What are the best Sonatas for Flute?

A sonata is a work for solo instrument, most commonly in three movements (fast-slow-fast). Though this may sound a little like a concerto, in a sonata the soloist is accompanied by a keyboard or unaccompanied, whereas in a concerto the soloist plays with an orchestra. This makes it more suited to intimate forms of expression associated with ‘chamber’ settings (i.e. small venues or in the home).

Most instruments have had sonatas in one form or another written for them, the flute being no exception. Here are some of our favourite examples of flute sonatas.

J.S. Bach Flute Sonatas BWV 1030-1035

The sonata originated in the baroque period, where the form was either adapted for use in the church (sonata de chiesa) or at court (sonata da camara), though this could also include more domestic settings. Bach’s six flute sonatas are examples of the later. They are accompanied by a harpsichord usually with a bass instrument though nowadays are often just performed with piano accompaniment alone.

Though ranking these masterpieces is a matter of personal preference, one could summarise each as follows:

Though perhaps the trickiest, the B Minor Sonata, BWV 1030 is also one of the most rewarding, featuring intricate counterpoint and rich harmonies; the Sonata in E, BWV 1035 is characterised by a warm, lyrical style; the Sonata in A, BWV 1032 for its elegant melodies and clear structures; the C major Sonata, BWV 1033 is lighter and airy character; the E minor Sonata, BWV 1034 is the most introspective whilst, finally, the Eb Sonata, BWV 1031, which is sometimes attributed to Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, is known for its grace and elegance.

CPE Bach Sonata in A minor for Solo Flute, Wq. 132

Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was an important composer in his own right, his music bridging the gap between the baroque and classical styles. His three movement Sonata in A minor for unaccompanied solo flute (1747) is still considered one of the most significant in the solo flute repertoire. The work is an example of the Empfindsamer Stil (Sensitive Style), in which a composer aimed to embrace a wide range of emotions within a work, here exemplified by a introspective opening poco adagio, a lively second movement and technically demanding final movement that is nevertheless full of elegance and sophistication.

Mozart Flute Sonata in C Major, K.14

Mozart was not to be a big fan of the flute, writing of it to his father ‘I am quite powerless to write for an instrument which I cannot bear.’ It won't come as a surprise, therefore, to learn that he did not actually write any sonatas specifically for the instrument. Despite this, a very early violin sonata written at the age of just 8 whilst he was in London, has been adapted successfully for the instrument. Whilst the work can hardly be considered a masterpiece when set alongside his later works, it nevertheless demonstrates the young composer’s mastery of classical form.

Philippe Gaubert - Sonata No. 3 for Flute and Piano

Philippe Gaubert was a flautist who wrote gratefully and with deep understanding for his own instrument. Of his flute sonatas the finest and most celebrated is his Sonata No. 3, written in 1933. The work exhibits Gaubert’s gift for lyrical and long-breathed melodies in the context of a typically French lush harmonic backdrop.

Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Flute and Piano

Hindemith is one of the most celebrated twentieth century sonata composers, completing a whopping 26 for various instruments. The four movement Sonata for Flute and Piano dates from 1936. Despite the Nazis banning it for its supposed ‘cultural Bolshevism,’ presumably because of its modernist writing, it is a work full of attractive ideas, with both formal and textural clarity and great harmonic originality.

Poulenc: Flute Sonata

The most frequently performed flute sonata in the repertoire, Poulenc’s late masterpiece (1957) is probably the one piece (along with Debussy’s Syrinx) which all aspiring flautists will tackle at some point in their musical journey. The opening allegro malincolico (“melancholy allegro”) and central adagio are typical of Poulenc’s bittersweet lyricism at its finest, while the finale’s catchy cross-rhythms and slithering um-cha-cha’s are guaranteed to bring the house down.

Dutilleux Flute Sonatine

A sonatina in search of a style, Dutilleux’s early (1943) work for flute can’t quite make up its mind whether it wants to be lyrical late-romantic or daringly early-modern but does a bit of everything and does it very well, from lyrical opening allegretto with its distinctively lopsided 7/8 meter to the sprightly finale.

Boulez: Flute Sonatine

The first published work by one of the 20th century’s towering musical figures, Pierre Boulez’s youthful sonatine (1946) picks up where Jolivet leaves off, taking the flute to places it had never gone before (and which it’s rarely visited since), veering between freeform passages of improvisatory statis and ferociously dissonant moto perpetuo sections whose demented energy is like nothing else in the repertoire.