Burgmüller-McCrossan, Three Nocturnes

Friedrich Burgmüller, Three Nocturnes

Arranged for flute and guitar by Kieran McCrossan. 

The Nocturnes were originally for cello and guitar. Burgmuller's main compositional output was for piano. His works became very well known, mainly because of Études for the piano aimed at helping children and intermediate pianists develop their playing.

In terms of the Nocturnes, a handful of compositions by Burgmuller do not have Opus numbers, this being one of them, so it is difficult to say when in his life he wrote them. The Nocturnes use the sonorities of the instruments perfectly,  allowing the heartfelt melodies to sore, blending the sounds of both instruments through the harmonies, as well as utilising the harsher characteristics of the instruments in the more intense sections of the music, particularly in the Piu Animato of the 2nd Nocturne.

By arranging them for the flute and guitar, I knew the cello part would work wonderfully on the flute. It was just the case of putting it up the octave and making minor edits to some phrases to make the lowest notes playable on the flute. The result is a new sound world for these Nocturnes to explore, and though the flute is very different from the cello, it lends its own character to the Nocturnes beautifully. 

Kieran McCrossan

• Product: Self-Print (PDF) or Print on Demand
• Pages: 20 pages full score + 8 pages flute part
• Level: Level 3
• ISMN 979-0-706842-90-5
  
• Order number:  BE-250204