particular. These are perfect for the Lent and Easter period, as well as for the approaching spring wedding season.

Both books come from our new Flutes in Faith series and are informed by both John’s and my own love for, and deep experience of, church music.

If you are a flutist who plays in church, or if you’re invited to play at a wedding or funeral, or if you just love a gorgeous melody, these are for YOU!

The accompaniments are arranged to work equally well for piano or organ—and if you don’t have an accompanist available, you can download the backing tracks recorded by John.

1. Still As The Night: Music for Reflection and Contemplation

Music by Bach, Purcell, Festing, Mozart, Massenet, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Franck and more. As one recent reviewer put it: “This is music to soothe the soul!” (Chris Hankin, Just Flutes).

This music is ideal for quiet moments of reflection during church services, especially during Lent, as well as for occasions like the signing of the register during a wedding, and of course, for funerals.

Here’s Handel’s Come Unto Him from Messiah which John and I recently recorded in the church of Allemans-du-Dropt in southwest France.

Buy and download now

2. Rejoice Greatly: Music for Weddings and Celebrations

In this book, we celebrate with uplifting music by Handel, Bach, Mozart, Buxtehude and more. This music is perfect for joyous occasions such as weddings, or of course, for Easter Day itself. Here’s what one reviewer says:

“This is a great book to have to hand if you are asked to play at a wedding or other celebratory occasion. It's full of great pieces to choose from, all expertly arranged and with the really useful accompaniment which is also suitable for the organ. Highlights include Handel's Rejoice Greatly from the Messiah which is always uplifting, the more reflective Et exulatvit from Bach's Magnificat and the rousing Mozart Alleluia. Happy music for a happy event!”

Here’s Handel’s Rejoice Greatly from Messiah.

Buy and download now

As with all our publications, both these books are also available in print edition from retailers worldwide (note: in North America Still as the Night is marketed under the title Flutes in Faith vol. 2: Hear My Prayer).

Here is the cover artwork for the two books. I took this photo in Spain last summer in an exquisite side chapel of the Cathedral of Tarragona. The elaborate painting adorns the domed roof of the chapel and I had to lie on the floor to take it... but I think it was worth it (John may have been embarrassed)!

Happy fluting!

love Elisabeth

As the Christmas season is already in sight, this week seemed the perfect time to share it with you. I hope that you, your flute friends, students, concert audiences or church might enjoy it.

The bonus piece is the beautiful Sinfonia from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio arranged for two flutes and piano (or organ), and I’m attaching the complete package of the flute duo plus piano score completely free to download. John has even recorded a harpsichord accompaniment track for you (at A440, modern pitch).

The arrangement also works with violin, oboe, or treble recorder, so you can mix and match with your friends and students.

If you enjoy this arrangement, there’s more like it in our book A Baroque Christmas, which includes more Christmas music by Handel, Purcell, Vivaldi, Manfredini, and of course, Bach, all arranged for two flutes and piano or organ.

Recently, we made a couple of short taster videos for A Baroque Christmas. Here’s Purcell’s “Sound the Trumpet” and I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a joyfully uplifting piece.

For something in a quieter mood, there’s a performance of our arrangement of Handel’s “How Beautiful are the Feet” here.

The US print edition of A Baroque Christmas is now available here:

Buy US Edition

and the download edition (which includes free accompaniment tracks) is here:

Buy PDF and accompaniment download

The UK print edition has been selling out as soon as it comes in, but you can order through the link below to receive your copy when new stock arrives later this week.

Buy UK print edition

A Baroque Christmas (Elisabeth Parry and John Alley, published by Aurea Capra Editions) is available worldwide from music stores and online retailers.

Free downloads

Sinfonia from the Christmas Oratorio

Bach Sinfonia Flute Duo

113KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Bach Sinfonia Full Score

153KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

And the play-along accompaniment track (A440 harpsichord)

I hope you enjoy it!

Best wishes,

Elisabeth

This week we actually finished two new publications for flute and piano, and I’m pretty excited about them. They won’t be on the shelves until December so for now they’re a closely guarded secret. Here are some of the bits that didn’t make the final cut!

A treat for alto flute fans

In the meantime, let me tell you about our two new books for Alto Flute which have just been released. If you’re a fan of this beautiful instrument with its silky, mellow sound I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.

First, for lovers of French flute music, there’s Après un rêve: 12 Fauré melodies, a collection of Fauré songs arranged for alto flute and piano. The simplicity of these beautiful arrangements means that they are are suitable for players of all standards. More advanced players will relish the scope for expression, melodic shaping, and tone colour that they offer. These gems of the French repertoire are ideally suited to the timbre of the alto flute and make perfect short concert and encore pieces.

Buy PDF + tracks download edition

We also have an alto flute edition of An die Musik: A Lieder Album. This collection of beautiful songs by German romantic composers includes favourites by Schubert and Schumann, as well as music by Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf, Alban Berg, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn. These emotionally-charged concert pieces are perfectly suited to the mellow sound of the alto flute and give great scope to explore expressive depths.

Buy PDF + tracks download edition

Both books are also available in print edition from retailers worldwide. Here are some quick links.

Buy Apres un Reve UK

Buy An die Musik UK

Buy Apres un Reve US

Buy An die Musik US

And as a gift this week, here’s something for you to play from Après un rêve: 12 Fauré Melodies for Alto Flute. I’m also including the play-along accompaniment (because of the transposition, the play-along is specifically for alto flutists but there is a version for concert flute available on our website). I hope you enjoy it!

Au Bord De L'eau For Alto Flute

528KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Best wishes and happy fluting,

Elisabeth