Pastorale for Flute and Organ, Op. 42

This peaceful tune was originally the second movement of Guilmant’s first organ sonata. This arrangement opens with solo flute, with the organ gradually adding countermelodies and further texture. It’s a typical ‘shepherd tune’ in 12/8, with the suggested organ voices blending and contrasting with the flute sound to create a rising and falling ‘dialogue’. It’s rhythmically quite straightforward and manageable for players from about Grade 4–5, with a range from low C# to high F#. The biggest challenges are sustaining the length of the phrases, including a few long, held notes, and balancing the dynamics with the accompaniment, although this is mostly quite forgiving—where the flute has high pp passages, the organ is quietly holding chords. There are some passages where the players will need to decide whether the flute should stand out or blend in with the organ sound, in particular where the flute is in the low register and the organ is at a similar pitch. I don’t think the accompaniment would work on piano—perhaps it could be adapted on a digital keyboard where you can switch to ‘organ’ sound—but I rather enjoyed playing this along with a recording of the original organ piece at home!