Newsletter of the American Recorder Teachers ARTAfacts Association

ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann

ARTA members stay in touch online through an e-mail H A R D C O P Y discussion list. To join the ARTA/ERTA discussion list, by Sara Funkhouser contact Yvonne Miller Nixon at [email protected]

Plastic Recorders for Kids Would it help to send your thoughts and information I learned about the Peripole Angel recorder this sum- to Adriana Breukink? I met her at the ARS Confer- mer and one source was really high on them. I've ence and now have her email address: been using the Yamaha sopranos for my Recorder [email protected] I don't know if she has Kids and was considering changing to Peripole until I any clout with decision making once Mollenhauer got other input saying the Peripoles don't play in tune. takes over the manufacture, but it is worth a try. I be- Unfortunately, I didn't get to try one myself! lieve their price for the plastic Dream is about $28 Does anyone have experience with them one way or now. — Rosi Terada the other? — Sue Roessel It was fascinating to hear Adriana B. tell her story, I can't answer the question about the Peripole Angel, (during the recent ARS Festival/conference at Regis but just want to mention that Adriana Breukink's Univ.), of how she became interested in recorder- (Mollenhauer's) Dream recorder now also comes in making, and specifically how she developed the plastic. They are around $25. — Eva Legene Dream flute design.

[Ed. Note: While the profile of the Peripole Angel I have had mostly good experiences with wooden recorders resembles that of a renaissance recorder, Dream flutes (purchased by my students.) I like the the bore is still the narrow conical one of the baroque availability of an affordable large- bore instrument, style. The Dreamflutes are true wide-bore instru- which is great for the husky young kids who like to ments, but play the full two octave and a note range] put "oomph" (lots of air) into their lower range pieces, and also for the kids who need a first I tried the plastic Dream recorder in January. It has a renaissance-style instrument. One draw-back I find: lot of potential. It looks and feels good. My two big the huge size of the finger holes, which are difficult complaints are the tuning of the B-flat, and the tone to cover with the narrow, delicate finger tips of overall, which was poor. The wooden Dream record- younger kids. Also, the more tapered beak of the ers are a very interesting design, though inconsistent. plastic dream flute is easier to work with than the A good master mold would fix that. They advertise, thicker beak of the wood instrument. and it's true, that you can play all plastic, then gradu- ate to a plastic head with a wooden body, then all This kind of recorder is a wonderful idea; I hope wood. Unfortunately, I could not get the plastic body Adriana will keep tweaking the design as she gets to fit with the wooden head, which would have given feedback from all of us who are using her recorders me a good tone with good intonation (except for that in the trenches. — Mary Halverson Waldo B-flat). Picky picky. They are so close to getting it right, and there is a big need for this kind of recorder. The pads on the plastic Yamaha bass for my Recorder I need to write Mollenhauer an encouraging letter. — Kids are bad and our funds are limited. Can I bring it Patrick O'Malley to a local instrument repair shop or do I have to ship ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 2 Hard Copy (continued) it to a recorder shop? Pads seem rather straight for- In re: to Peter Grahame's question, TMJ stands for ward repair but your advice will be appreciated. — "Trans Mandibular Joint" (the joint hinge junction Sue Roessel between the upper and lower jaw) - J. Siegrest

New ARTA Website Regarding TMJ, one of the effective treatments not Dear ARTAnauts, Thanks to the expertise of Christo- mentioned is acupuncture. It relaxes the muscles pher Barry, our web manager, the ARTA web site has around the jaw and allows the inflammation to sub- found a new home. Christopher is still working on side, which means pain relief — Edith R. Davis this, and I will notify you again when all updates have been made. What I need to do is send updates I've found the discussion about TMJ and the re- on memberships, the teacher list, the composer/ corder interesting since I have a very busy adult arranger list, etc to Christopher. I thought, before I student who only continues lessons because it did this, I'd send a quick request for address updates, helps her TMJ. I don't know whether it has to do phone number changes, etc. I plan to send updates with all the long tones with absolutely relaxed face sometime later today (Dec 5). Then, we will try to do that I have my students do, whether it's her imagi- monthly updates. Our new address is www.ARTA- nation, or whether there is something else at work recorder.org. It is not case sensitive, but I think the here. — Judy Whaley ARTA looks nice in the caps! Best to all, Sue ALSQ Recital in Florida Suzuki Recorder Website The Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet will give a Please check out the following website recital on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006 at 7:30 P.M. at www.suzuki-recorder.com and the links on it. St. Boniface Episcopal Church on Siesta Key. The address is: I would be grateful for any feedback from you: 5616 Midnight Pass --typos Sarasota, Florida 34242 --obvious errors --suggestions, Considered to be “one of the world's most talented --requests to be included on the Suzuki Teacher page recorder quartets,” their repertoire includes the clas- sic concert music of the Renaissance and Baroque I still have many pages to create, and am working on periods, significant works of the 20th century, as it by and by. — Irmi Miller well as compositions written specifically for the group. They have assembled a unique collection of Finger Coordination aka “blurps” over one hundred recorders ranging from the eight- inch sopranino to the sub-contrabass, measuring I've been talking about 'blurps' in my recorder classes over nine feet. and wonder if there is an actual term for this. I dubbed a blurp being an unwanted note that occurs A lecture/demonstration will be given by the quar- when you have to move more than one finger to get tet for interested players on Saturday morning, Feb- to the next note. For example you can blurp an A or ruary 18th at St. Boniface church. thumb C# when slurring from B to C on a C instru- ment. — Sue Roessel If you are interested in more information about this event, contact Seth Wertz at his office at the church I call them by the very sophisticated term "blips" or (941)349-5616x26 or Lynelle Williams at home Sloppy Fingering. — Mary Halverson Waldo (941)493-4322. Dealing with TMJ for Wind Players ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 3 Hard Copy (continued) BloomingToot Spring Weekend Workshop kept fairly “straight” by design for the aid of begin- ners. For more information about the genesis of this Unicorn Music is offering a Spring Weekend project and the origins of the Suzuki Recorder School, Workshop at the new house of Charles Fischer in see Kathy White’s article on pp. 14-16 Bloomington, Indiana. The dates are Friday April 21 through Sunday April 23rd, with eight 75 minute Scott Reiss Memorial Set coached sessions for recorder consorts. This is for upper intermediate to advanced players one or two We are saddened to announce to you that Scott Reiss, to a part for 3-5 part music. Please contact Charles co-founder of Hesperus and a member of ARTA, died Fischer at [email protected] for further details. Dec. 14. Scott leaves behind his wife of 25 years, Tina Chancey, his parents, his sister, a wealth of friends, re- New Suzuki Recorder School Materials cordings, and fond memories of a masterful musician and loving human being. There will be a Memorial Marion Verbruggen, recorder, Arthur Haas, harpsi- Concert/Hesperus Fund-raiser on Saturday January 28 chord, and Mary Springfels, viola da gamba have at St. Columba's Church, in DC. (703) 525-7550 for finished recording the music for levels 5-8 of the info. Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to HES- Suzuki Recorder School in April of 2005. There is PERUS (3706 North 17th St., Arlington, VA 22207). no firm release date yet for the new materials, Please mention that you are contributing as an ARTA which still need to undergo final. proofing and edit- member. You can find out more about the concert and ing. According to Marion Verbruggen, the recorded read articles about Scott at interpretations for levels 5-8 are a bit more flowing http://www.hesperus.org — Sue Roessel and stylish than the first four volumes, which were

From left to right: Arthur Haas, harpsichord; Mary Springfels, bass/descant viols; John Phillips, harpsichord maker/tuner; Katherine White, SAA Teacher Trainer/Originator/Arranger; Peter Nothnagle, recording engineer/editor; Marion Verbruggen, soprano and alto recorders. ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 4 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts by Keith Polk Reprinted with permission of the publisher from which the term might be applied was the transverse flute, But archival and iconographic sources reveal that, David Lasocki, ed., Musicque de joye: Proceedings for various and rather mysterious reasons, this instru- of the International Symposium on the Renaissance ment was rarely used in musical ensembles in the fif- Flute and Recorder Consort, Utrecht 2003 (Utrecht: teenth century; therefore, it is not relevant to our discus- sion. One grouping that did become fairly common STIMU Foundation for Historical Performance from about 1470 onwards was the “Swiss Pair,” a mili- Practice, 2005), 17-28. The whole book, containing tary marching unit composed, apparently, of a kind of many fine articles on renaissance recorders, can be transverse flute and a field drum. In contemporaneous ordered directly from STIMU for €40 + postage. descriptions, financial accounts, and pictures, this pair- ing was almost always clearly tied to a military function http://www.oudemuziek.nl/stimu/publications.htm and distinctly separated from any significant musical function. As this “flute” played no essential role in con- How popular was the recorder in the fifteenth century and sorts with other instruments, it will also not be consid- how did it fit into the consorts of the time? Scholarly dis- ered further here. A common figure in fifteenth-century cussion of these questions has been quite scanty, and for aristocratic circles was the tambourin, a player of pipe good reason: in many instances its very presence in the mu- and tabor (a small three-holed duct flute played in one sical world must be teased out of the vaguest of references. hand and a small drum played simultaneously with the This paper broadens scholars’ previous approaches through other hand). This “pipe” was occasionally called a flute, three different lines of investigation: looking at the devel- but the tambourin was almost always indicated as per- opment of the recorder consort in the fifteenth century; con- sidering this development within the evolution of the con- forming alone, not incorporated into ensembles with sort idea in general; and examining both of these subjects in other instruments. Yet another instrument that might be relation to perform- mentioned is the ance practice and double flute repertory. It will (evidently an instru- conclude that we ment consisting of have enough evi- two tubes, one dence, taken as a played by each whole, to show the hand). Evidence for recorder was widely it is scarce, but at used and enjoyed. least one player, Je- hanin Le Blanc of A study of Ghent, had a consid- the recorder runs into erable reputation on a considerable obsta- the instrument, for cle from the outset in his name pops up in that in the fifteenth a variety of accounts century a precise throughout the Low term for the instru- Countries (see Table ment was almost 2, 1452, 1457, 1460, non-existent. The 1469, and 1480). As word “recorder” it- with the tambourin, self was used only in England, and not often there (one ex- however, the double flute was evidently a solo instru- ample is given in Table 2, see 1498). On the continent the ment: Le Blanc was always paid as a solitary musician only word to any degree specific was “flute” (in its varied and never indicated as playing with any other instru- forms in various languages). But here we enter into a ter- ments. A further complication in some regions is that minological swamp, for there were at least five different the recorder could be called a “pipe” (pfeif in German instruments that might be called “flute.” The first was in- areas, pijp in the Low Countries), i.e., included within a deed the recorder, and as contexts make clear, this is by far general term that could apply to almost all woodwind the most common application of the term in the fifteenth instruments, including shawms and bagpipes. century, as will be shown below. Another instrument to As context is crucial, a brief survey of the gen- ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 5 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued) eral scene in instrumental music in the fifteenth century is mary is needed here. in order. From about 1400, instrumental music experi- Until about 1450 the recorder probably came in enced a series of rapid, complex, and interlocking devel- only two sizes, Virdung’s discant and tenor. The discant opments. Instruments were generally divided into two would have had a bottom note of g, the tenor of c, both groups, soft and loud. Among the soft instruments, those with a range of roughly an octave and a fifth (and both played by what were sometimes termed chamber players, sounding an octave higher than written). That the instru- the fiddle was the most prominent at the beginning of the ment was probably limited to these two sizes would seem century, though the lute, quintern, harp, and portative to be confirmed by the Spanish court inventory of 1410 organ were also important. Within this group there was a (see Table 1), which notes that two instruments were significant vogue for ensembles with mixed timbres, “grosses” and one was “petita.” Sometime after 1450 a rather than having more than two instruments of the same bass instrument (with a key mechanism) was developed, kind play together. Within the loud category, by about which would have had a bottom tone of F (again sounding 1400 came a split into two main tracks. In one track, the an octave higher). This point seems to be confirmed by trumpets separated off and began their evolution toward the repertory (see below). the very large units of ca.1500 and later, primarily cere- monial in function. The second track consisted of the 2. The Recorder Consort shawm band, the core of which was based on a duo of a The recorder found a place throughout the fifteenth cen- soprano shawm and a tenor one (often called a bombard). tury in two kinds of consorts: what may be described as From the beginning of the century a brass instrument, “mixed” and “whole” consorts. That is, musicians found apparently equipped with a slide mechanism, was gener- two uses for the recorder, one as a contrasting color with ally added to function as the contratenor. By about 1450 other kinds of instruments, and the other as a whole con- two ensembles dominated. Among the soft group the sort, made up entirely of recorders. overwhelming favorite was the lute duo. The shawm To take the mixed consort first, recall that the band had evolved further and was universal: almost every early fifteenth century witnessed a vogue for mixed colors court and city supported such an ensemble. among the soft instruments. While the recorder was not Distinct changes occurred between about 1480 mentioned frequently in the sources, it is found often and 1520. In the soft group the lute continued in vogue, enough to establish that the instrument was clearly one of but new instruments appeared, the most dramatic arrival the options available (see Table 2, especially 1388, 1414, being that of viols. The shawm band expanded both in and ca. 1415). After about 1420 there is less surviving size (to a core unit of four, but often as many as six) and archival documentation of recorders in mixed consorts, but in added colors (new additions included the cornetto and players probably continued to draw upon the instrument crumhorns). These changes reflected the fundamental for them. Conrad Paumann may provide a model in this changes that had taken place in instrumental music, in regard (see Table 2, 1450). He was a brilliant organist, as which the very categories of soft and loud had become well as a fine lutenist, and he also appears to have played less rigorous. the recorder. From 1447 to 1450 he was a member of the How did the recorder fit into this context? What Nuremberg civic duo of lute and portative organ. Within follows is an attempt to clarify its role in contemporary this duo he could well have performed from time to time practices, focusing on four subjects: the instrument, the on the recorder while his partner played the lute—i.e., in a ensembles, the players, and performance contexts. mixed consort. Beginning already around 1400 documentation of 1. The Instrument the whole consort is more distinct (hereafter this will be A formidable barrier in the study of the recorder is the the meaning of the term “consort” used without any fur- lack of sources. No music survives until after 1500, nor ther qualification). The entries in Table 1 in 1389 do any fifteenth-century instruments (except for the (Arnhem), 1408 (Brescia), 1410 (Spain), and 1426 Dordrecht recorder, which was probably not associated (Burgundy) appear to refer to recorders. After this cluster with art music). Theoretical sources are only quite gen- there appears something of a gap until almost 1460, but eral, except perhaps Virdung’s treatise of 1511. Even our after about 1460 sources become again more ample. The best sources of information for the fifteenth century, ar- performances of musicians of the Burgundian court are chival documents, rarely give anything approaching spe- noteworthy, given the stature of this court (see Table 1, cific information. Nevertheless, the general outline of the 1454 and 1468). Another indication of consorts is that recorder’s early history is now reasonably clear from the recorders were being purchased in sets by or for profes- work of Myers, Lasocki, and others, so only a short sum- sional wind players. This was already the case with the ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 6 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued) payment in Brescia in 1408, and such purchases be- to perform on the recorder in mixed consorts, while wind came increasingly common after 1480 (see Table 1, players more often did so in whole consorts. 1480, 1502, 1508, and, especially striking, 1532, Ant- A third group of players were the amateurs, al- werp). Three features invite comment. First, the wide though only a little direct evidence survives of court aristo- geographic distribution of the sources indicates that the crats and urban elites playing the recorder. The Bruges instrument was already a consistent choice all over document of 1470 which reveals that Girolamo Strozzi, of Europe. Second, increasingly large numbers of instru- the prominent Florentine family, purchased recorders is a ments seem to have been acquired, especially after rare archival verification of amateur interest (see Table 1, about 1490. Third, the documents, though scanty, sug- 1470.) Iconographic sources occasionally depict recorders gest two different phases: one from the turn of the cen- in the hands of what appear to be elite amateurs. Moreover, tury to roughly 1430; the other indicating another burst two theoretical sources appear to have been aimed specifi- of interest in recorder starting about 1460, but espe- cally at non-professionals. One is a very brief manuscript cially noticeable in the last few years of the century. now in Basel, dating from just after 1500, which depicts a recorder and offers some rudimentary instruction. The 3. The Players of the Recorder other is Sebastian Virdung’s Musica getutscht of 1511; Depth is added to the perspective of the recorder in the judging from the amount of text he devotes to the instru- fifteenth century if we consider the instrument’s per- ment, Virdung obviously considered the recorder a promi- formers, of which contemporary documents establish at nent instrument in contemporary dilettante music-making. least three different categories. The evidence for this One salient feature emerges when all three catego- runs roughly parallel to that of the consorts just dis- ries of players are considered. The recorder is found in cussed in that the first of such groups included the play- them all, but with professionals particularly, it seems to ers of soft instruments, i.e., the “chamber musi- have been limited to a favored alternative color. It was not cians” (see, for example, Table 2, 1402 Deventer and an instrument, evidently, on which people specialized in the Ypres,1410/11 Ypres). These were professionals who fifteenth century. played the recorder most often as a single instrument in mixed consorts. A second group comprised the play- 4. Performance Contexts ers in the shawm bands. These were also professionals, In looking at instruments and performance contexts, we and they apparently tended to play the recorder in should be careful that the manner of record-keeping in the whole consorts. They purchased the instruments in fifteenth century does not skew our evaluation of the re- sets, as in Brescia in 1408 and in Bruges in 1480/81 corder’s role. Fifteenth-century sources preserve thousands (see Table 1). Moreover, they were described as play- of references to wind instruments, but very few name re- ing them in sets, as in the reference to the four Burgun- corders. We could easily tot up a thousand or more refer- dian players at the Feast of the Pheasant held in Lille in ences to other wind instruments, or to wind instruments in 1454. At this banquet the forces were described in de- general, for every one that specifies the recorder. But we tail, including for example, the two famous chamber need to take into consideration the nature of the documents musicians, Fernandez and Cordoval, who performed a and the intent of those who put them together. A great chanson with a female singer. The shawm band associ- many payroll lists survive, for example, that record the ated with the court is not indicated as playing in any wind bands of individual courts and cities. The primary other portion of that event, and as they must have taken assignment for the players in these bands was performance part, it is almost certain that it was they who were the on shawms (with or without a slide instrument); therefore, recorders players. Also significant in this regard is that these musicians are almost invariably designated as in an extraordinary letter of 1505 from Giovanni Alvise “shawmists,” or otherwise by the more general term (a member of the Venetian civic wind band) to the “pipers.” The recorder, as suggested above, was probably court of Mantua, mentioning arrangements he has made the first choice as an alternate color for these groups, of for various instrumental combinations, the only one which payroll sources reveal only the scantiest hints. We that involves recorders is for a whole consort, without do know that the wind bands purchased sets of recorders, any other instruments involved (see Table 1). This is and we know that shawmists could also play the instrument not to imply a rigid convention in this regard: shaw- (see Table 1, 1480, 1492, and 1498). Still, the payment mists could certainly have played the recorder in a document from 1522/3 (Table 1) that describes the Bruges mixed consort when appropriate. Still, the available civic ensemble as consisting of “fleutes et hautbois” is the documentation suggests that chamber musicians tended only such document I have found of this kind among the ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 7 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued) thousands of such payments spanning more than a century. struments? Moreover, in cities, four kinds of events tended to Some answers are suggested by the written rep- dominate the cycles of celebrations: processions, the first ertory, although we must bear in mind that even though ceremonial entries of a high noble into cities in his domain, the pieces were played by instrumental consorts, they festive dances, and banquets. The first three of these, men- were not necessarily composed with such performances tioned collectively in about ninety percent of the sources, in mind. Myers has proposed that the only sizes avail- were the events most likely to attract description by chroni- able until after 1450 were the tenor, with a bottom note clers and to call for extra financial support. They took of roughly c, and a discant instrument probably pitched place, however, almost exclusively out of doors—or in the a fifth higher (with a top note of about an f’’). As we case of dancing, very noisy performance conditions pre- look at compositions of the period, in most instances the vailed. For all three types of event, the performance con- lower and upper limits are not an issue. The consistency text was hardly sympathetic to participation by the re- of ranges in such collections as Oxford Bodleian 213 is corder. striking: the lowest part, which might be either the tenor The last type, banquets, seems to have been an ex- or contratenor, seldom moves below c, and the discant ception, to judge from the descriptions and financial re- seldom above f’’. Bodleian 213 includes some thirty cords about them, which are unfortunately preserved far secular pieces by Binchois, almost all in three parts, and less often than for the other festive events. In any case, of these pieces only five descend below c. Similarly, they were a regular feature of fifteenth-century cultural life Dufay is represented by almost fifty pieces, again almost and, as an occasion for “art music,” probably even more all in three parts, and only three of his pieces call for a important than the others. Banquets were usually held in- note below c. doors, where the acoustics would have been favorable to The outer limits of these pieces thus fit the recorders. Musical performances came between courses, ranges of the recorders reasonably well, but the relation- and there are indications that at least at times the pieces ships between the inner voices can cause complications were actually listened to by the diners. Moreover when, in that the contratenor or tenor might be either low or say, the duke of Burgundy would visit one of his cities and fairly high. Most often, as in the case of Dufay’s Adieu there was a banquet, both the duke’s own musicians and the ces bon vins de Lannoys, the ranges suit a combination musicians of that city would play for him in turn. The pres- of a discant and two tenor recorders. Sometimes, how- tige of both the duke and the city in fact hinged to a consid- ever, as in Dufay’s Belle veuillés moy retenir or Navré erable degree upon the quality of performance of the re- je suy, a performance on two discants and one tenor spective ensembles—which, let us recall, included record- would probably be more satisfactory. In other words, ers among their performance options. We should bear this the players of the tenor and contratenor parts had to be in mind as we consider fifteenth-century records of per- prepared to cover either a low or a medium-high regis- formance contexts, in order to understand the place of the ter, and to have both a tenor and a discant instrument recorder in musical life. available. Therefore, an ensemble of three players would have needed four instruments at hand: two dis- 5. Performance Practice and Repertory cants and two tenors. Some pieces were already written An essential preliminary to consideration of performance in four parts, and the performers could obviously play practice is to establish the number and sizes of recorders these (provided they suited the ranges of two discants involved in ensembles. Sets of recorders in the first half of and two tenors). It would also have also been possible the fifteenth century generally included four instruments for one player to improvise a fourth part on top of a (see Table 1, 1408, 1426, and 1443). This presents a puz- written three-part texture. I would suggest, though, that zle, for the standard wind band then appears to have been in most performances until about 1450 the recorder con- one of three players, and shawmists often appeared in pairs. sort performed in three parts, or perhaps only in two. Also, the standard texture in composed secular music at this After about 1450 recorder players faced addi- time was three parts, which usually involved a basic duet of tional complications in that soon after mid-century a discant and tenor, to which was added a contratenor. In lower instrument would have been needed. Pieces by manuscript sources such as the Faenza Codex, which quite Hayne van Ghizeghem or Johannes Martini written in likely reflects the performance approach of soft minstrels, the 1470s, for example, call for a lower register far more the texture is frequently reduced to the two fundamental often than was the case with Binchois or Dufay. In parts (and in the Faenza manuscript this is almost always roughly two out of three cases, these pieces call for a G the case). Given all this, the obvious question is: why or F. The music is mostly in three parts and would still would the players have needed sets comprised of four in- be manageable, with careful selection, on a recorder ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 8 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued) consort of four instruments, which might by this time the composers Binchois and Dufay were active, the con- consist of a discant instrument, two tenors, and one of clusion seems inescapable: these minstrels were not only the newly developed bass recorders. Another wrinkle capable of polyphonic performance of chansons, it was was that the addition of a fourth voice was becoming probably their standard fare. When the minstrels played, standard by about 1485. Thanks to this development, certainly their patrons would have demanded up-to-date the bass part was even more consistently pitched below and fashionable repertory—what else? This would have c. With Isaac, for example, this is true in about nine out included instrumental versions of the chansons of Bin- of ten of his secular four-part works. Furthermore, the chois and Dufay. relationships between the parts were becoming more Musical sources specifically for instrumental en- complex in such a way that sets of four instruments semble are scanty until around 1480, after which we have would simply have been inadequate. The Sicher Lieder- surviving keyboard collections that are presumably analo- buch from shortly after 1500, for example, includes sev- gous to the repertory of earlier in the century. The Bux- eral settings of Fors seulement. Ghiselain’s version heim Organ Book of ca. 1465, for example, contains sa- would call for two discants, a tenor, and a bass; Agri- cred music and also secular music in three broad catego- cola’s, for a discant, two tenors, and a bass. Further- ries: dance pieces, local repertories, and a selection of in- more, some composers were exploring the extremes of ternational favorites, including settings of Binchois and timbre and range. Brumel’s Vray dieu, also in the Si- Dufay. In the case of the Faenza Codex, the issue of cher collection, sounds spectacular on three high-pitched whether it was intended for keyboard has been disputed, recorders. but it did belong to the repertory of soft minstrels. The These observations have assumed that there manuscript is too early (ca. 1420) to include Binchois or might be some connections between the written secular Dufay, but it contains a similar profile of pieces to Bux- repertory and players of the recorder. But we must rec- heim. Moreover, it seems to have clear connections with ognize that this assumption might not be accepted by all the court of Ferrara, and presumably with the soft min- scholars. In fact, doubts have been expressed that pro- strels engaged there. I would suggest that minstrels, and fessional instrumentalists (including those who played specifically those who played the recorder in the ensem- the recorder) were even capable of performing polyph- bles in Ferrara and Burgundy, were capable of exactly the ony. As one leading specialist put it a number of years same chanson repertory as that contained in these collec- ago, “The minstrels who were paid enormous salaries at tion. In sum, professional minstrels played polyphonic the great courts almost certainly never played part-music chansons, including international favorites, throughout the … until quite late in the fifteenth century.” This view, fifteenth century. which continues to linger, warrants a firm response. The situation concerning sacred music may not be First, it should be clear that the professional musicians quite so clear. It seems striking, though, that wind per- who performed on the recorder, for example at the formers in the Low Countries began to play as part of courts of Burgundy and Ferrara, were included in the daily church services, especially those that were called the general category of “minstrel” in the fifteenth century. lof or Salve, in praise of the Virgin Mary, by about 1480. Minstrels at both courts were indicated, at least at times, These are particularly well documented in Bruges, and as playing specific parts in polyphonic textures, i.e., they indeed, a set of motets was written out for the Bruges civic were identified as players of the soprano, tenor, or con- minstrels in 1484/5, probably to add to the repertory for tratenor. Moreover, recorders were bought for these the Salve performances. Moreover, it was at this time that courts in sets, the implied different sizes in which would the performances of sacred music were not just outdoors, have been to cover the appropriate ranges of polyphonic but also inside the church (“binder kercke,” as indicated in textures. Recorders were probably not considered ap- the sources); and this was exactly the time when the propriate for most dance contexts in these courts, nor Bruges players acquired their set of recorders. Where bet- suitable for most outdoor performances such as proces- ter to perform on these instruments than inside a church, sions. As suggested above, one of their most prominent with such resonant acoustics? venues was at court banquets, and when performers on recorders played at a famous banquet at the court of 6. Conclusions Burgundy in 1468 (see Table 1), they were specifically A general sense pervades writings on instrumental music noted as playing chansons. Because we have such spe- that consorts were primarily a development of the six- cific information about minstrel ensembles at the courts teenth century. There is much to recommend this view; of Ferrara and Burgundy, precisely the orbit in which consorts of viols and crumhorns, for example, arrived on ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 9 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued) the scene in strength only after 1500. Still, Myers, Peter 3 See Herbert Myers, “Flutes,” in A Performer’s Holman, and others have suggested refinements to this Guide to Medieval Music, ed. Ross W. Duffin view, and the survey presented here certainly supports (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University their proposals. In fact, the consort principle was already Press, 2000), 376–83, and also his “Recorder,” in A well rooted by the early fifteenth century. This has been Performer’s Guide to Renaissance Music, ed. Jeffery veiled perhaps because two of the most prominent en- T. Kite–Powell (New York: Schirmer Books, 1994), sembles of the century, although at root whole consorts, often performed with a mixture of instrumental types. 41–55. See also David Lasocki, “Recorder,” in Among soft minstrels, in the lute duo one lute would of- www.grovemusic.com, ed. Laura Macy (accessed 28 ten appear with a bowed stringed instrument. In the wind October 2003); originally published in The New nd band, the core unit was a duo of discant and tenor Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2 ed., shawms, but to this “whole” consort was added a con- ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001). trasting color—around 1400 sometimes the bagpipe, and thereafter some version of a brass instrument with a slide. 4 For more on Paumann see Christoff Wolff, “Conrad The general perception of the sixteenth as the consort Paumann,” in www.grovemusic.com (accessed 28 century may perhaps still be useful. But the real change October 2003); New Grove 2. was one of quantity: more instruments appeared, and more of the new instruments were played in consorts. 5 “… les aveugles, de vielles ... et chantoit aveuc eulx Finally, although much has conspired to conceal the fact, the recorder could claim a distinct and unique une damoiselle....”; Jeanne Marix, Histoire de la position among the instruments of the fifteenth century. musique et des musiciens de la Cour de Bourgogne Viewed from one perspective, the instrument seems mar- sous le r gne de Philippe le Bon (Strasbourg: Heitz ginal, almost never given a separate category in pay re- & Co.,1939; reprint, Geneva: Minkoff, 1972), 40. cords and not considered a specialty by either chamber players or shawmists. Yet there is another perspective: 6 On the Basel source, see Martin Staehelin, “Neue in an era in which soft instruments were seldom played Quellen zur Mehrstimmigen Musik des 15. und 16. by shawmists, and in turn shawms and trombones were Jahrhunderts in der Schweiz,” Schweitzer Beiträge only exceptionally found in the hands of chamber play- zur Musikwissenschaft 3 (1978): 57–83. For Virdung ers, the recorder was common to both groups of min- on recorders, see Sebastian Virdung, Musica strels. We may fairly claim, then, that the instrument had getutscht: a Treatise on Musical Instruments (1511), a universality attained by no other instrument before 1500. translated and edited by Beth Bullard (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 168–81.

Notes 7 A recent discussion of the manuscript (Faenza, Bib- 1 What is offered here is quite concise. For a more lioteca Comunale Manfrediana, 117) with updated detailed discussion see Howard Mayer Brown and bibliography is Pedro Memmelsdorf, “Motti a motti: Keith Polk, “Instrumental Music, c.1300–c.1520,” in Reflections on a Motet Intabulation of the Early Music as Concept and Practice, The New Oxford Quattrocentro,” Recercare 10 (1998): 39–68. History of Music, III.I, ed. Reinhard Strohm and Bonnie J. Blackburn (Oxford: Oxford University 8 For a recent description of the manuscript see David Press, 2001), 134–61. Fallows, A Catalogue of Polyphonic Songs, 1415– 1480 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 31. 2 On chamber players see Keith Polk, “Instrumental Music in the Low Countries in the Fifteenth Cen- 9 For sources and editions of these three pieces see tury,” in From Ciconia to Sweelinck, donum natali- Fallows, Catalogue, 71, 98, and 291. cum Willem Elders, ed. Albert Clement and Eric Jas (Amsterdam & Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 1994), 20–21. 10 For a discussion of the manuscript, editions, and a summary of scholarly discussion, see Fallow, Cata- logue, 43. ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 10 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued)

11 David Fallows, Dufay (London: J. W. Dent, TABLE 1. Recorder consorts and records of profes- 1982), 2. sional wind players playing recorders

12 For a description and discussion of this collection, 1384, The Hague: “enen meester van Aeth die pipen see Fallows, Catalogue, 9. plecht te maken ende die mijns heren pipers cleyn pipen ghestement hadde.”1 13 See Reinhard Strohm, Music in Late Medieval 1387, The Hague: “2 knechtgens ende meyskijn die Bruges (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 86–87. voir mijnen heer ghepepen hadden.”2 For additional information on the Salve perform- 1389, Arnhem: “des ... cleyne pyperen des greven ances in Bruges see Pieter Andriessen, Die van van Oestervant.”3 Muziken gheerne horen—Muziek in Brugges 1200– 1408, Brescia [Malatesta court]; payment to a shaw- 1800 (Bruges: West-Vlaamse Gidsenkring/Festivaal mist of Count Guido of Urbino for “4 flauti van Vlaanderen, 2002), 8. For a discussion of the novi.”4 general participation of wind players in these per- 1410, Aragon court, court inventory included: “Item formances, see Keith Polk, German Instrumental tres flautes, dues grosses e una negra petita” and Music of the Late Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cam- “dues flautes, una negra petita e 1 alta travessada.”5 bridge University Press, 1992), 121–23. 1410, Prussia: payment to “spilluthe mit den floyten.”6 14 The document with this wording is from the 1426, Burgundy/Ferrara: purchase of (among other Bruges accounts of 1495–96; see Keith Polk, instruments) “quatre fleutes.”7 “Ensemble Instrumental Music in Flanders—1450– 1443, Burgundian court: purchase of 4 “flftes 1550,” Journal of Band Research 11 (1975): 20. d’ivoire.”8 1454, Lille: Feast of the Pheasant, performance by 15 Peter Holman, Four and Twenty Fiddlers: The “quatre menestreux de fleutres.”9 Violin at the English Court 1540–1690 (Oxford: 1468, Burgundian court: “a certains compaignons Clarendon Press, 1993), discusses aspects of fif- venetiens qui ont joué de la fleute”10 and in teenth-century practice in his first chapter (pp. 1– the same year at the wedding of Charles the Bold 31), and his subsequent treatment of sixteenth- and Margaret of York, a performance century consorts is highly informative. Lasocki also by “quatre loups ayans flustes” who began “B jouer covers the fifteenth century briefly; see note 3 une chanson.”11 above. 1470, Bruges: “Appointie entre Jeromene de

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Strossy ....[et] Adrien la trompette de la ville, qui offered to court by Giovanni Angelo Testagrossa.29 lui a vendu la couple des fleutes.”12 1522–3, Brussels [Accounts of Margaret of Austria]: 1480–1, Bruges: purchase of “eenen coker met fleu- “aux toucheurs de fleutes et hautbois de la ten” for the city ensemble.13 ville de Bruges [par ce que] ilz ont soner a son instru- 1484–5, Bruges: purchase of cases for 4 mens devant elle.”30 “instrumenten van den menestruelen van deser 1523, Leipzig: purchase of “sechs neue Flöten,”31 stede” (probably the recorders of 1480).14 1526, Leipzig: purchase of “neun neuen Floten in 1484, Verona: city musicians claimed to be capable einem Futter” from Nuremberg.32 of performances on shawms, trombones, recorders, 1531, Oudenaarde: purchase of set of recorders.33 and other instruments.15 1532, Antwerp: Alamire furnished the civic ensemble 1485–6, Bruges: two city musicians paid for teach- with a set of recorders; also, inventory included 28 ing 4 boys to play “up de fleute”(with similar pay- “flutes,” most of which would have been recorders.34 ments in 1486–7 and in 1488–9).16 1536, Oudenaarde: purchase of set of recorders.35 1492–3, Ghent: Jan and Willekin van Welsens ap- prenticed to Joose Zoetinc (a civic musician in TABLE 2. Recorder and performers in mixed con- Ghent) to learn to play “de conste van sclameinine, sorts or soloists on “flute” or recorder fleutine ende andersins.”17 1498, Mantua: a student of Maestro Piero trombone 1366, Deventer: “Meyster Willem den ghyternierre (of Ferrara) hired who played trombone, cornetto, ende eynen piper te samen.”36 and recorder.18 1382, Mons: “enen mijns heren piper van Ghelre die 1500, Court of Maximilian I [in Augsburg]: pay- mit 2 fleuten pijpte.”37 ment to 4 “knaben ... auf den fleyten gepfiffen ha- 1385, Cambrai: wedding of Charles VI, celebrated by ben.”19 “molt brafs cantres et flusteurs musicals.”38 1501, Mantua: ensemble of recorder players sent 1386–7, Frankfurt am Main: “des heroghen Dulfs ve- from Mantuan court to Verona.20 delaer van Beyeren ende des bisschops floyter van 1502–3, Mechelen: purchase of “eenen coker Mens gheg. te gader.”39 floyten,”21 1388, The Hague: “3 speelres die op ghetaernen, leu- 1504, Court of Philip the Fair: “certains alemans” ten ende 1 pijpkin ... ghespeelt hadden.”40 players of “flftes.”22 1402, Deventer: “3 ghesellen mit pipen ende luten.”41 1505, Venice/Mantua: Letter from Giovanni Alvise, 1410–11, Ypres: payments for annual procession in- describing a motet he had arranged for eight record- cluded “2 vedelen ende eene vloyte.”42 ers.23 1414, Ferrara: Niccolo d’Este was in France, where 1505–6, Bergen op Zoom: Betaelt Pieter Noyts voer he heard “excellent playing of harp, [fiddle], flute zekere scalmey pypen ende floyten ... voir der stadt [i.e., recorder], and lute.”43 pipers.24 ca. 1415, [Orvieto; from Prodenzani’s Il Saporetto]; 1508–9, Mechelen: “Betaelt Adriaen Cools piper “fecer venire un menacordo ... Con esso vi sonar un van dat hij 6 flotyten der stede toebehoirenne buon flauto Et un saltero.”44 heeft doen Reeken ende Repareren.25 1444, [Glasgow]: “tribus de villa Glascinensis pul- 1510, Mantua: an entertainment that included music satis cum fleutis et citara.”45 by “li piffare e fiauti.”26 ca. 1450–1470, Bavaria: Conrad Paumann, active as 1512, Nuremberg: payment for “8 flöten pfeyffen performer on organ, lute, and recorder. unsern statpfeiffern.”27 1452–3, Ghent: “Jannijn die up de fleuyte spelt.”46 1513–14, Mechelen: “speeluyden metten doven 1457, Bruges: “Jehannin Leblancq de Gand, aveugle fluyten,” perhaps recorders in contrast to flute of jouant sur les doubles flutes.”47 Swiss pair.28 1460, [Brielle]: “Jemijn van Gent die opte fluyte 1518, Mantua: a “beautiful consort of recorders” speelde.”48 ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 12 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued)

1469, Ghent [Burgundian court accounts]: “Jehanin le mentation de la cour de Bourgogne entre 1406 et Blanc, aveugle joueur des fleutes 1506: quelques silhouettes,” in Regards croisés: demourant a Gand.”49 Musique, musiciens, artistes et voyageurs entre 1478, Court of René d’Anjou: purchase of “une fleutte France et Italie au XVe siPcle, ed. Nicoletta Gui- 50 pour Faillon.” dobaldi (Paris & Tours: Minerve, 2002), 64. 1480, Ghent [Burgundian court accounts]: “Jennin l’aveugle, joueur des flutes.”51 11. Marix, Histoire, 106. 1492, Ulm: a “schöne Tochter die dann anfing mit den Pfeifen Flöte zu blasen.”52 12. Louis Gilliodts–van Severen, Cartulaire de 1498, English Court: “Arnold, pleyer at recorders.”53 l’ancien estaple de Bruges, 4 vols. (Bruges: So- 1504, Ferrara: an intermedio with music by “a small or- ciété d’Émulation, 1904-6), I, 203; see also gan with recorders, which was very delicate.”54 Strohm, Music in Late Medieval Bruges, 92. 1519, Rome: “una musica de pifari, di cornamusi, de due corneti, de viole et leuto che e tanto variato de 13. Louis Gilliodts–van Severen, Les ménestrels voce ... et insieme vi era un fiauto, et una voce.”55 de Bruges (Bruges, 1912), 50.

14. Ibid., 53. Notes to Tables 15. William Prizer, Power and Pleasure: Music 1. C. Lingbeek–Schalekamp, Overheid en muziek in in the Culture of Renaissance Mantua, 1400– Holland tot 1672 ([Rotterdam]: Blok & Flohr, 1984), 1540 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forth- 163. coming), Chapter IV.

2. Ibid., 169. 16. Gilliodts, Ménestrels, 54–56.

3. Arnhem, Rijksarchief in Gelderland; Hertogelijk Ar- 17. Polk, “Ensemble Instrumental Music,” 18. chief, #220, f. 69. 18. Prizer, ibid. 4. Allan Atlas, “Pandolfo III Malatesta mecenate musicale: musica e musicisti presso una signoria del 19. Othmar Wessely, “Archivalische Beiträge primo quattrocento,” Rivistia italiana de musicologia 32 zur Musikgeschichte des Maximilianischen (1988): 53. Hofes,” Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 23 (1956): 130. 5. Maria del Carmen Gómez Muntané, “El manuscrito M 971 de la Biblioteca de Catalunya (Misa de 20. Prizer, ibid. Barcelona),” Butlletí de la Biblioteca de Catalunya X (1982-84) [1986]: 52. 21. Mechelen, Stadsarchief, Stadsrekeningen, 1502–3, f. 183. 6. Joseph Müller–Blattau, Geschichte der Musik in Ost- und Westpreussen, 2nd ed. (Wolfenbüttel & Zurich: 22. Georges Van Doorslaer, “La chapelle musi- Möseler, [1968)], 13. cale de Philippe le Beau,” Revue belge d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’art 4 (1934): 41. 7. Marix, Histoire, 105. 23. Prizer, ibid. 8. Ibid., 106. 24. Bergen op Zoom, SA, Burgermeester 9. Ibid., 40. Rekening, n.p. 10. David Fiala, “Les musiciens italiens dans la docu- ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 13 The Recorder in Fifteenth-Century Consorts (continued)

25. Mechelen, Stadsarchief, Stadsrekeningen, 1508– 1400–1505 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University 9, f. 205v. Press, 1984), 14.

26. Prizer, ibid. 44. John Nádas, “A Cautious Reading of Simone Prodenzani’s Il Saporetto,” Recercare 10 (1998): 32. 27. Ekkehart Nickel, Der Holzblasinstrumentenbau in der Freien Reichstadt Nürnberg (Munich: Musik- 45. Robert John Bradley, Musical Life and Culture at verlag Katzbichler, 1971), 22. Savoy, 1420–1450 (Ph.D. diss.,City University of New York, 1992), 435. 28. Mechelen, Stadsarchief, Stadsrekeningen, 1513– 14, f. 221v. 46. Ghent, Stadsarchief, Stadsrekeningen 1452–53, f. 305v; see also ibid., Stadsrekeningen, 1453–54, f. 29. Prizer, ibid. 331.

30. Brussels, Algemeen Rijksarchief, 1807 47. Louis Gilliodts–van Severen, Inventaire des ar- [Accounts of Margaret of Austria, 1522–23], f. 37. chives de la ville de Bruges, V (Bruges: E. Gailliard, 1871–85), II. 31. Rudolf Wustmann, Musikgeschichte Leipzigs, 3 vols. (Leipzig: Kistner & Siegel, 1909–1941), I, 36. 48. Lingbeek, Overheid, 204.

32. Wustman, loc. cit.; see also p. 76. 49. David Fiala, “Le mécénat musical des ducs de Bourgogne en leurs villes (unpublished paper pre- 33. Polk, “Ensemble Instrumental Music,” 18. sented at the conference Music in Cities in Renais- sance France, Tours, November 1999; typescript), 4. 34. Ibid. 50. Abbé Gustav Arnaud d’Agnel, Les comptes du 35. Ibid. Roi René, III (Paris: A. Picard, 1908–10), 68. 36. Jan Van Doorninck, Johannes de Hullu, and 51. Fiala, typescript, 6. Jacobus Acquoy, De Camreraars-Rekeningen van Deventer, 8 volumes in 9 (Deventer: De Lange, 52. Hans Joachim Moser, Paul Hofhaimer, 2nd ed. 1885–1914), II, 627. (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1966), 14–15.

37. Lingbeek, Overheid, 163. 53. Andrew Ashbee, ed., Records of English Court Music, VII: 1485–1558 (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 38. Marix, Histoire, 18. 1993), 162. 39. Lingbeek, Overheid, 169. 54. Prizer, ibid., Chapter II. 40. Ibid., 171. 55. Prizer, ibid., Chapter IV.

41. Godelieve M. de Meyer, De Stadsrekeningen van Deventer, II (Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff, 1968– 79), 117.

42. Brussels, Algemeen Rijksarchief, 38639, [Ieperen Stadsrekeningen, 1410–11], f. 62v.

43. Lewis Lockwood, Music in Renaissance Ferrara ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 14 The Power of Sound - Origins of Suzuki Recorder School by Kathy White

The early years: Through 1973 scious that music is an ear-centered activity. The power of sound was most obvious to me in What has shaped the Suzuki® Recorder School? 1972 when I first listened to the newly published re- Like many others, I feel fortunate to have had a cordings of Mr. Toshio Takahashi, head teacher childhood filled with many delightful, multiple musi- trainer at the Talent Education Institute in Matsu- cal styles for listening and performance. Listening moto, Japan. My ears were opened in a very positive and singing were followed by reading a very influen- way to his flexible, multi-dimensional, and expres- tial book by Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Na- sive tone! His performance with nuance was evident tive, in which he seemed to elevate the role of the as I continued to listen to his recordings at the Ameri- environment to that of a real character. Family, can Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin – friends, and teachers supported a love Stevens Point. Then, on a cold and quite snowy day of music that was to last. Canoeing, skating, or bik- in 1973 I encountered a surprising Suzuki Tour ing to a local library in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin led Group Concert including children playing strings, to a fond familiarity with libraries. As a college sen- keyboard and flute at Bemidji State University in ior in 1964-65 I listened carefully as the community Minnesota. Again, it was most impressive to hear pre-school children played upper level repertoire on small children playing an upper level repertoire and their violins. As a music instructor in NY I requested having a lot of fun at the same time! After complet- that the music supervisor make the film, Happy Chil- ing a M.A. in Music Education with research on Dr. dren of Japan available to us to hear. Aside from Suzuki and a sample Oboe Method I was invited by reading a bit about Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, this was to Susan Shields, (an American who had spent several be a turning point for some of us. As an educator, years with Dr. Suzuki as a trainee and teacher), to studio/symphony musician I felt a profound need for observe the well-respected Suzuki String Program at the Suzuki Philosophy, and applicable techniques to Knoxville, Tennessee. “A little knowledge is a dan- be applied to wind instruments. I had been supplying gerous thing”, said Susan, my new friend. Within my students with supplementary music from a vari- those 6 weeks I gladly observed the students of Susan ety of styles, but there was something missing in Shields, Hiroko Iritani-Driver, and William Starr. their education and in my own performance as well. This excellent time in 1973 was followed by further It was evident that children deserved better than that encouragement from another mentor, Alexander which was in their current environment. I experi- Murray, former principal flautist of the London Sym- mented by providing students and their classroom phony Orchestra and Alexander Teacher, flute faculty teachers with audio tapes and listening opportunities member at the University of Illinois. Meeting and during the regular school day. Success bred success sharing ideas at the National Music Camp at Inter- with both groups and individuals in my own studio lochen, Michigan, we had a lot to discuss. Studying or in other settings. More sequential pieces and repe- recorder with Paul Wexler and performing/touring tition for thorough mastery were utilized. In 1970 I with the Faculty/Staff Early Music Ensemble of the eagerly participated as a string bass student at Dr. National Music Camp proved to be another valuable Theodore Brunson’s Suzuki Workshop at the Univer- experience. sity of Wisconsin – La Crosse. There was a healthy attitude to do one’s best in a non-competitive way. 1974—1993 At the beginning, playing by heart was separated from note-reading. This was logical to me because it In 1974 I finally received an invitation from Dr. permittted a solid technical and tonal foundation to Suzuki and Mr. Takahashi to become a teacher- be built. The development of creative intelligence trainee at the Talent Education Institute. Leaving followed. I had never seen an artist turn his/her head with 2 small suitcases and my instruments, I had no away from a drawing in progress. When ready, stu- clue that I would be spending a continuous period of dents were to use ears and eyes simultaneously in 2.5 years there and to be returning again in 1980. The many situations, but to automatically remain con- next year, in 1975, Dr. Suzuki invited me to start a ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 15 The Power of Sound - Origins of Suzuki Recorder School (continued)

Recorder Program at the Talent Education Institute. ronment which was two blocks from Golden Gate Unfortunately, no person could be then be found to con- Park. A most significant event for me was to tinue the Program after I went to Europe. But, teaching briefly meet Marion Verbruggen (soloist on the recorder in the Matsumoto community outside of the Suzuki® Recorder School recordings), after her Institute turned out to be very helpful. And the Col- superb and ear-opening concert at the De Young legium Musicum which included people from many Museum in the Park. This green oasis not only continents enhanced my studies, as did all the excellent became a place for me to run, but was frequently classes/observations/performances at the Institute and a great place to practice as well. elsewhere. I discovered that Dr. Suzuki’s Mother Baroque music workshops and performances Tongue Method depended on parents throughout the in the San Francisco Bay Area continue to be very world to teach children their own native language (and welcome events for many of us. Beginning in sometimes second languages). Music as a language is 1981 and continuing onward I have gratefully fostered by listening and nurturing repetition, just as spent many happy hours researching repertoire at spoken language is. Another of Dr. Suzuki’s significant university or private music libraries in California, goals is world peace. Additional recorder/oboe lessons New Mexico, Ohio and in Quebec. The late were continued in the Tokyo area with performers who Laurette Goldberg who has had a profoundly had spent several years training at the Conservatories in beneficial effect on Early Music, proved to be an The Netherlands and other countries. I will always be important Suzuki advocate for many of us. She grateful to the staff at the Ueno Music Library and the established MusicSources a wonderful commu- Min-on Music Library for their generous assistance in nity resource center with a library in Berkeley, helping to fulfill my quest for recordings or potential California. Suzuki repertoire for recorder or oboe. Jonathan Crick, a Suzuki® recorder teacher was to discover some very appropriate pieces for At the end of 1976, after receiving the Graduation Book One, the foundation of the Suzuki® Re- Diploma from Dr. Suzuki and Mr. Takahashi as a Su- corder School. In the late l980’s, after complet- zuki Woodwind teacher I found myself in Europe for an ing some teacher training I offered him as extended stay. Fortunately, there was an excellent Dal- “Independent Study”; he encountered a child croze program in London. I spent delicious hours at the who brought lovely pieces written by Zoltan Ko- British Institute of Recorded Sound and at Goethe Li- daly from the Kodaly Choral School. When Mr. braries in order to continue searching for additional Crick returned to the USA after spending 2 years pieces for Suzuki recorder/oboe students. Resuming my of teaching in Ireland he generously shared this chamber involvement in Europe I was able to spread the potential repertoire with me. An early edition of word about the Suzuki Woodwind Program to others. the Suzuki® Recorder Book 1 was first intro- From 1977 I continued to add/delete music to the reper- duced to the European Community at their toire while teaching/performing in the Minneapolis/St. Suzuki Convention in Ireland, thanks to him and Paul area of Minnesota. A highlight of those years was all the Suzuki recorder families. having Dr. and Mrs. Suzuki in the audience at Northrup Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus. Since 1994 My students and I were honored by their presence. After deciding on a revised Book 1-4 repertoire Following my heart, I participated in Baroque Perform- for soprano/alto recorder students and after re- ance classes at the University of Minnesota and at some ceiving approval from the International Suzuki Baroque Performance Institutes at the Oberlin Conserva- Association, I planned to have the recordings tory before returning to the Talent Education Institute in done at the Warner Brothers Studios in the Los 1980. Angeles area. However, there was an earthquake Then, after living in San Francisco for a short time in in March; within two weeks an alternative venue 1981 I had another lucky moment relevant to my envi- was found in the San Francisco Bay Area. In ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 16 The Power of Sound - Origins of Suzuki Recorder School (continued)

April, 2005 we recorded Book 5-8 at a Chapel in So- sive qualities, playing with vitality. (10) Includ- noma, CA. ing a diversity of historically informed perform- ance styles and musical forms. (11) Using his- Below are some of the criteria used to form decisions torical tuning temperaments. about repertoire. Dr. Suzuki requested that I (1) use short pieces with interesting rhythms for children in The Suzuki® Recorder School Vol. 1-8 has been the early stages. Short pieces would promote a sense recorded by Marion Verbruggen, recorders; Ar- of accomplishment and gradually strengthen endur- thur Haas, harpsichord; Mary Springfels, viols; ance. (2) Include ample opportunities for repetition to Peter Nothnagle, recording engineer; John Phil- reinforce skills and abilities which have already been lips, harpsichord maker/tuner; and myself as pro- accomplished. Quality repetitions lead to imprinting ducer. in both the sensory and physical memory areas of the Volume 1-4 (separate CDs and books for so- brain. Renewed/reviewed abilities allow students to prano and alto recorders) develop their creative intelligence. (3) Provide a step- Copyright 1996 Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, Summy- by step sequence. (4) Include some “plateau” pieces. Birchard Music, Sole publisher for the (5) Include tonalization, a word that Dr. Suzuki in- world outside Japan - distributed by Warner vented from combining the words “beautiful tone” Bros. Publications, Inc. (now Alfred Publishing with “vocalization”. The goal is to play with beauti- Co., Inc.) ful, expressive tone and to play with various tone col- Volume 5-8, Copyright 2005 Dr. Shinichi Su- ors as needed. (6) Because children like quick move- zuki, Sole publisher for the world outside ment, choose those appropriate pieces. (7) Include Japan – Summy-Birchard, Inc., exclusively dis- pieces which promote the students’ performance with tributed by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. a “singing breath”. (8) Include preparatory studies. (9) to include a variety of meters. As of January, 2006 the release date is in discus- sion for the release date of the Vol. 5-8 CDs/ Some of the other choices I considered were based Books. These materials are also approved by the on: (1) Respecting Dr. Suzuki’s Pedagogical tech- International Suzuki Association. niques when possible, and respecting the unique char- acteristics of the recorder such as its diverse perform- Founding members of the International Suzuki ance styles, i.e. including the Renaissance.(2) At- Committee who assisted with the Vol. 5-8 Rep- tempting to meet the needs of children, parents, or ertoire choices include: Stephanie Archer, Can- adult students; music of universal appeal and re- ada; Nancy Daly, England; Jaap Delver, The corded by world-class musicians. (3) Helping stu- Netherlands; Clea Galhano, MN; Alice van der dents to develop an efficient and comfortable left Meer, The Netherlands; Patrick O’Malley, IL; thumb technique. (4) Start with staccato and use the Mary Halverson Waldo, MN; Katherine White, most logical keys in sequence. (5) Choose “easy to CA – Chairperson sing” pieces for Book 1 especially. When students can sing or hum each piece they are probably ready to As the one who developed the Suzuki® Recorder start it on the instrument. (6) Choose pieces which School for Dr. Suzuki I hope to continue to pro- could be memorized in a relatively easy way. (7) mote the vitality of recorder performance and choose pieces which can stand the test of time and instruction. Certainly, children around the globe many repetitions, with a variety of keys and some deserve to be Happy! I for one am happy for the modes. (8) Choose pieces which offer a variety of power of sound and for supportive environments, articulation (9) Offer a study of various attacks, tone including everyone in those environments. colors, syncopation, nuance, interpretations, expres- ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 17 Cultural Ambassadors on the Great Wall by Scott Reiss

This article was originally published in ARTAFacts with the Choate orchestra. How could I turn down an of March, 2005 and is republished now with a new opportunity to perform and travel around China, all photo as a reminder of the recorder world’s loss. expenses paid? So in November, David and I had a concrete goal: to get him ready to play the 2nd recorder How many times does a recorder player get an part of the Brandenburg for an international audience. opportunity to play the 4th Brandenburg on the Great We created a strategic plan for the next 4 Wall of China? Pretty preposterous fantasy, eh? Well, months: by such-and-such-a date he would sometimes reality is stranger than anything we can incorporate all the double-tonguings, by such-and- imagine. And there I was, playing the Brandenburg on such a date he would master all the alternate finger- the Great Wall outside of Beijing. ings, and by two weeks before the tour he would The story starts a year ago when David Lang- merge all the technical issues with the affects of each staff, the nephew of Jack Langstaff, who started the movement. Well, he did it. Revels, came to me for lessons. He said he had played I left for China on March 6, the day after I had recorder 30 years ago, but was asked to play the Bran- played the Vivaldi flautino concerto RV 444, and denburg with the Choate Rosemary Hall orchestra. Gwyn Roberts and I had played the Brandenburg, with Choate is a very prestigious prep school in Connecti- the Washington Bach Sinfonia in DC. On that same cut, whose graduates include the likes of JFK and day Choate had a warm-up concert in San Francisco, Glen Close, for which I and David. had recom- He had de- mended my cent tech- friend and col- nique and league Judy certainly Linsenberg. knew his Judy had gra- way around ciously the recorder, jumped in for but I me and per- thought (as I formed su- recently told perbly with him at his Choate (a inquiry) that “modern” or- he had a chestra with long way to no great go if he was knowledge of going to historical per- play the formance Branden- practice, but burg at a talent to basic professional level. But David, a Harvard MBA burn). I arrived in China a day after the orchestra, but with an indomitable spirit—and energy, commitment, had only missed a tour of Tiennamen Square, and an and discipline to support it—took lessons every week, acrobatic performance. managed to find time in his schedule to practice (a les- The next morning I boarded a bus with the son we could all take to heart), and absorbed every- Choate students, and off we went to the Great Wall. thing I had to teach him, including both types of dou- We first had the opportunity to climb the Wall, up the ble-tonguing. narrow steps for about a mile to one of the frequent Then one day last fall, David asked me if I buildings that supplied shelter to travelers on the Wall. would like to travel to China to play the Brandenburg On the way down we could see the plaza, a widening ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 18 Cultural Ambassadors on the Great Wall (continued) of the path to an open-air promenade with a beautiful interesting assortment of gamelan instruments, silver temple-like structure as a backdrop to the setup for flute, and piano accordion! The most interesting mu- the orchestras. sical meeting was with the Batak musicians of North It was sunny, but cold and windy. The orches- Sumatra. Their ensemble (very different in sound tra members had to use many clothespins to keep from all the other places we had visited in Indonesia) their music in place. First came the many obligatory consisted of two three-string plucked instruments speeches by the school and cultural officials welcom- whose fingerboards were mirrors (!), a wooden xylo- ing Choate, and the Choate conductor, Phillip Ventre, phone, and a single-reed wind instrument with four reciprocating. Then the Chinese orchestra performed holes, only about 5” long. This was the solo instru- (each concert was a collaboration between Choate ment, and it had the capability of changing sounds by and a local Chinese high school orchestra.) After their replacing the bell of the instrument (a horn shape, a performance Choate set up and began its perform- sphere, a tubular extension, etc.) ance. It was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and the What astonished us was that the Batak musi- wind was fierce. Tuning was impossible, but the or- cians had tunes that were exactly like “Oh, chestra persevered and we finally got to the Branden- Susannah”, and “She’ll be Coming Around the burg. The violin soloist was a superb musician, a sen- Mountain.” When we asked where they had learned ior in high school already performing at Julliard. Her these tunes, they told us they were Batak tunes! (We music was blowing around profusely, but she navi- suspect the tunes traveled to Sumatra by way of Por- gated her part (the really difficult solo part of the tuguese traders, who had a fondness for cowboy three in the Brandenburg) with grace and power. songs.) So when we performed in Medan, we invited The concert on the Great Wall was the most the Batak musicians to play their version of “Oh, exotically remarkable one, but the whole tour was an Susannah,” then we performed ours, and finally we experience that transcended even the music itself. played it together! Years ago, HESPERUS had the opportunity to per- It was situations like these that made me real- form both in Southeast Asia and Latin America ize the importance of face-to-face inter-cultural en- through the United States Information Agency counters. The students of the Choate orchestra were (USIA). This was a government agency charged with collecting experiences in China (and Italy, Germany, providing opportunities to share American culture and other countries Mr. Ventre had taken the orches- with the world. Admittedly, it was also what one tra) that would not only affect their own lives, but could call a “propaganda” organization, but its prime would affect the future of our country’s relations with mission was to show the world America’s best side, the rest of the world. The USIA was discontinued in the arts and culture of this country that are not domi- the mid-90’s—Congress decided that there was nated by the super-media of TV, pop music re- enough of American culture already all over the cordings, and Hollywood movies. globe. But do Hollywood movies and pop music In our experience, it was a tremendous oppor- really convey who we are as a people? So many art- tunity for cultural encounter. After our performance ists, musicians and dancers, writers and painters, in Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java, we amateur and professional, contribute to the fabric of were treated to dinner in the lovely home of Ibu the other side of America—the side that isn’t about Samadhi, the local cultural matron of Surabaya. She commerce, trade deals, treaties, and military might. provided us with an elegant buffet of delicious Indo- My second thought on 9/11 (after “Oh my god this nesian foods, followed by a performance of Wayang can’t be happening”) was “If only the USIA had been Kulit, the shadow-puppet play accompanied by a strengthened instead of eliminated, maybe this would- small gamelan (gongs of various kinds, drum, and n’t have happened.” suling—a fipple flute.) Our guide in Shanghai said his son was learn- In Padang, West Sumatra, we were the guests ing the recorder in school! Maybe a group of kids that of the Mayor of Padang in a lavish banquet of local one of you teaches could also be cultural ambassa- foods and a performance of Meningkabow music, an dors some day. ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 19 Reviews - by Judy Siegrist

Basic Recorder Lessons, Omnibus Edition by Ralph tency. After covering the basics of note reading/ W. Zeitlin playing in Volume 1, Fischer introduces Renais- sance tonguing syllables (something not found in other modern recorder method books), and modal I firmly believe that a music. The intermediate level Volume 2 continues good teacher never to build on the concepts of Volume 1 by complet- stops learning. As a ing the introduction to modes and addressing more result, I often feel advanced musical concepts such as the use of syn- like I have studied copation, cadences, musica ficta, and hemiolas. To just about every re- round out the instructional materials, a Teacher's corder method book Guide and Ear Training Supplement are included there is. Basic Re- in both volumes which, as with Orr's books, are corder Technique by available in either soprano/tenor or alto formats. Hugh Orr, and The Recorder From Zero Most recently I discovered another exceptional by Charles Fischer, tutorial while searching for something to use with top the short list of recorder students and ensemble members at vari- those I continue to ous levels of study. Useful for both individual or both learn and teach from on a regular basis. In addi- class instruction with either older children or tion to covering basic recorder technique and music adults, Basic Recorder Lessons fills the bill in its fundamentals in a logical manner, these two methods omnibus edition of three method books and song- stand out from the rest for various reasons. Orr's book. It was written by Ralph W. Zeitlin, a superb method is replete with detailed instructional text, ex- recorder soloist and original member of the New plicit photographs depicting correct hand positioning York Pro Musica Renaissance Wind Band under and fingering, and numerous musical applications. Noah Greenberg. Basic Recorder Lessons provides The generous array of traditional, folk and early mu- clear and concise instructional material for so- sic solos are both easy to learn and enjoyable to play. prano/tenor recorder including the more complex This two volume tutorial, which is particularly suited subjects of baroque trill fingerings and ornamenta- to beginning adults or older children, does not ad- tion, practice techniques, musical phrasing and in- dress advanced playing techniques such as double terpretation. The book features choice practice tonguing, alternative fingering, slurring, or ornamen- pieces that provide practical application for spe- tation however. The rounds scattered throughout the cific technical or musical concepts. For example, two volumes afford limited material for exposing be- Zeitlin uses the duet Canzon by Johann Stadimayr, ginning students to the essential ensemble playing to illustrate the use of two musical concepts: the skills they will need to develop. compositional device of imitation; and the ca- dence, or musical sentence ending. In another in- stance, irregular (5/4) meter is cleverly presented Charles Fischer's Recorder From Zero takes the rare in a solo entitled The Shepherd's Flute, a modern approach of presenting both note reading and re- piece by Samuel Maykapar. In addition to being corder technique from an historical perspective, using extremely pleasant to both listen to and play, The extraordinarily well selected pieces to provide a taste- Shepherd's Flute provides an excellent opportunity ful introduction to recorder friendly Medieval and to hone articulation and dynamic skills. Repertoire Renaissance music. From the onset, this method book specific practice exercises further sets Basic Re- supplies an abundance of period pieces arranged corder Lessons apart from other recorder method mostly in soprano/alto or alto/tenor voicings. These, books, one example being the use of arpeggio along with a scant number of rounds, provide ample practice to relax and familiarize fingers with note material for students to develop part playing compe- combinations used in the light-hearted duet ar- ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 20 Reviews (continued) rangement of Joseph Haydn's German Dance. A good amount of text and music that reflects the recorder's rich historical heritage is yet another highlight of this well written tome. In fact, the only complaint I have about Basic Recorder Les- sons is the book binding. A spiral binding would be much more practical. These three method books have done more than any others to ignite my passion for mastering the recorder and sharing the joy of playing with oth- ers. Quality education must serve to facilitate un- derstanding and appreciation for the history and function of this instrument that has struggled to maintain its presence in modern times. When it comes to selecting instruction tutorials for the re- corder, I challenge teachers and students to com- pare for themselves and settle for no less than the best, which is what Basic Recorder Technique, The Recorder From Zero, and Basic Recorder Lessons provide.

Planned for Future Issues Here is a list of some of the highlights to be covered y Recorder & Improvisation Part II - Playing and in the next issue of ARTAfacts: Improvising (With Play-Along CD) - by Matthias Maute y On Playing Recorders in D - Reprinted with y Jazz: Anyone Can Improvise - Teaching Improvi- permission from AR Magazine. Classical article by sation for all Instruments on DVD - Jamey Aebersold Dale Higbee y Jazz: Play Along CDs - Survey of materials pub- y Poulet au Chocolat - A provocative manifesto lished by MMO, Jamey Aebersold, and Hal Leonard on esthetics - Matthias Maute y Beginner Play Along CDs - Survey of materials y Do It! Play Recorder Vol 1 (Teacher’s Edi- published by J. D. Wall (Don Muro), Sweet Pipes tion) - by James O. Froseth (Various authors) and Plank Road Publishing (M. C. Handel) y Do It! Play Recorder Vol 2 - Part 2 of an excit- ing new approach to Recorder Methods - by James y Real Jazz on Recorder! - “Changing” and “Yellow O. Froseth and Red” by Nadja Schubert and “Holy Mischief” by Eddie Marshall y Do It! Improvise Vol 2 - Continuation of part I stressing improvisation in all the modes - by James y Manfred Zimmerman Recorder Method Books - O. and David Froseth Four volumes!

ARTAfacts Vol. 10 Nos. 3 & 4 Dec 2005 Editor: Charles P. Fischer Production: Bill Behrmann Page 21

Thank You, 2005 - 2006 ARTA Donors

Louise Austin Sue Groskreutz Eiji Miki Milton Scheuermann William Behrmann Sabine Haase-Moeck Irmi Miller Henry Seale Kathryn Canan Laura Hagen Yvonne Miller-Nixon Marie-Louise A. Smith Lionel Davis James E. Heup Carolyn Peskin Rose Marie Terada Dan Duncan Jan Jackson Stephan Pirtle Maria van der Heijde- Margaret Erin Mary Johnson Amanda Pond Zomerdijk Marika Frankl Barbara Kaufman Anita Randolfi Marianne Weiss Kim Mary Ann Franson Bruce Larkin Susan Roessel Katherine White Sara Funkhouser Eva Legêne Patsy Rogers Clea Galhano Judith Linsenberg Jillian Samant

Welcome New Lori Goldschmidt ARTA Members

Call for March 2006 Articles Send articles by email to [email protected] Or mail disks to: Charles Fischer 2324 Linden Hill Rd. Bloomington, IN 47401 y Relating your own experience as a recorder teacher - methodology/pedagogy y Relating your own experience as a recorder teacher - practical/business y Introduction of or Interview with recorder personality y Reports of recorder programs in high schools or colleges y Experience with a particular method you use with your students y Experience with a particular instrument you use with your students y Relationship of recorder (or music) education to higher test scores y Reports of upcoming workshops of interest to recorder teachers ARTA Board Sue Groskreutz - President – [email protected] Steen Andersson - Treasurer – [email protected] Sally Dawson - MENC liaison – [email protected] Charles Fischer - REJ committee, ARTAfacts editor [email protected] Sara Funkhauser - ARTAnaut E-mail list coordinator [email protected] Eva Legêne - REJ chairperson – [email protected] Susan Roessel - ARS Liaison – [email protected] Yvonne Miller Nixon - ERTA international email - [email protected] Marianne Weiss Kim - [email protected] Melissa Cocco - [email protected] Anita Randolfi - [email protected] Laverne Sargent - [email protected] Rosie Terada - [email protected]

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