20th century
Baroque
Classical
Romantic
20th century
21st century
Solo repertoire
Piccolo
Alto flute
Bass flute
Clarke Ian
Aitken, Robert
Amirov, Fikret
Amlin, Martin
Amram, David
Andriessen, Jurriaan
Arnold, Malcolm
Arrieu, Claude
Auric, Georges
Babbit, Milton
Bacchus, Peter
Bacri, Nicolas
Baker, Michael Conway
Baksa, Robert
Barber, Samuel
Barrere, Georges
Bartók, Béla Viktor János
Baton, René-Emmanuel
Beaser, Robert
Bennet, Richard Rodney
Berg, Gunnar
Berio, Luciano
Bernofsky, Lauren
Bernstein, Leonard
Bloch, Ernest
Bolling, Claude
Bon, Maarten
Bonis, Mel
Boughton, Rutland
Boulanger, Marie-Juliette
Boulez, Pierre
Bourdin, Roger
Bournonville, Armand
Bowen, Edwin York
Bozza, Eugène Joseph
Bréville, Pierre
Brings, Allen
Brotons, Salvador
Brown, Elizabeth
Brun, Georges
Burkhard, Willy
Burton, Eldin
Büsser, Henri
Camus, Pierre
Carmichael, John
Carter, Elliott
Casella, Alfredo
Chaynes, Charles
Clarke, Ian
Colgrass, Michael
Colquhoun, Michael
Copland, Aaron
Corigliano, John
Cortese, Luigi
Currier, Sebastian
Dahl, Walter Ingolf Marcus
Damase, Jean-Michel
Davidovsky, Mario
De Lorenzo, Leonardo
Debussy, Claude
Del Tredici, David
DeLaney, Charles Oliver
Delerue, Georges
Denisov, Edison
Dèsbriere, Jacques
Dick, Robert
Dinicu, Grigoraș
Dodgson, Stephen
Dohnányi, Ernő
Dubois, Pierre Max
Dukas, Paul
Durey, Louis
Dutilleux, Henri
Enescu, George
Farkas, Ferenc
Feld, Jindřich
Ferroud, Pierre-Octave
Flothuis, Marius
Folio, Cynthia
Foote, Arthur
Foss, Lukas
Françaix, Jean
Fukushima, Kazuo
Gade, Jacob
Gál, Hans
Gaubert, Philippe
Genzmer, Harald
George, Thom Ritter
Ghidoni, Armando
Gieseking, Walter
Glass, Philip
Glière, Reinhold
Golovin, Andrei
Gordeli, Otar
Grier, Lita
Griffes, Charles Tomlinson
Grinblat, Romuald
Grovlez, Gabriel
Guarnieri, Mozart Camargo
Gubajdulina, Sofia
Hahn, Reynaldo
Hailstork, Adolphus
Halphen, Fernand
Hanson, Howard Harold
Harberg, Amanda
Harbison, John
Harsányi, Tibor
Harty, Hamilton
Heiss, John
Heith, David
Henze, Hans-Werner
Higdon, Jennifer
Hindemith, Paul
Holliger, Heinz
Holmboe, Vagn
Honegger, Arthur
Hoover, Katherine
Hosokawa, Toshio
Hovhaness, Alan
Hüe, Georges Adolphe
Hurel, Philippe
Ibert, Jacques
Ichiyanagi, Toshi
Ittzés, Gergely
Ives, Charles
Jacob, Gordon
James, Bob
Jemnitz, Sándor
Jirák, Karel Boleslav
Jóhannsson, Magnús Blöndal
Jolivet, André
Jongen, Joseph
Karg-Elert, Sigfrid
Kay, Ulysses
Kelterborn, Rudolf
Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis
Kennan, Kent Wheeler
Kennedy, Martin
Kernis, Aaron Jay
Khachaturian, Aram
Kocsár, Miklós
Kodaly, Zoltan
Koechlin, Charles
Kornauth, Egon
Kraft, Leo
Krzywicki, Jan
Kupferman, Meyer
La Montaine, John
Lauber, Joseph
Lavista, Mario
Lee, Eugene
Leeuwen, Ary van
Levinson, Gerald
Liebermann, Lowell
Loudova, Ivana
Mack, Dieter
Mahler, Gustav
Maresz, Yan
Martin, Frank
Martino, Donald
Martinů, Bohuslav
Meltzer, Harold
Messiaen, Olivier
Mihalovici, Marcel
Milhaud, Darius
Mouquet, Jules
Mower, Mike
Muczynski, Robert
Nielsen, Carl
Norby, Erik
Nordenstrom, Gladys
Offermans, Wil
Olsen, Carl Gustav Sparre
Paget, Daniel
Perle, George
Petrovics, Emil
Piazzolla, Astor
Piston, Walter
Poulenc, Francis
Prokofiev, Sergey
Rachmaninoff, Sergei
Ran, Shulamit
Raphael, Günter
Rautavaara, Einojuhani
Ravel, Maurice
Reynolds, Verne
Riegger, Wallingford
Rivier, Jean
Rodrigo, Joaquin
Rota, Nino
Rotaru, Doina
Rouse, Christopher
Roussel, Albert
Rutter, John
Saariaho, Kaija
Sancan, Pierre
Schmidt, Ole
Schocker, Gary
Schulhoff, Erwin
Schwantner, Joseph
Sciarrino, Salvatore
Shostakovich, Dmitri
Sibelius, Jean
Smit, Leo
Tailleferre, Germaine
Takemitsu, Tōru
Taktakishvili, Otar
Tansman, Alexandre
Tomasi, Henri
Tower, Joan
Uébayashi, Yuko
Varèse, Edgar
Vasks, Pēteris
Weigl, Vally
Weinberg, Mieczysław
Wilder, Alec
Williams, Ralph Vaughan
Yi, Chen
Yun, Isang
Zgraja, Krystof
The Great Train Race for flute solo
Ian Clarke: The Great Train Race for flute solo was written in 1993 and has been considered as one of the most influential solo flute works of the late 20th century. It is a "showpiece for the modern flute" that utilizes an array of extended techniques to create a vivid program of a steam train in motion.
Its subtitle, "The Flute as You Don't Usually Hear it!" very precisely sums up a vast array of applied techniques.
It was premiered by Ian Clarke in 1993 at a recital in London. Its reputation was solidified following a legendary performance at the 1994 British Flute Society (BFS) Convention.
For Ian Clarke, 1993 was a year of extreme creative experimentation within the London "fringe" flute scene. At this time, Clarke was deeply involved with his flute quintet, Diva Music. The group explored rock and pop idioms, which influenced the "percussive" and "rhythmic" demands of The Great Train Race. Clarke was establishing himself as a flutist who operated outside the traditional classical establishment. His work was self-published and self-promoted, challenging the academic norms of contemporary music by focusing on "visceral" and "accessible" sounds.
This period saw a surge in interest in multiphonics and quarter-tones. Unlike the abstract works of the mid-century avant-garde (like Berio's Sequenza I), Clarke used these techniques in 1993 to mimic specific, recognizable real-world sounds (steam whistles, chugging engines), a hallmark of his "programmatic" contemporary style.
Clarke Ian
Ian Clarke (1964) is one of the most original and widely performed British composer-flutists of his generation, known for expanding the expressive and technical boundaries of the modern flute.
Born in Broadstairs, Kent, he studied mathematics, physics, and music at Imperial College and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where he later became Professor of Flute. Clarke’s dual background as performer and composer gives his music a distinctive blend of virtuosity, imagination, and immediacy.
His works — including Zoom Tube, The Great Train Race, Spiral Lament, The Mad Hatter, and Touching the Ether — are now performed and taught around the world. They combine extended techniques (multiphonics, microtones, percussive articulation, singing and playing, jet whistles) with lyrical phrasing and strong melodic appeal. This balance of the experimental and the expressive has made Clarke’s pieces staples of modern flute recital repertoire, bridging the worlds of contemporary art music, jazz, and rock.
Clarke’s output includes solo, flute-and-piano, and chamber works, all characterized by his ear for color and rhythm. As a performer, he has appeared at major flute conventions and festivals across Europe, North America, and Asia, where his workshops and masterclasses are praised for their clarity and creativity. Many of his scores are published by Just Flutes and IC Music, often accompanied by the composer’s own recordings that demonstrate his intended sound palette.
Deeply rooted in melody and emotion, Clarke’s music celebrates the flute as a voice capable of far more than traditional lyricism — it can groove, whisper, shout, and sing. His compositions continue to inspire a generation of flutists to explore the full expressive potential of their instrument.