This is a list of classical music which I have found invaluable over the last forty years or so. It has been useful for concert work and a constant source of joy for practice. None of it is easy. I have chosen each piece because it has a challenge at some sort of level. NONE can be played by just sight reading through once... or at least, if you do then you are missing the whole point of the exercise.
The layout of this file is as follows.
Title of the piece followed by the composer or arranger.
The publisher
Instrumentation
Difficulty M= medium I leave you to work out the rest
Then a variety of bits which are self explanatory.
This page MAY go straight into a ‘tab de-limited’ database... if it doesn’t then you can download the RTF file which doesn’t look quite so good on screen, but most databases should import it.
Have fun......
Douglas Tate, December 1999
Bach for the Recorder Bach
Ricordi Franco Crepax Solo recorder M-D 8 pieces arranged for the recorder . Technical, musical 50%
Roumanian Fantasy Chagrin, Francis
Mills Music London Harmonica & orchestra VD There is a reduction for h & Piano. Concert written for Harmonica
Danza Gaya Dring, Madelaine
Mozart edition, OUP Oboe & Piano M Joyful tune, 3-4 minutes Concert arranged for Harmonica
Elizabethan Dances and Ayres Fitzwilliam
chott 10037 E Hunt Descant recorder & keyboard E-M Best with harpsichord. Superb on harmonica Concert 90%
8 Traditional Irish Tunes James Moody mes Hughes, Birmingham UK Ja 2 12 hole chromatics E-M Best duos I've come across. Concert written for Harmonica
Concertino Tausky, Vilem
Anglo Continental Music Co London Harmonica & Orch D 12 Hole chromatic Concert written for Harmonica
Sonaten (2 Sonatas) Handel
Edition Peters Oboe and keyboard M-D 3rd mvt, 2nd Sonata could have been written for Harm. Concert and technical 50% (three movements can make a suite)
Violin Sonatas Volume 1 Handel
Edition Peters Violin & Keyboard M-D Sonata 3, Movment 2 could have been written for Harm. Concert and technical 50%
Trio for Harmonicas Moody, James
James Hughes Birmingham UK 3 x chromatics M Concert written for harmonica
Printanieres Lancen, Serge
Hinrichsen Flute and Piano M-D 5 pieces, all of them work very well Concert 100%
Caprice Moody, James
James Hughes Birmingham UK Harmonica & Piano VD World Championship Test Piece 1987 Concert & Technical written for Harmonica
Sonata in D Minor Scarlatti, D
Rudall Carte & Co Esther Rolfe Arr flute & Piano D Originally for harpsichord Concert (on a good day!) 100%
Concerto Albinoni
Boosey & Hawkes Oboe & Piano M Nice sight reading & practice piece Concert if desperate 100%
Bagatelle Moody,
James James Hughes Birmingham, UK Harmonica & Piano M-D Concert & Technical written for Harmonica
Graded Duets, Intermediate for Saxaphone Vol 1
Belwin Mills Kieth Snell 2 x Saxaphone E - D 17 duets which fit very well Concert & practise
Summertime Gershwin
Nova Music Duncan Reed Oboe & Piano E Nice simple arrangement Concert
Impromptu Moody, James
Hohner Harmonica & Piano D-VD World Championship test piece 1967 Concert
6 Solo Sonatas Bach
Augner Nachez Solo Violin D-VD A lot of playable music, some totaly unplayable! Practise & Technical
Ballade & Tarantella Walter, Fried
Harmonica and Big Band D Wonderful sounds, written for Tommy Reilly Practise &Tecnical (sadly)
Community Dances Manual 1 -8+ Traditional
English Folk Dance Society London various e-m Wonderful for achieving crisp playing in rhythm Technical, Practise, Concert?
Five Pieces Jacob, Gordon
Mills Music NY, Joseph Williams London Harmonica & Piano (also small orch) M-D Definitive classical harmonica music Concert
Fantasiestuke Nielsen, Carl
Wilhelm Hansen Edition Nr 2452 Oboe & Piano M One day I will play this in public. Nice piece, difficult to bring off Practise
Sonata in D Minor Veracini
Edition Simrock Violin & piano M-D Played by John Sebastion, doesn't quite come off in public Practise & Technical
Sonata in Bb Handel Schott 5355 Thurston Dart Recorder (treble) & piano M Great piece, Handel could sure write for harmonica. Concert
Six Metamorphoses after Ovid Britten, Benjamin
Boosey & Hawkes Solo Oboe M-D Not all playable. Look at the music before you buy Practise & Technical
80 graded studies for Oboe Book 1 & 2
Faber Music Davies & Harris Oboe studies e-d graded Get these for your students (and use them yourself!) Tech, Prac, Concert(5-6 of them)
Sonata Platti
Musica Rara Oboe & Piano M-D Works well, piano part a bit thick for harpsichord. Concert
Etuden (Studies) Op20 Kayser
Edition Peters Violin M-D About 1/3 work, well worth the effort Technical & practise
Roumanian Folk Dances Bartok
Universal Edition UE 8474 Violin & Piano M-D Better on harmonica than any other combination I've heard. Concert
Italian Dance Dring, Madelaine
Arcadia Music Publishing, London Oboe & Piano M-D Composer says it sounds better on harmonica, fast and light Concert
Concerto in A Minor Vivaldi
Edition Peters Nr 3794 Violin and Piano D Willi Berger (designer of the Amadeus harmonica plays this (I don't) Tech & practise
Intemezzo giocoso Wurthner Rudolf
Hohner Harmonica & piano or accordian D World Championship Test piece about 1965(ish) Concert if I'm feeling unkind
Concerto Scherzoso Whettam, Graham
De Wolfe London Harmonica & Orch (with piano reduction) D The piano reduction works well. It is a genuine Adler type piece Concert
Concert in D Minor Bach
Edition peters Nr231 2 Violins & Orch (or piano) M-D Lovely to play but not suited to public performance Practise
Allegro Bach
Oxford University Press Dom Gregory Murray two treble recorders & piano M Works well, ....better on harmonicas ??? concert
Rondino (style of)Beethoven
Schott 32776 Kreisler Violin and Piano E-M Beautiful flowing melody, musically quite difficult, tech
Impressions Duck, Leonard
Oxford University Press Oboe & Piano E - M Joyous little 3 piece suite. One or two naughtyish bits Concert
Albumsticke Shostakivitch
Edition Peters Violin & Piano E-M Several spicy pieces work in this set of 8 pieces Practise, concert
Sonatina Arnold, Malcolm
Patersons London Recorder & Piano M-D Arnold gave me permission to use this, sounds good Concert
Four Dances Hopkins, Anthony
Schott 5371 Recorder and Piano E-M Four 1 minute pieces, very tuneful, good starter concert pieces Concert
Mouvements Perpetuels Poulenc JW Chester
Heifitz Violin and Piano M-D Great, better(?) than violin. A central pair of pieces for me Concert
Sonata in C major Loeillet
JW Chester London Oboe & Piano E - M Melodic and reasonably easy, a good early concert
Concerto Spivakovsky, Michael
Bosworth London Harmonica & Orchestra M - D The easiest harmonica concerto, very melodic Concert
The Dance music of Ireland
Walton's Musical Instrument Galleries E-D 1001 (!) Irish folk tunes, a lifetimes occupation Tech practise
Sonata in D minor Scarlatti, Domenico
Augner Violin & Harpsichord or piano M Good, one of my favourites Concert
Sonatine Szalowski, Antoni
Amphion Oboe and piano M-D Modernish, fits well, sounds good Concert and Tech
Quintet Moody, James J
ames Hughes Birmingham, UK Harmonica & String quartet VD I wish! Tommy Reilly can play this successfully. Practise
Four pieces Moody, James
James Hughes Birmingham, UK Harmonica & piano or orchestra M - D Perfection, wonderful balance, terrific harmonica fit. Concert
Five old French Dances Marais, Marin
JW Chester Viola & Piano M Three out of five is not bad. Good concert stuff Concert
Berceuse Faure
J Hamelle Paris Flute & Piano E-M Fits like a glove, sounds angelic Concert
Concerto Lancen, Serge
Harmonica & Orchestra (piano reduc) M-D Anyone know the publisher?? Concert
Classic Flute Pieces for Alto recorder
Heinrichshofen Edition 4007 New York Alto recorder Solo M Three good pieces in here, YOU decide which! Tech practise
The Fiddlers Tune book (series
Hargail Press New York Peter Kennedy Solo Fiddle E-D 100 traditional airs, well edited Practise, Tech, concert
15 Solos for the treble recorder 18th Century
Edition Schott 2562A Giesbert E-D Great practise stuff, this will get you into the Baroque idiom Tech, practise.
3 Concert Pieces Reizenstein, Franz
Boosey & Hawkes oboe & Piano D Extreeme cruchiness. Lovely piece to get your teeth into(use the Humouresque) Concert
Concerto in D Minor Bach
Edition Breitkopf Violin, Oboe, & Piano (orch) M-D You play the oboe part. This really works well
ConcertThree Airs Milford, Robin
OUP Treble recorder & piano E-M Lovely gentle melodies Concert
Serenade Reilly, Tommy
Hohner Solo Chromatic M World Championship Test Piece, early sixties Concert, Tech
Trio Sonata No1 Loeillet
Schott 10055 Flute, Violin, Piano M great suspensions. look into Loeillet, most is worth playing Concert
Pavane pour une infante defunte Ravel, Maurice
chott 4246 Flute/Violin & Piano E-M VERY difficult to bring off, beautiful if you manage it. Concert
Roumanian Rhapsody op11 no1 Enesco, Georges
Enoch & Co Paris Violin & piano (orch) VD YOU have to arrange this. It's in A needs C, Listen to Adler Concert When I can get my copy back from Adler!
Sonatina in C Diabelli, Antonio
Schott 6435 Bergman Flute (treble recorder) & Piano E A great first concert piece Concert
Suite for Mouthorgan & Piano Dring, Madelaine
Guess M - D Written for Douglas Tate Concert
Sonata Cooke, Arnold
Harmonica & Piano D Written for Douglas Tate Concert
Sonatina Cooke, Arnold
OUP Flute and Piano M-D Arnold Cooke gave permission for this to be played on harmonica Concert
Nine selected pieces Bach
Schott 10799 Dom Gregory Murray Recorder & Piano M Very good selection of short pieces of medium difficulty Practise, Concert
Sonata (after the quartet for oboe & strings) Mozart
Boosey & hawkes Oboe & piano M-D I advise against playing this in public. Play it for Mozart and fun Practise
Three Romances Schumann
Schirmer Schradiek Oboe & piano M Sounds better on clarinet & Oboe, but you MUST try it Practise
La fille aux cheveux de lin Debussy
Violin & Piano E-M Can sound superb, but difficult to bring off Concert
Twenty two unaccompanied pieces for Saxaphone
Associated Board London Gordon Lewin Solo Sax E-M Wide range of pieces,all playable to a high standard Concert, Tech,Practise
Rhythmische Etuden (Rhythmc Studies) Martinu
Schott 2224 Solo violin D Only 1 playable, (first) but its worth it Paractise, tech...... maybe someday concert ... sigh
Sonatas 1 - 3 for flute Bach
Boosey & Hawkes 17619 Flute and piano (harpsichord better) M-D Its Bach, its great. Practise,tech maybe concert soon
Bach for unaccompanied flute Bach
Oxford University Press Fritz Spiegl Flute M-D After 30 years I'm still getting pleasure from these pieces Concert, practise, Tech
Partita for solo flute BWV 1013 Bach
Barenreiter Solo flute M-D Great music, almost performable, marvellous rehearsal Practise, Tech
Sonata for Arpeggione Schubert
Cello or Violin and piano D-VD Sublime music. Don't ever perform, play and imagine. Practise
Concerto in A minor Bach
Schirmer Violin and piano D I have performed this but I don't think its right yet. Great practise Practise, tech
Showpieces for Flute, James Galway 10 of them
Novello Galway Flute and piano D-impossible Moto perpetuo, great breathing exercise. Millions of notes Practise
Studies for Oboe Ferling
Various, mines in Russian Solo oboe E-D Brilliant, good melodic content, good technical content. BEST Concert, practise, tech
7 Divertissements Op 18 Campagnoli
Augner Edition 7601 Violin Solo D One piece in the book , page 34, nearest thing to bird flight . Tech, practise
Six Suites for cello solo Bach
Edition Breitkopf 1953 arranged for violin M -D Much is playable, Great music Practise
Sonata in F Bach
Schott 10272 Dom Gregory Murray Recorder & Piano M Playable in concert. One of the few middle difficulty Bach pieces Concert
Concerto da Camera Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco
Mills music Oboe & piano (orch) D Lovely melodic modernish (1952) work.. 3rd mvt, tricky! Concert practise, tech
50 little exercises for the violin Op 44 Kayser
Edition Cranz 470 Violin E-M Good lot of these are useful staccato exercises Practise, technicalMusical Experience through the use of the recorder Longmans, Boosey & Hawkes Anderton Recorder VE-M Teachers dream, hundreds of classical snatches,one note up!!
Zigeunerweisen Sarasate
Lengnick Violin & piano VD Franz Schmel, Tommy Reilly, few others can play it. Challenging Concert
Spanish Dances Moskowski
Edition Peters Flute and Piano M Ignore the flute part, it is one octave too high. Great fun Practise, tech, concert ....nearly
Romance Vaughan Williams
OUP harmonica & Orch (piano reduc works) D THE piece everyone knows about (but has never heard!) Concert
Musiquettes Girnatis
Hohner KA521 Harmonica & piano E-M Nice spiky set of six modernish, skittish pieces Concert
Concerto Bejamin, Arthur Boosey & Hawkes Harmonica & orch (piano reduc works) D Nice, Very English, good use of interval playing. Concert
Sonatina Pastorale Tate, Phyllis (no relation!)
Harmonica & harpsichord D Written for Douglas Tate who plays it badly (DT). nice piece Concert
Chanson Russe Stravinsky
Gutheil Violin & Piano D You may have problems getting permission to broadcast this. Concert
Concerto Villa-Lobos
Harmonica & Orchestra D See Robert Bonfiglio for publishers Concert
Concerto Nr2 Whettam, Graham
De wolfe Harmonica & Orchestra D Written for Tommy Reilly, I like it, don't play it, no demand. Practise, tech
Prelude & Dance Farnon, Robert
Chappel Harmonica & Orch (piano reduc, iffy) M-VD Best fitting harmonica piece I have come across. Tastes good Concert, practise Harmonica part available seperately
Ball-Szene Ballroom visions Hellmsberger
Schott 09195 Violin & piano D Franz schmel plays it. Needs 280. Fabulous if you get it going Practise, tech, Concert (I can't)
French Suite Richardson, Alan
OUP Oboe & piano M-D Beautiful music, gentle and sophisticated. Concert
Dance of the Blessed Spirits Gluck
Schott 10719 Flute and Piano E-M Poetry in music, VERY well known, be careful if performing it. Concert
Ragtime Solos & Duets Scott Joplin
Schirmer Duos + chords E -M It SAYS arr for Harmonica amongst other things! Good duos Concert, Practise
Scarf Dance (from ballet 'La Source') Delibes
Walsh Holmes Violin & Piano M Very good Staccato Concert, Tech
Bachianas Brasilieras No 5 Aria Villa Lobos
Violin or voice & piano E-M sounds better on harmonica, written to have accomp 8 cellos! Concert One of my top three or four pieces
Concertino Andreae, Volkmar
Boosey & Hawkes Oboe & Piano M-D Nice Practise, concert
Divertimento Jacob, Gordon
Joseph Williams, London Harmonica & string quartet M-D Superbly written for harmonica, my absolute favourite with strings Concert
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