At last a premier recording of this excellent four movement work, composed 138 years ago by 'The English Mendelssohn' and performed now by Tia Jaynes (flute) with Alex von Marshall (piano) [edition by Trubcher Music Editions]
https://youtu.be/gxYLruPkf6Y (https://youtu.be/gxYLruPkf6Y)
https://youtu.be/GE8gpf0Gtnk (https://youtu.be/GE8gpf0Gtnk)
https://youtu.be/iLiJf5OMaQs (https://youtu.be/iLiJf5OMaQs)
https://youtu.be/i7XgG5AWiJ0 (https://youtu.be/i7XgG5AWiJ0)
Applause for the performers but IMHO even at his best Macfarren was no Mendelssohn, or Bennett. Frankly this sounds to me as if the romantic age had never happened (maybe it hadn't..?)
how does it compare to his string quartets?
Although I don't rate the quartets very highly they do show flashes of invention and romanticism; the flute sonata seems to me like a retrograde step and I can't help wondering if it's a rehashed student piece (sorry Ros!). There were several other minor British composers who seemed reluctant to move on from Mozart, even into the 1880's.