Carl Reinecke (1824-1910) wrote his lovely Weihnachts-Sonatine for violin and piano (Op. 251 No. 3) around 1900, towards the end of his life. The piano accompaniment was edited by Hans Sitt. Built around three sections, each includes references to a well-known sacred Christmas tune such as Silent Night, a theme from Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Handel's Messiah and the famous German carol O du fröhliche, o du selige (O you joyful, O you blessed). The entire piece has been transcribed (with only slight octave edits in certain places) for Concert flute - and there are also transposed parts for Alto flute, Bb Clarinet and Eb Alto Sax included in the free, instantly downloadable PDF. The three sections of the Sonatina may be performed individually.

Reinecke was a German pianist, violinist, conductor and composer in the romantic idiom. He studied under Mendelssohn, Schumann and Liszt in Leipzig. One of his earliest works, written in 1867, is the well-known flute sonata, Sonata Undine (Op. 167, pub. 1882), based on the novel Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. He was a teacher for 35 years, including a professorship of composition and piano at the Cologne Conservatory, and published almost 300 works.

Re-engraved from the original Otto Forbergour movements. (Leipzig) edition of 1910.