Most famous composers have written beautiful flute solos in their orchestral works. Those solos are worth practicing on their own and are essential for orchestral auditions. In addition to knowing the flute part well, a flutist must also know what the other instruments in the orchestra are playing and the musical context of those solos. Below I list some of the most common orchestral excerpts, and when available, their flute parts, orchestral scores, and links to a few articles about them that I have written in this blog.

For a comprehensive list of the most commonly requested extracts with measure numbers, and instructions on how to practice them, I recommend Orchestral Excerpts for Flute by Jeanne Baxtresser [Theodore Presser Company] and Orchestral Techniques for Flute and Piccolo: An Audition Guide and an Inside Look at Symphonic Performance Traditions by Walfrid Kujala [Progress Press].

The following is a short list of frequently asked principal flute orchestral excerpts that I encourage my students to practice and memorize:

Beethoven: Leonore Overture No.3 flute part score
Beethoven: Symphony No.3 flute part score
Bizet: Carmen - Entr'acte flute part score
Brahms: Symphony No.1 flute part score
Brahms: Symphony No.4 flute part score
Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune flute part score
Dvořák: Symphony No.8 flute part score
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis flute part score
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream flute part score article
Prokofiev: Classical Symphony flute part score article
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf flute part score
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé flute part score
Rossini: William Tell Overture flute part score
Saint-Saëns: The Carnival of the Animals - Volière flute part score article
Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919 version) score
Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks flute part score