# Favorite Sonatas for Woodwinds



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'm interested in listening to sonatas and other duos for solo woodwind and piano. Please recommend any of your favorites. Thank You!


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> I'm interested in listening to sonatas and other duos for solo woodwind and piano. Please recommend any of your favorites. Thank You!


For the flute: Prokofiev, Hindemith, Poulenc, Martinu, Reinecke, Milhaud, numerous baroque sonatas, and for the more adventurous, Boulez. For the clarinet: Brahms, Debussy, Poulenc, Copland, Hindemith. For the oboe: Schumann, Poulenc, Hindemith.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

fluteman said:


> For the flute: Prokofiev, Hindemith, Poulenc, Martinu, Reinecke, Milhaud, numerous baroque sonatas, and for the more adventurous, Boulez. For the clarinet: Brahms, Debussy, Poulenc, Copland, Hindemith. For the oboe: Schumann, Poulenc, Hindemith.


Nice list.

Schumann's works for clarinet and piano are not quite up to the oboe works, but are worth hearing. Add for clarinet Saint-Saens, maybe Bernstein. Some people like Reger, but not my cup of tea.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Jegreenwood, I adore the Saint-Saens Clarinet Sonata. Liquid gold!


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

jegreenwood said:


> Nice list.
> 
> Schumann's works for clarinet and piano are not quite up to the oboe works, but are worth hearing. Add for clarinet Saint-Saens, maybe Bernstein. Some people like Reger, but not my cup of tea.


Alan Kay, the clarinetist of Orpheus, recently recorded the Reger sonatas for Bridge. Well worth a listen, I think. Very Brahms-like, of course, and intentionally so. I think the Bernstein sonata is underrated. Yes, it is an early work (1943), but it hints at some of his most famous work that was soon to come. I forgot to mention the Saint-Saens sonata, I agree that's also a must.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

*POULENC'S FLUTE SONATA!!* In my opinion, it's the best sonata for flute ever.
This is not a sonata, but it's something like that: Romances (3) for oboe and piano by Schumann.
Bax's Sonata for flute and harp.
Beethoven's Horn sonata, op. 17.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

MusicSybarite said:


> *POULENC'S FLUTE SONATA!!* In my opinion, it's the best sonata for flute ever.
> This is not a sonata, but it's something like that: Romances (3) for oboe and piano by Schumann.
> Bax's Sonata for flute and harp.
> Beethoven's Horn sonata, op. 17.


The three Romances are what I had in mind when I mentioned Schumann for oboe music. And I agree Poulenc's flute sonata is a great piece, but I put the Prokofiev Op. 94 sonata right up there with it. Some think it was originally written for violin and piano, but in fact it was originally a flute sonata, and Prokofiev later adapted it for violin at the request of David Oistrakh.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Several more composers for clarinet and piano:

Weber - Grand Duo Concertante
Finzi - 5 Bagatelles
Lutoslawski - 5 Dance Preludes
Milhaud wrote also wrote a Duo Concertantel
There are some works by Berg, but I must admit I don't know them.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

fluteman said:


> The three Romances are what I had in mind when I mentioned Schumann for oboe music. And I agree Poulenc's flute sonata is a great piece, but I put the Prokofiev Op. 94 sonata right up there with it. Some think it was originally written for violin and piano, but in fact it was originally a flute sonata, and Prokofiev later adapted it for violin at the request of David Oistrakh.


Sounds better with flute IMO.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I do add: Bernstein - Sonata for Clarinet and Piano


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Unquestionably the Handel Recorder Sonata in C, HWV 365 - as performed by Dan Laurin with Hidemi and Masaaki Suzuki on BIS: 300955

(Admittedly not piano, but harpsichord/cello continuo - I do hope you will allow a little license to stray from your stated requirements)


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

for Bassoon - 

Saint-Saens - Sonata
Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Sonatina


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## Honegger (Sep 8, 2017)

The late sonatas of Poulenc and Saint-Saens - wonderful!

(and an obscure composer from my fluteplaying days called Adolf Terschak!)


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Hindemith, Bassoon and Piano


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Schumann's Three Romances for Oboe and Piano is my favorite piece for winds and piano. Just gorgeous pieces, I played the 2nd and third movements.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Tchaikov6 said:


> Schumann's Three Romances for Oboe and Piano is my favorite piece for winds and piano. Just gorgeous pieces, I played the 2nd and third movements.


Fortunately for me, Schumann's publisher also insisted on publishing a version for clarinet. Very enjoyable to play.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

jegreenwood said:


> Fortunately for me, Schumann's publisher also insisted on publishing a version for clarinet. Very enjoyable to play.


Same here.  Great and famous record of it by Jean-Pierre Rampal and Robert Veyron-Lacroix.


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## Anankasmo (Jun 23, 2017)

Honegger said:


> The late sonatas of Poulenc and Saint-Saens - wonderful!
> 
> Seconding this. The Saint-Saens triptych of his late woodwind sonatas are gems and a must for every listener..... Poulenc has the same clarity and French style but his sonatas are more modern sounding in contrast to Saint-Saens rather neo-classical works.


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