Matt Johnston

Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960) was born in Stockholm and studied at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 to 1891. The 'Herdsmaiden's Dance' ('Vallflickans Dans') is...

Though a professional cellist, Franz Danzi's lasting legacy in the classical music world is the large number of wind quintets he composed during his lifetime. Among his other compositions is this char...

Newly engraved in 2020, this edition of Paul de Wailly's Aubade for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet has been updated with minor errors and inconsistencies corrected. Includes a full score and parts, with per...

Composed when Camille Saint-Saens was only 22 years old, this Tarantella is an exciting dance in 6/8 time. Originally orchestrated for solo instruments with orchestra, this piece is most commonly perf...

Though a professional cellist, Franz Danzi's lasting legacy in the classical music world is the large number of wind quintets he composed during his lifetime. Among his other compositions is this char...

Lodewijk Mortelmans was born in Antwerp on February 5, 1868, as second son of printer Karel Mortelmans. He died on June 24, 1952. He was an outstanding, universal Belgian musician and composer. His un...

Prosper Van Eechaute (1904-1964), born in Ghent, was a Belgian composer, conductor and teacher. While a student at the Ghent Royal Conservatory, he was awarded first prize for cello, harmony, chamber...

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), is one of the most prolific composers of all time. He wrote a great amount of music for wind instruments, including many concerti and sonatas for flute, oboe and ba...

Although mostly known for his orchestral music and Requiem, Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924) composed more than 70 works for voice and piano, and was once commended by Maurice Ravel for saving French vocal...

During the time the arranger studied bassoon in college, he always got the impression that the Premier Solo by Eugene Bourdeau was one of those minor pieces, meant to be played early on as a student b...

This arrangement came about thanks to a bright, high school bass clarinet student from Washington State, expressing his desire to play a concerto of some sort. Though the repertoire for the instrument...

Without a great body of repertoire by the most famous composers, it is neat to know that this Romance is the only piece that Edward Elgar composed for a solo wind instrument with orchestra. Composed i...

Although Ferdinand David is mostly known as a composer for a couple of his instrumental works, namely a Concertino for Trombone, and this Concertino, Op. 12 for bassoon, perhaps he should be most well...

German bassoonist and pedagogue Julius Weissenborn is known primarily as an author and composer of method and etude books familiar to all bassoonists. However, he also composed a number of solo works,...

Eugene Bourdeau came from a family of bassoonists and eventually became the professor of bassoon at the Paris Conservatory from 1891 to 1922. Though not well-known as a composer, he composed three sol...

German bassoonist and pedagogue Julius Weissenborn is known primarily as an author and composer of method and etude books familiar to all bassoonists. However, he also composed a number of solo works,...

Camille Saint-Saëns composed this Romance, Op. 51, in 1877, originally in the key of D major for cello and piano. The form of the piece is relatively simple, opening with a lyrical melody over a repet...

Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) was widely regarded as the Paganini of the double bass and was one of the first champions of the instrument. Though he composed a wide range of music, from chamber music...

Although mostly known for his orchestral music and Requiem, Gabriel Faure (1845 - 1924) composed more than 70 works for voice and piano, and was once commended by Maurice Ravel for saving French vocal...

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1821) composed The Carnival of the Animals, one of his most popular works, in 1886. Though private performances were given during his lifetime, the first public performance...

Holst's First Suite in E-flat is one of the most influential works in the concert band repertoire and consists of three contrasting movements (Chaconne, Intermezzo, March) all based on a singular moti...

Which of the Holst Suites is your favorite? Here is another cornerstone in the concert band library which consists of four movements (March, Song Without Words - 'I'll Love My Love', Song of the Black...

Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor (BWV 582) is one of the most influential works for organ ever written. A haunting passacaglia followed by a fugue using a similar theme. Instrumentation: E-Flat...

This is one of Beethoven's most popular and well-known works from Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 13 'Pathetique'. A lovely adagio sure to please any audience. Instrumentation: E-Flat Clarinet, 3 B-Flat...

Here is a transcription of the third movement of Georges Bizet's only symphony. It was requested by Mitchell Estrin at the University of Florida because he remembered playing a transcription of this p...