Longest work(s) for one instrument (non-keyboard)

[Maestro267]

Does anyone have any examples of particularly lengthy works for just one instrument? I know there are a good number of very long works for piano (most of Sorabji's repertoire), organ (Sorabji again...) and other keyboard instruments. But what's the longest work for a single violin? Clarinet? Flute? and so on.

[Karl Henning]

I don't know that it's the longest, but it's my longest.

[Biffo]

I can't think of any very long solo violin works. Bach's Partita No 2 in D minor takes just under 25 mins (Grumiaux) with the famous Chaconne just over half of that. I am sure there are plenty of violin sonatas with keyboard accompaniment that are much longer than that. The longest of the solo cello suites, No 6 in D major, comes in at around 28 mins (Bylsmer).

[Mandryka]

Does anyone have any examples of particularly lengthy works for just one instrument? I know there are a good number of very long works for piano (most of Sorabji's repertoire), organ (Sorabji again...) and other keyboard instruments. But what's the longest work for a single violin? Clarinet? Flute? and so on.

Easy peasy.

John Cage One6 for solo violin

https://www.youtube.com/v/bFTj4si1Fmg

Or maybe One8 for solo cello with curved bow.

[ritter]

Pierre Boulez's Domaines for solo clarinet (not to be confused with the version for clarinet and ensemble) gives the player some interpretative choices, and is therefore labelled as being of "variable duration". There are performances that exceed 25".

Anthèmes II and Dialogue de l'ombre double for, respectively, violin and clarinet (and electronics) each last around 18".

Several of Luciano Berio's Sequenzas exceed the 15" mark, e.g. IXa for clarinet, XI for guitar and XII for bassoon.

In a completely different corner of the repertoire, Max Reger's Suites for Solo Cello No. 2 and No. 3 last some 18"  each (No. 1 is shorter).

Then there's Charles Koechlin, who wrote some works for solo instruments (beyond the piano, of course). Les chants de Nectaire (for solo flute) and the Suite pour cor anglais seul each have a total timing of around 20".

[Mahlerian]

Bela Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin lasts about 25-26 minutes, while Roger Sessions's Sonata for Solo Violin lasts about half an hour.

https://www.youtube.com/v/VtdCRPglq-g
https://www.youtube.com/v/OSHzu7VLNWU

[San Antone]

The Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin are often played as a complete work, lasting 2 hours or more. 

[ahinton]

Claude Loyola Allgén (1920-90): Sonata for violin solo. It plays for around 160 minutes.

[vers la flamme]

Hans Werner Henze's Royal Winter Music, which is comprised of two so-called "Sonatas on Shakespearean Characters" for solo guitar, is in total nearly an hour long. If I'm not mistaken I believe Henze had set out to write a "Hammerklavier for the guitar", dedicated to Julian Bream.

[pjme]

Apart from Leendert de Jonge, Pierre Yves Artaud recorded the three hours of Koechlins flute marathon.
"A work for solo flute lasting three hours may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but there is something strangely compelling about the collection of 96 pieces spread across three opus numbers that Charles Koechlin composed in 1944. Inspired by Anatole France's novel La Révolte des Anges, in which the shepherd Nectaire is a homespun philosopher who entertains his followers by playing a wooden flute, Les Chants de Nectaire is a perfect example of Koechlin's love of monody and of his comprehensive understanding of the possibilities of the flute; it's one of 29 works he composed for the instrument. The range of the pieces is deceptively wide - from quiet, almost becalmed meditations to furious, abandoned dances in which the metre is ever changing and sometimes non-existent, while the melodies move from modality and diatonic purity to complex chromaticism, to create a flickering patchwork of moods. The technical demands on the player are enormous (not surprisingly this is the first ever recording of the complete cycle) but Pierre-Yves Artaud is one of the world's greatest flautists, and lavishes all his artistry on these haunting miniatures."
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/feb/02/classicalmusicandopera.shopping5

[San Antone]

Easy peasy.

John Cage One6 for solo violin

https://www.youtube.com/v/bFTj4si1Fmg

Or maybe One8 for solo cello with curved bow.

A performance of The Freeman Etudes (solo violin) can last up to two hours.

[ritter]

Apart from Leendert de Jonge, Pierre Yves Artaud recorded the three hours of Koechlins flute marathon.
"A work for solo flute lasting three hours may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but there is something strangely compelling about the collection of 96 pieces spread across three opus numbers that Charles Koechlin composed in 1944. Inspired by Anatole France's novel La Révolte des Anges, in which the shepherd Nectaire is a homespun philosopher who entertains his followers by playing a wooden flute, Les Chants de Nectaire is a perfect example of Koechlin's love of monody and of his comprehensive understanding of the possibilities of the flute; it's one of 29 works he composed for the instrument. The range of the pieces is deceptively wide - from quiet, almost becalmed meditations to furious, abandoned dances in which the metre is ever changing and sometimes non-existent, while the melodies move from modality and diatonic purity to complex chromaticism, to create a flickering patchwork of moods. The technical demands on the player are enormous (not surprisingly this is the first ever recording of the complete cycle) but Pierre-Yves Artaud is one of the world's greatest flautists, and lavishes all his artistry on these haunting miniatures."
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/feb/02/classicalmusicandopera.shopping5

I had a feeling that Les chants de Nectaire was longer (much longer) that what I had mentioned in my earlier post. It turns out I got the timing for just an excerpt of it. Thanks for the clarification, pjme. 

[pjme]

De rien.
I had vague memories of reading about this unusual opus. I dearly love quite a lot of music by Koechlin (the shimmering flute sonata! the superb sonata for oboe!), but never tried these" Chants de Nectaire".
Peter

[ritter]

I'm not quite sure I'd go for three hours of solo flute (and have mixed feelings concerning Koechlin anyway  ).

Take good care of yourself!

Amitiés,

[North Star]

Among the also-rans, the Kodàly Sonata for solo cello lasts about half an hour on average.

https://www.youtube.com/v/wbzrOwnyHwE

[North Star]

Hans Werner Henze's Royal Winter Music, which is comprised of two so-called "Sonatas on Shakespearean Characters" for solo guitar, is in total nearly an hour long. If I'm not mistaken I believe Henze had set out to write a "Hammerklavier for the guitar", dedicated to Julian Bream.

I was about to mention these too but I see you got there first, great pieces indeed.

https://www.youtube.com/v/s1SAYYYqeQo    https://www.youtube.com/v/OX-wLIreYjE

[springrite]

Schnabel Sonata for Solo Violin. It is about 45 minutes long.

[Symphonic Addict]

Incredible that nobody has mentioned Paganini's 24 Caprices for violin. Almost 80 minutes long depending on the violinist.

[amw]

some of the additional examples not yet mentioned:

James Weeks - windfell (violin) - 60 minutes
John Cage - Freeman Etudes (violin) - 100 minutes (divided into 4 books)
Klaus K. Hübler - sonata for solo violin - 52 minutes
Jakob Ullmann - Müntzers Stern (bassoon) - 54 minutes
Maria de Alvear - Fuerzas (viola) - 67 minutes
Stefano Scodanibbio - Oltracuidansa (contrabass; + tape) - 60 minutes
James Erber - Traces Cycle (flute) - 60 minutes
Georges Lentz - Caeli enarrant VII: Ingwe (electric guitar) - 53 minutes
Tim Parkinson - Cello Piece - 50 minutes
Luigi Nono - La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura (violin; + pre-recorded violin parts on tape) - 60 minutes
George Rochberg - Caprice-Variations (violin) - 90 minutes
Terry Riley - Just Charles & Cello in The Romantic Chord (cello + pre-recorded cello part on tape) - 120 minutes
Ole-Henrik Moe - Ciaccona (violin) - 44 minutes
Jürg Frey - Guitarist, Alone - 79 minutes
Wolfgang von Schweinitz - Plainsound Counterpoint (contrabass) - 48 minutes
Eliane Radigue - Naldjorlak (cello) - 59 minutes