Perhaps there are not many flute/cello duet combinations out there to perform this piece. Perhaps there are not many violin/cello duets or oboe/bassoon duets, either. But at least one flute/cello duet pair exists and they recently e-mailed and asked if we couldn't come up with an arrangement of this old Irish hymn tune for them.

Well, since we already had two arrangements of this hymn for different combinations out there, it seemed to make sense that we try to follow on with something for just the two voices.

In contemplating how to write for just bass and treble voices, it occured that Bach had written a number of two-part inventions, in which the lower voice part was every bit as much involved in carrying the load as the upper voice. In trying to come up with a way to make that work given that the hymn tune was already extant, this concept evolved into a sort of continuo-style lower voice part supporting at first a simple upper voice part that then becomes an elaborate solo. The end effect would seem to be pleasing to the ear, and the piece can be performed with high school musicians of slightly-above-average skills.

So, we present to you the only arrangement we know of of the Irish tune "Be Thou My Vision" for flute and cello duet, arranged at the request of a couple of young ladies from the Buffalo, New York area. If you are an oboe/bassoon duet or a violin/cello duet, some other pair of treble/bass instruments, or a keyboard player, you should also be able to perform this piece. Enjoy.

MP3 sound sample: Entire piece (synthesizer/midi).



BE THOU MY VISION, arranged by Tom Kirkland for flute and cello comes in a pdf file of 659K, with a three-page score, two one-page parts, and a license page, eight pages in all. Performance time for the piece will be about three minutes.