A Guidebook to Flute Choir Literature

A Guidebook to Flute Choir Literature is the first book written about flute choir literature. This guidebook, written for professional flutists, teachers, band directors, students and libraries, helps choirs of any size and ability to choose music for their concerts and playing pleasure.

The book describes every flute choir piece written for six or more flutes in print as of 1996 along with a description of unpublished manuscripts for flute choir. It is organized into two major sections:

1. All original music written for flute choir.

2. All music arranged for flute choir.

For each piece mentioned within the book, information is given about the cost and availability, the grade level, and scoring (how many and what kind of flutes are required).

Outstanding features include:

• Annotated listing of all titles.
• Music listed by grade level and number of flutes required.
• Cost of music and publisher contact information included.

To order a copy of A Guidebook to Flute Choir Literature send your request and check for $30.00 (U.S.) plus $5.00 (U.S.) shipping to:

Grottoes, VA 24441 U.S.A.

For email inquiries: noeck@jmu.edu

A Guidebook to Flute Choir Literature

As reviewed by Margaret Lowe in Flutewise

There have already been several attempts to make a comprehensive catalog of flute music but, until now, nobody has attempted to list everything written for what must be the fastest growing branch of flute music--that for flute choir. In this Guidebook, Carol Kniebusch Noe has succeeded in what is obviously an impossible and daunting undertaking.

Professor Noe, who is National Coordinator for Flute Choirs for the National Flute Association, is well qualified for this mammoth task. As Professor of Flute at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, she founded, and still conducts, one of the oldest flute choirs in the USA. She also established the annual Flute Choir Composition Competition at James Madison University, which, now in its 16th year, has done much to encourage the composition of original flute choir music. She has conducted, coached and adjudicated flute choirs throughout the USA, Canada, China, Russia, here in England and most recently in South America.

The Guidebook defines music for flute choir as having six or more parts. It has two main sections, the first concerned with original music and the second with arrangements for flutes. Within each section, the works are listed three times. In the first list, headed "Annotated Bibliography," there is a brief description of each work, together with the names of the composer and publisher, time and general standard of difficulty. The second list gives grades only and the third list the number of parts, thus making possible quick and easy cross reference. A further section gives the names of manuscript works and their source.

This is a book which anybody responsible for training flute choirs, faced with the endless search for suitable pieces, will find invaluable. It contains also other useful advice and information, and is attractively presented. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

The Guidebook is available here from all major flute dealers. At the recent New York Convention, demand exceeded supply.