Nine Pieces for the Season: Our Favorite Fall Sheet Music for Flute

There's something about the fall season that composers keep coming back to: the turning leaves, that first chill morning, the sense of one thing ending as another quietly starts. We looked for pieces that capture it, and came back with nine worth putting on your stand this fall.

For Flute and Piano

November Song — Gary Schocker

Schocker's music always finds the tune, and November Song is no exception. It's a compact, affecting miniature that works beautifully as a recital encore or a teaching piece for a student ready to focus on tone and phrasing.

Autumn Lute-Song — Su Lian Tan, arr. for flute and piano

Originally commissioned for the Vermont Symphony's 1995 autumn tour, Autumn Lute-Song was written for flute and string orchestra before this piano reduction brought it into the standard recital repertoire. Su Lian Tan transforms the accompaniment into an imagined giant lute, sometimes strummed, sometimes jangling, while the flute sings an extended, poetic ballade shaped by her own Malaysian heritage alongside European tradition. It's unlike anything else on this list, and a striking way to close a fall program.

Autumn — Cécile Chaminade, arr. Trevor Wye

Chaminade wrote Autumn for solo piano, and its haunting melody made it one of her most enduring works. Trevor Wye's arrangement for flute and piano gives both players a chance to shine, with long, singing lines. It's an advanced piece, but the emotional payoff is immediate; this is Romantic-era autumn at its most lyrical.

For Chamber Groups

September Morn — Gary Schocker, for flute, oboe, and harp 

If you're looking to program something unusual, September Morn is a lovely entry point into trio repertoire. Schocker captures a crisp, early-fall morning with real economy; it's accessible for intermediate players, and the flute-oboe-harp combination gives it a completely different color than anything written for flute and piano.

Desert Dusk — Daniel Dorff, for alto flute and cello 

Inspired by a visit to Desert Hot Springs in California, this nine-minute duo opens by reveling in the beauty of the landscape and the call of a distant mourning dove, gets interrupted by a dramatic windstorm, and settles into the stillness of a desert sunset. It's a striking pairing of two dark, resonant voices, and the arc from calm to storm to quiet close makes it feel right at home alongside the turning of the season. For advanced performers.

Piccolo Repertoire

November Song — Michael Isaacson, for piccolo and piano 

Good piccolo repertoire that isn't purely virtuosic display can be hard to find, which makes this arrangement worth knowing about. It gives piccoloists a genuinely lyrical vehicle — one reviewer, an 82-year-old flutist and Army bandsman, wrote in to say he was learning it to perform at his retirement home, which tells you everything about the piece's warmth and reach.

Flute Alone

Trees — Daniel Dorff, after the poem by Joyce Kilmer, for solo flute with narration

This is the piece on the list that will stop an audience in its tracks. Dorff sets Joyce Kilmer's famous poem not by illustrating it note for note, but by treating the text as a jumping-off point for his own musical imagery — closer to a small theater piece than a concert score played literally. At about five minutes, it's a striking recital closer for an advanced student or performer who wants to do something genuinely different this fall.

For Low Flutes

Adventures Under a Leaf — Gary Schocker, for flute and bass flute 

A five-movement duet that colorfully depicts plant life from underneath (literally under a leaf). This is a fun, characterful piece for a flute-and-bass-flute pairing looking to try something a little different this season. Two full performance scores are included, so both players are covered.

Ballade — Daniel Dorff, for alto flute, bass flute, and piano 

Daniel Dorff strikes again with a fantastic low flute piece. It's a 7-minute slow-fast-slow exploration built around the rich, dark sonorities of the low flutes' lower registers, with a jazz-vocal-inspired lyricism and a theatrical give-and-take between the two instruments that builds to dramatic unison passages. Not literally titled "autumn," but it's exactly the kind of moody, atmospheric writing that suits the season — a real find for low flute players who don't get much repertoire built specifically for their instruments' color.

However you're spending your fall - practice room, studio lesson, or recital hall - we hope one of these finds its way onto your stand. Browse our full sheet music collection or reach out to a Resident Flutist if you'd like a personal recommendation.