I’ve been wanting to try some classical tunes on my whistle. Has anyone had a similar whim and found that any worked particularly well?
Some will work well, many won’t. Especially if you’re playing in a minor key, classical music tends to have a lot more accidentals that aren’t going to work well, or at all, on a whistle.
JS Bach’s (in)famous “Minuet in G” plays very nicely on a D whistle. I have a book of flute duets by Boismortier (published by Schott) and some of the G and D pieces do OK on the whistle.
For the most part, the sound of the whistle just isn’t quite right for the style of the music, but it can still be fun.
I really enjoy playing non-Irish types of traditional music. www.tradfrance.com has some nice French tunes in ABC format. Many are in whistle friendly keys, or most ABC tools can transpose for you.
I’ve got a couple of books of traditional Japanese songs. These seem to fit whistle tone quality very nicely.
Minuet.
Ode to Joy.
Sarabande (by Handel) - unbelievable but true, and this is how I did it!
Get yer classical tune from http://www.classicalarchives.com/
Get Tablature Karaoke (search on this site or Google).
Open Tablature Karaoke and load the midi in.
Slow it down if necessary so yer can play it.
Have fun 
“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is a good one on the whistle.
The opening of Spring from the Four Seasons plays very well on the whistle. I also play the Bach minuet and Ode to Joy, both pretty easy.
The French tune La Marsaillese (which you will recognize if you are a Casablanca fan) also plays well, although it’s not “classical” per se.
good question!
i don’t have an answer, but a theory that’s been going through my head for a while. at some point in history they started sticking keys on flutes to make them chromatic. i’ve always suspected that the flute music before this change would be very appropriate for the whistle.
my problems are:
- i don’t know when this change was made (before baroque?)
- i don’t know online resources to get sheet music for the stuff played before the change.
can anyone help?
- tom
btw: lilymaid, you recently mentioned you live in the boulder area. if you haven’t already you should check out the boulder early music shop. they might be able to help you with sheet music. for a taste of what’s available, have a look at http://www.bems.com/
Yes, yes! Whistlers everywhere! Play la Marsaillese! Now more than ever. “Allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arrive…”
I’ve just begun to work on Purcel’s Trumpet Voluntary for the whistle.
I actually don’t know if it will work, but I’ve for years thought it would be killer on a whistle.
John
Bloomfield,
Are you still warming up with the Rimskij-Korsakov?
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=7199&highlight=flight+bumble+bee
Carol
Flutes have always been considered chromatic instruments, and the Baroque flute (one-key tranverso) has a chromatic range of nearly 3 octaves.
Keys were added because as you increase the size of the tone holes for added volume and projection, the cross-fingerings no longer work well.
If you go backwards in time past the traverso, what you find is composers when they wrote “flute” meant “recorder.” Some of this literature is playable on the whistle as well.
Best,
–James
It’s not really classical music, but my girlfriend and I are working on a flute/whistle duet for Vince Garibaldi’s “Music of Charlie Brown”.
Basically the left hand (Lower rhythm) of the piano part will be played by the flute, and the right hand melody line will be played by the whistle.
So far, it’s starting to sound pretty good… 
Aodhan
The only one I’ve tried is Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”. The whistle certainly isn’t trumpet-like, but it’s still fun to experiment.
My absolute favourite.
The whistlers Pocket Companion and the CD that goes with it has as it’s last piece no 48 Handel’s Sonata No 6 Opus 9. It’ superb and as they say on the cd it wasn’t supposed to be possible but it is. 
Summertime by Gershwin sounds great, and you can celticize it with ornamentation and zazz around with the tune, and it still sounds great.
Simple Gifts by Copeland is wonderful on the whistle and is one of my favorite tunes.
Rondeau by Mouret (Masterpiece Theater theme) works great too, and you can feel all pompous and important when you play it.
I must learn the Marseillaise, my neighbors might become unpredictable though…maybe quietly on the Clarke…a stealth marseillaise…
I’m madly in love with Bach, so I’m going to definitely learn “Minuet in G.”
I sang “Ode to Joy” in choir in junior high so I’ll learn that too.
Handel’s lovely.
French is my second language, so I’m familiar with “La Marsaillese.” (Bloomfield, was that a snide remark? )
I’m passionately in love with Purcell too.
Copeland’s lovely.
I’ve played “Simple Gifts,” but it’s actually a Shaker folk tune Copeland borrowed. It’s a gorgeous little song, though.
Gershwin on whistle sounds intriguing.
Thank you very much everyone!
The opening air from Bach’s Goldberg variations is fantastic on the whistle ( it originally appears in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach). With a couple of ornaments added, it makes a terrific slow air.
The Badiniere (sp?) from Bach’s orchestras suite #2 (originally for flute and orchestra) is tough, but doable with some half holing. If you play the eighth notes “dotted” it makes a terrific hornpipe-- it was recorded this way as The Rambles of Bach ( or Bach’s Rambles) by some group whose name I disremember at this moment ( De Dannan?).
The Trepak, or Russian Dance from the Nutcracker is also playable on whistle, with a little octave shifting.