M a Y 2 0 1 2 V Ol
m a y 2 0 1 2 V ol. LIII, No. 3 • www.americanrecorder.org Published by the American Recorder Society, Is your recorder Are the fi nger holes Is your recorder too long for you? too far apart? too heavy? Our tenors with a bent neck Our PLUS tenors have keys for Our PLUS tenors all have a make for more comfortable c/c sharp, f and g, thus avoiding the thumb support, so that the playing as they can be played hand being uncomfortably stretched. weight is safely balanced on the held closer to the body than The fi ngers lie on the instrument thumb of the right hand, allowing when playing the straight without tension. unhindered movement for the fi ngers tenor instruments. required for playing. With the support band which belongs to the equipment provided, the instru- ment can be hung round the player’s neck thus distributing the weight more evenly and giving more surety and comfort www.moeck.com whilst playing. Lost in Time Press
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July 5-8, 2012 Portland, OR
Is your recorder Are the fi nger holes Is your recorder too long for you? too far apart? too heavy? Our tenors with a bent neck Our PLUS tenors have keys for Our PLUS tenors all have a make for more comfortable c/c sharp, f and g, thus avoiding the thumb support, so that the American Recorder Society playing as they can be played hand being uncomfortably stretched. weight is safely balanced on the 2012 Festival held closer to the body than The fi ngers lie on the instrument thumb of the right hand, allowing Share this unique experience when playing the straight without tension. unhindered movement for the fi ngers with your recorder friends! Treat yourself to the vacation of a lifetime tenor instruments. required for playing. in the Pacific Northwest!
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his issue seems to have something for Features everyone: music from Medieval to The Recorder in Print: 2010 ...... 7 JohnT Cage, with plenty of stops in between . What’s Been Written about the Recorder The Medieval angle is pursued by sev- in other Publications around the World eral professional ensembles whose CDs are reviewed in this issue by Tom By David Lasocki (page 20) 7 “The Canta great Bickley. Their efforts embrace traditional bass is very intuitive Departments music of other cultures, as well . to play, making it Tim Broege’s column takes the oppor- ideal for use in recorder Advertiser Index and Classifieds ...... 32 “The new Mollenhauer Denner tunity, upon mentioning the 100th anniver- orchestras and can be great bass is captivating with sary of the birth of John Cage (1912-92), Book Reviews ...... 24 recommended .” its round, solid sound, stable in to suggest some pieces by Cage to play on Gwyn Roberts reviews a new book on Van Eyck every register. Its key mechanism recorders . (His landmark piece, 4'33", can be Dietrich Schnabel is comfortable and especially Compact Disc Reviews ...... 20 (conductor of recor- transcribed for any instrument, and has long well designed for small hands. An der orchestras) been the example of Cage’s emphasis on lis- Eastern European folk dances meet Medieval 29 instrument highly recommended tening . Cage’s words, “everything we do is for both ensemble and orchestral music,” may also appeal to recorder players ). Chapters & Consorts ...... 30 playing.” This issue concludes a series by David Queen for a day, plus soloists for concerts Lasocki, begun in the 1980s and here in its Daniel Koschitzky 22nd installment (page 7) . Lasocki assures Music Reviews ...... 25 Canta knick great bass (member of the ensemble Spark) us that his decades of writing about the Music to play for the art crowd recorder do not end with this article; there is Mollenhauer & Friedrich von Huene On the Cutting Edge ...... 29 more to come . Hear his ideas on what we’ve G# and E keys enable Tim Broege cleans out his in-basket: b learned about the recorder over the last 20 30 larger finger holes years during the ARS Festival, July 5-8 . Stichting Blokfluit lists commissioned works, and thus an especially My years as a recorder player began music by John Cage that can be played on recorders stable sound. in the band for a madrigal dinner, but the group also often played during an annual President’s Message ...... 3 arts festival . If you need music for such an ARS President Lisette Kielson ponders Music Reviews event, this issue’s (page 25) the need for support have suggestions for art-inspired repertoire . Gail Nickless Tidings ...... 4 www.youtube.com/user/americanrecordermag Early Music America’s events at the Berkeley Festival; 30 www.facebook.com/americanrecordermag Regis University Collegium Musicum turns 10; www.facebook.com/AmerRec blogging with Judy Linsenberg at Sitka
Gail Nickless, Editor ON THE COVER: Contributing Editors Baschenis, Evaristo Tom Bickley, Compact Disc Reviews • Frances Blaker, Beginners & Technique (1617-77). Still Life with Timothy Broege, 20th/21st-Century Performance • Carolyn Peskin, Q & A Musical Instruments. Sue Groskreutz, Book & Music Reviews • Mary Halverson Waldo, Education Scala / Art Resource, NY Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Advisory Board Italy ©2012 American Martha Bixler • Valerie Horst • David Lasocki • Bob Marvin Recorder Society The recorder case with many extras With adjustable support spike Thomas Prescott • Catherine Turocy• Kenneth Wollitz … saves an incredible amount of space with www.AmericanRecorder.org the two-part middle joint Copyright©2012 American Recorder Society, Inc. … place for music … integrated recorder stand
www.mollenhauer.com Order-No. 2646K Order-No. 5606 ARS Chapters Alabama Idaho North Carolina Birmingham: Les Bois (Boise): Carolina Mountains: Janice Williams (205-870-7443) Kim Wardwell (360-202-3427) Ro Metcalf (828-685-7854) Arizona Illinois Greenville Recorder Society John Shaw (252-355-2737) Chicago: Dennis Sherman Desert Pipes (Phoenix): Triangle: Mary McKinney George Gunnels (480-706-6271) (773-764-1920) AMERICAN (919-489-2292) Arizona Central Highlands Chicago–West Suburban: RECORDER (Prescott): Georgeanne Hanna Judy Stephens (630-740-0880) Ohio (928-775-5856) Louisiana Greater Cleveland: Tucson: Scott Mason (520-721-0846) SOCIETY Baton Rouge: Edith Yerger (440-826-0716) inc. Arkansas Cody Sibley (225-505-0633) Toledo: Aeolus Konsort: New Orleans: Charles Terbille (419-536-3227) Honorary President Don Wold (501-666-2787) Victoria Blanchard (504-861-4289) Oregon Bella Vista: Barbara McCoy Erich Katz (1900-1973) Maryland Eugene: Lynne Coates (479-855-6477) Honorary Vice President Northern Maryland: (541-345-5235) California Winifred Jaeger Richard Spittel (410-242-3395) Oregon Coast: Corlu Collier Central Coast: Margery Seid Massachusetts (541-961-1228) (805-474-8538) Portland: Zoë Tokar (971-325-1060) Statement of Purpose East Bay: Susan Jaffe (510-482-4993) Boston: Betty Cohen (617-447-5412) Pennsylvania The mission of the American Recorder Society Inland Riverside: Greg Taber Recorders/Early Music (951-683-8744) Metro-West Boston: Sheila Bloomsburg Early Music Ens :. is to promote the recorder and its music by Monterey Bay: Susan Renison Beardslee (978-264-0584) Susan Brook (570-784-8363) developing resources and standards to help (831-335-5869) Worcester Hills: Doug Bittner Erie: Linda McWilliams (508-852-6877) people of all ages and ability levels to play and North Coast: Kathleen (814-868-3059) Michigan Philadelphia: study the recorder, presenting the instrument Kinkela-Love (707-822-8835) Orange County: Ann Arbor: Margaret Bond Sarah West (215-984-8923) to new constituencies, encouraging increased Jo Redmon (714-527-5070) (734-665-6597) Pittsburgh: Helen Thornton career opportunities for professional recorder Redding: Kay Hettich Kalamazoo: David W . Fischer (412-486-0482) (530-241-8107) (269-375-0457) Rhode Island performers and teachers, and enabling and Sacramento: Mark Schiffer Metropolitan Detroit: Claudia Rhode Island: supporting recorder playing as a shared social (916-685-7684) Novitzsky (248-548-5668) David Bojar (401-944-3395) experience. Besides this journal, ARS publishes San Diego County: Northwinds Recorder Society: Vanessa Evans (619-297-2095) Tennessee a newsletter, a personal study program, a Janet Smith (231-347-1056) San Francisco: Greta Hryciw Western Michigan: Jocelyn Shaw directory, and special musical editions. Society (415-377-4444) Greater Knoxville: ( 231-744-8248) Ann Stierli (828-877-5675) members gather and play together at chapter Sonoma County: Minnesota Dale Celidore (707-874-9524) Greater Nashville: Carol Vander Wal meetings, weekend and summer workshops, South Bay: Twin Cities: (615-226-2952) and many ARS-sponsored events throughout Liz Brownell (408-358-0878) Barbara Aslakson (952-545-3178) Southern Middle Tennessee (Tullahoma): Vicki Collinsworth the year. In 2009, the Society enters its Southern California: Missouri Sharon Holmes (310-379-2061) (931-607-9072) eighth decade of service to its constituents. St . Louis: Texas Colorado William Long (636-447-6191) Boulder: Mike Emptage Nevada Austin: Frank Shirley (512-832-5600) Board of Directors (970-667-3929) Dallas: Lisette Kielson, President Denver: Dick Munz (303-286-7909) Sierra Early Music Society: Alice Derbyshire (940-300-5345) Kathy Bohrer (775-393-9002) Laura Sanborn–Kuhlman, Fort Collins: Rio Grande: Cindy Henk (970-988-0160) New Hampshire Sylvia Burke (575-522-1742) Vice President; Fundraising Chair Early Music Society of Western CO: Monadnock: Utah Susan Richter, Secretary Bev Jackson (970-257-1692) Kristine Schramel (413-648-9916) Utah (Salt Lake): Mary Johnson Connecticut & Lynn Herzog (802-254-1223) Ann Stickney, Treasurer, Finance Chair, (801-272-9015) Membership Co-Chair Connecticut: Elise Jaeger New Jersey Vermont Matt Ross, Asst. Secretary; Governance Chair (203-792-5606) Bergen County: Eastern Connecticut: Mary Comins (201-489-5695) Monadnock: Bonnie Kelly, Asst. Treasurer; Joyce Goldberg (860-442-8490) & Reita Powell (201-944-2027) Kristine Schramel (413-648-9916) Membership Co-Chair District of Columbia Highland Park: Donna Messer & Lynn Herzog (802-254-1223) Virginia Mark Davenport, Program Chair Washington: Art Jacobson (732-828-7421) (301-983-1310) Montclair Early Music: Northern Virginia: Jeanne Lynch, Marketing/ Julianne Pape (845-943-0610) Edward Friedler (703-425-1324) Public Relations Chair Delaware Navesink: Lori Goldschmidt (732-922-2750) Shenandoah (Charlottesville): Nancy Buss Mark Dawson Brandywine: Roger Matsumoto Gary Porter (434-284-2995) (302-731-1430) Princeton: Orum Stringer Greg Higby Mary McCutcheon Tidewater (Williamsburg): Florida (215-295-7149) New Mexico Vicki H . Hall (757-784-2698) Ft . Myers: Sue Groskreutz Washington Staff (239-267-1752) Albuquerque: Bryan Bingham Kathy Sherrick, Administrative Director Largo/St . Petersburg: (505-299-0052) Moss Bay: James Verschaeve (253-249-4272) PO Box 220498 Elizabeth Snedeker (727-596-7813) Las Vegas (Flat & Baroque in Las Miami: Ruth Trencher (305-665-3380) Vegas): Tom Curtis (505-454-4232) Seattle: Tomo Morita (425-301-5767) Saint Louis MO 63122-0498 U.S. Orlando Consort: Sheri Grayson Rio Grande: Wisconsin Sylvia Burke (575-522-1742) 800-491-9588 toll free (407-299-3076) Milwaukee: Carole Goodfellow Palm Beach: Gail Hershkowitz Santa Fe: Gus Winter (505-603-8034) 314-961-1866 phone (262-763-8992) (561-732-5985) New York Southern Wisconsin: 866-773-1538 fax Sarasota: Buffalo: Mark Jay (716-649-1127) [email protected] Nancy Paxcia-Bibbins (941-536-0621) Greg Higby (608-256-0065) Hudson Mohawk: Canada www.AmericanRecorder.org Georgia Lee Danielson (518-785-4065) Atlanta: Long Island: Edmonton: Nils Hahn (780-443-3334) In accordance with the Internal Revenue Service Mickey Gillmor (404-872-0166) Barbara Zotz (631-421-0039) Montréal: Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2, passed by the United States Hawaii New York City: Gene Murrow Mary McCutcheon (514-271-6650) (646-342-8145) Toronto: Sharon Geens (416-699-0517) Congress in 1996, the American Recorder Society makes Hawaii: Irene Sakimoto (808-734-5909) freely available through its office financial and Rochester: Liz Seely (585-473-1463) Vancouver: Big Island: Roger Baldwin Rockland: Jacqueline Mirando Tony Griffiths (604-222-0457) incorporation documents complying with that regulation. (808-935-2306) (845-624-2150) West Hawaii Recorders: Westchester: Please contact the ARS office Marilyn Bernhardt (808-882-7251) Erica Babad (914-769-5236) to update chapter listings. 2 May 2012 American Recorder President’s Message ______Greetings from Lisette Kielson, ARS President [email protected]
his spring has presented me with lists and constructive criticism .You wonderful learning experiences— I draw the parallel attend ARS Festivals (join us in opportunitiesT to reach beyond my usual from an individual’s Portland, OR, this July!) comfort zone (I highly recommend The St . Louis Recorder Society it)—opportunities to observe, reflect need of support to that supported the ARS Board in March and (hopefully) gain insight . I was of an organization. by participating enthusiastically in the reminded that we don’t travel our jour- Playing Session held during the Board neys alone, at least not entirely . I was You show support for the ARS in meeting weekend in St . Louis, MO . reminded that relationships and feel- so many ways .You are members .You A heartfelt thank-you to them and to ings of connection (to one’s Self and make financial gifts and volunteer your members of the American Orff others) can be fragile, tenuous and services .You speak positively about the Schulwerk Association local chapter fleeting . I was reminded of how organization, spread the word, and who made it a wonderful evening! impactful it can be to offer and recruit new members .You participate And a thank-you to all for the receive support, and I witnessed in surveys and elections (It’s not too many meaningful, much appreciated, indirectly the effects of its absence . late to vote for your 2012 Board of ways in which you demonstrate your We all crave and need support, Directors!) .You send in ideas, wish support for the ARS! encouragement to lead healthy, ful- filled and happy lives . It’s a part of the human condition—recorder player or not, musician or not .When we are offered support, we feel nour- ished and nurtured .We are propelled forward to reach our highest poten- tial .When we don’t receive it in times of need we can feel isolated, weak and filled with doubt . My travels these last couple of months led me to think about this a lot—to ruminate on the issue of sup- port . How it, or the lack of it, can affect our personal and/or profes- sional lives . Continuing with this train of thought, I draw the parallel from an individual’s need of support to that of an organization . So here I tie in my personal reflections to the global ARS and to you, its membership . The ARS is a community of recorder lovers . Our community, our organization, relies on your support to be healthy and successful . And you deliver!
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 3 ______Tidings ______Berkeley Festival, blogging with Judy Linsenberg at Sitka EMA Events at 2012 Berkeley Festival Early Music America Young Performers Festival Early Music America (EMA) will astonishing creativity over the centu- present its second Young Performers ries . Highlights include concerts by: Wednesday, June 6, Festival Jordi Savall (YPF), following the success- • , rebec, bowed lyre 11a m. ,. San Francisco Conserva ful launch of this new initiative during and rebab, two programs, June tory of Music Baroque Ensemble, the 2011 Boston Early Music Festival . 9 & 10 .“A Dialogue of Souls ”. Corey Jamason, Elisabeth Reed, The YPF is set for June 6-8 as part of • Chanticleer, June 6 .“Music of Berkeley (CA) Festival & co-directors, “From Renaissance to the New Spain: Exploring California’s Baroque ”. Music for viols and voice Exhibition (BFX), June 3-10 . Missions & Mexico’s Cathedrals ”. Musica Pacifica, by Byrd, Morley, Holborne,Gibbons, The YPF features six concerts by • June 6 .“300 Castello, Marini,Vivaldi . university-based early music ensembles, Years On: A Dance Collection and will also offer coaching and net- from the Reign of Louis XIV,” 2:30 p m. ,. University of California working to student participants .Twice- Judith Linsenberg, recorder; Eliza at Berkeley Baroque Chamber daily concerts are open to the public beth Blumenstock, violin; Debra Ensemble, Davitt Moroney, director, ($10 suggested donation at the door) . Nagy, oboe; Josh Lee, viola da “An Exploration of Baroque Music Four of the university-based early gamba; Charles Sherman, harpsi- Across Europe ”. Music for ’cello music ensembles have been awarded chord; with guest dancers . Voices of Music (Domenico Gabrielli), recorder College-Level Ensemble Grants by • , Hanneke van (Telemann, Handel), harpsichord EMA to help underwrite their YPF Proosdij, David Tayler, directors, (Girolamo Frescobaldi, J . J . Fro travel expenses .The grant-winning June 9 .“Roman Holiday ”. berger, Louis Couperin); soprano ensembles are from Case Western • Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players arias of 17th-century Italian and Reserve University, Stanford Univer- , June 3 . French operas and cantatas . sity, University of North Texas and “Beethoven Songs and Haydn University of Southern California . Trios,” Dominique Labelle, Thursday, June 7 EMA will also offer a free music soprano; Elizabeth Blumenstock, 11a m. ,. University of North Texas marketplace of about 40 vendors— violin; Phoebe Carrai, violoncello; Collegium Singers, Richard Sparks, instrument makers, music publishers, Nicholas McGegan, fortepiano . Blue Heron director,“Victoria Requiem ”. The bookstores, early music workshops and • , Scott Metcalfe, Requiem Mass (1605) of Tomas Luis service organizations . Exhibition dates director, June 7 .“Song of Songs/ de Victoria, scored for six-part choir . are: June 7, 12-6 p m. ;. June 8, 10 a m. -. Songs of Love,” Sacred Polyphony 6 p m. ;. June 9, 10 a m. -5. p m. . and Spanish Love Songs . Stanford University American Bach Soloists 2:30 p m. ,. The 2012 BFX is presented by the • , Jeffrey Baroque Ensemble, Marie-Louise San Francisco Early Music Society, Cal Thomas, music director, June 8 . Catsalis, director, “Alessandro Scar Performances and EMA, with Ameri “Tribute to Laurette Goldberg,” latti and his circle: cantatas and can Bach Soloists, Agave Baroque, an evening of Bach (Trauerode, serenatas ”. Works newly-edited Chanticleer, Magnificat, New Ester double-chorus motets Singet dem by students from manuscripts in házy Quartet, Philharmonia Baroque Herrn and Fürchte dich nicht). Munich, Montecassino and Berkeley Orchestra and Voices of Music . Self-produced concerts will also The festival theme, “A Musical happen on “The Fringe ”. For a list of Friday, June 8 Mosaic,” traces how Western music has concerts and events, and to purchase 11 a m. ,. Case Western Reserve been profoundly shaped by encounters tickets, see www.bfx.berkeley.edu . University Baroque Ensemble and http://berkeley-festival.org/ and cross-fertilization of adventurers Also visit Collegium Musicum, Julie Andri artists, migrants and traders—sparking the-fringe/129-2/ and www.earlymusic. org/ema-2012-berkeley-festival. jeski, Debra Nagy, coaches, “Milk 4 May 2012 American Recorder for early instruments, celebrated its and Honey: Sumptuous Music of Bits & Pieces 10-year anniversary with an April con- the Seventeenth Century ”. Works cert .To commemorate the occasion, for instruments and voices by Hein the Recorder Music Center at Regis rich Biber, Tarquinio Merula, Gio commissioned a new work by com- vanni Sances, Claudio Monteverdi . Judy Linsenberg is currently the poser and music faculty member recorder resident at the Sitka Center Loretta Notareschi . Her re-imagining 2:30 p m. ,. University of Southern for Art and Ecology (OR), a residency (for chorus, recorders, dulcian and California Thornton Baroque supported in part by an ARS Profes handbells) of the famous Medieval Sinfonia, Adam Gilbert, director, sional Grant . Her activities can be round, Sumer is icumen in, was pre- “Ars longa, vita brevis, or Only the followed via the ARS blog page, miered at the concert .The collegium, Good Die Young: Music from the http://americanrecorder.org/blogs; directed by founder Mark Davenport, Thirty Years War ”. Works by com- click on “Sitka 2012” in the top menu . is one of a handful of university ensem- posers affected by the disastrous The Regis University (CO) Col bles focusing on early music .To hear Thirty Years War: Johannes Vier legium Musicum, a vocal/instrumental two works performed by the group for danck, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti ensemble that specializes in Ren the January meeting of the Colorado and Dario Castello, whose lives aissance and Medieval music as well as Music Educators Association, visit were cut short by fever during the contemporary works arranged/scored www.youtube.com/collegiumchannel . mid-17th century . Singers, continuo, violins, winds; instruments will Provincetown Bookshop Editions improvise on grounds in 17th- century style during interludes . “GO FOR NEO-BAROQUE!” Andrew Charlton: Partita Piccola. For 4 Recorders (SATB) [Prelude; Allemande; Courante; Musette— a neo-baroque epitome!] (Score & Parts, PBE-25) . . . $7.95 Andrew Charlton: Suite Moderne. For 3 Recorders (ATB) [Baroque shapes but Hindemithian harmony] (3 Playing-Scores, PBE-44) ...... $9.95
Southwest of Baroque. David Goldstein’s “baroque Suite” on Cowboy Songs. For 2 Recorders (SA) (PBE-2) . . $3.50
A good source for Recorder & Viol Music of all publishers. The Provincetown Bookshop, Inc. 246 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657 Tel. (508)487-0964
Honeysuckle Music
Recorders & accessories ... Music for recorders & viols
Jean Allison Olson 1604 Portland Ave. St. Paul, MN 55104 651.644.8545 [email protected]
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 5 Recorders in New York City to Crawford’s tempos with bright, Consonancias, the duo of Paul focused sound . Leenhouts, Renaissance recorders, By Anita Randolfi, New York City, NY Later in the program, Franco was and Gabe Shuford, harpsichord and heard in a suite of dance movements organ, presented a program titled On the St . Bartholomew’s Church excerpted from Handel’s Water Music . “D’amours me plains: embellished Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, “La Ser He sat to one side of the stage with chansons and madrigals of the enissima - Music of Venice and Her the orchestra, leaving room for chore- 16th and 17th centuries ”. They Others” was offered January 20 . La ographer and dancer Carlos Fittante were part of Music Before 1800 Hell’s Serenissima—i.e., the Most Serene to present his interpretations of the Kitchen, a new series presented at the Republic of Venice—was represented dances .Though not strictly a solo part, DiMenna Center in the (now quite by music of Claudio Monteverdi, Bar Franco’s soprano recorder playing upscale) Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood . bara Strozzi and Giovanni Antonio tended to dominate the ensemble This program consisted of 15 Rigatti; portraying her “others” —i.e., sound . During the repeats, he freely pieces from the French, Italian and Venice’s trading partners—was tradi- embellished the melody lines . Spanish repertories . Often based on tional music of Armenia, Arab–Anda The concert ended with Franco well-known popular tunes, these tunes lusia, Turkey, Cyprus and Bulgaria . as sopranino recorder soloist in the required musicians to add their own Venice was a great commercial Concerto in D major, RV428, “Il Cardel improvised diminutions (fast notes) . city and seaport, dominating the east- lino,” by Vivaldi . Playing from mem- Performers could refer to many con- ern Mediterranean world through ory, he favored very fast tempos and temporary manuals with melodic for- the 17th century .The government extensive ornaments . He had a witty mulas and cadences . It was from these of Venice accommodated its foreign take on the goldfinch calls (which give treatises (often directed to wind play- communities with districts of their the piece its nickname) sprinkled ers) that the players drew their inspira- own, places where the traditional through the first movement Allegro . tion—but rather than perform music music of these communities could be The final Allegro was taken at a from the treatises as written, they heard . Recorder player Nina Stern, very quick tempo . He devised a long, composed new diminutions, thus along with Ara Dinkjian, oud, and intricate cadenza displaying his tech- returning to the original intent of the the brilliant percussionist Glen Velez, nical work with just about every con- treatises . For this program, Leenhouts presented the traditional music . ceivable combination of fingers . It was was responsible for “all arrangements I particularly admired Stern’s dazzling—but also too long, suggest- and additional diminutions ”. florid and legato tenor recorder work . ing something more likely found in a In a program like this, a certain From the Venetian repertory, it was a collection of advanced technical exer- amount of sameness cannot be delight to hear her soprano recorder in cises than a reflection on the concerto . avoided, but the performers kept it the canonic duet with soprano soloist “Il Cardellino” is in D major, so it interesting by frequently changing Jessica Gould in Monteverdi’s Cic often calls for tricky high F# . Franco among recorder sizes and between cona Zeffiro torno .The continuo play- used a box device to “bell” occurrences keyboards . Among the many interest- ers were Daniel Swenberg, theorbo, of that note in tune, a tactic requiring ing pieces, I especially liked Un gai and Bradley Brookshire, harpsichord . virtuoso moves on his part .The audi- bergier by Rogniono, and Mudarra’s The February 11 program given ence and this listener loved it . Recurde el alman dormida: Gallarda . by the American Classical Orches tra (ACO) at the New York Society for Ethical Culture had a strong prescott recorder component, featuring Horacio Franco and Nina Stern . Thomas Crawford Workshop , who conducts 14 Grant Road from the harpsichord, is also ACO’s Hanover, New Hampshire music director and founder . 03755 • USA The program, “Wind Power,” 603.643.6442 Phone began with a spirited reading of the email: [email protected] www.prescottworkshop.com Brandenburg Concerto No.4 in G by J S. . Bach; both recorder players responded Devoted to making recorders of the finest possible quality for nearly 40 years.
6 May 2012 American Recorder THE RECORDER IN PRINT: 2010 WHAT’S BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE RECORDER IN OTHER PUBLICATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
History and General By David Lasocki In German, the transverse flute and the recorder are both forms of Flöte .The Lexikon der Flöte (lexicon of the flute) The author writes about woodwind instruments, their history, published by Laaber-Verlag therefore includes a great deal repertory, and performance practices. The third edition of his book of material about the recorder: writers of treatises, acoustics, with Richard Griscom, The Recorder: A Research and types of instruments, composers, makers and manufacturers, Information Guide, has just been published by Routledge. performance practice, playing technique, players, types of ensemble, and forms .The major articles on the recorder— He recently won the Frances Densmore Prize from the American acoustics, history, repertoire, treatises, historical making, Musical Instrument Society for the most distinguished article- ensembles, family—are by Nikolaj Tarasov, Hans Reiners, length work in English published in 2010 for his two-part Karel van Steenhoven and Jürgen Eppelsheim . Other con- article, “New Light on the Early History of the Keyed Bugle.” tributors include myself on Barsanti, the Bassano family, Bressan, Ganassi, the Hotteterre family, the Loeillet family, Since he retired from his position as Head of Reference Services Moeck, Paisible, Schickhardt, sixth flute and Vetter . in the Cook Music Library at Indiana University in January This doorstop of a book is handsomely printed 2011, he has been devoting himself to many unfinished and bound . Lexikon der Flöte: Flöteninstrumente und ihre writings and editions, to his own publishing company Baugeschichte—Spielpraxis—Komponisten und ihre Werke— Instant Harmony, and to the practice of energy medicine. Interpreten, herausgegeben von András Adorján und See his web site, www.instantharmony.net . Lenz Meierott mit einem Geleitwort von Aurèle Nicolet (Laaber, Germany: Laaber-Verlag, 2009) . This report, the twenty-second and last in a series, covers books It may come as a surprise that what we have known and articles published in 2010 that advance our knowledge of until recently of the history of the recorder in the 17th and the recorder, its makers and players, its performance practice 18th centuries has largely been reconstructed from a limited and technique, its repertory, and its depiction in works of art number of sources: methods (tutors) and treatises, the music, in the past or present. To save space, articles that appeared in a small fraction of the surviving instruments, and an even American Recorder are omitted. A few previously unreported smaller fraction of the surviving works of art .The ready items are also included. Readers can obtain most items through availability of other types of sources has been revolutionizing libraries (either in person at a large music library or from their our view of this history .The “new” sources that I have been local library via interlibrary loan). exploring myself in the past several years include inventories of instruments and newspaper advertisements . Readers may Meet the author at the ARS Festival this July, where he will recall some of my articles that draw on this material, and also offer a session on what we’ve learned in the past 20 years another is described under “Instrument Makers and about the history of the recorder, and have a vendor’s table Making” below . exhibiting his company, Instant Harmony. As the first book available from my own publishing house, Instant Harmony, I have made available some of the Acknowledgments: For sending sources and providing “raw material” of recorder history for you to explore yourself . other support during the preparation of this review the Earlier I published material from inventories in the period author would like to thank Sabine Haase-Moeck and 1388-1630 . For the new book I covered the period 1630- Moeck Musikinstrumente+Verlag, Nikolaj Tarasov and 1800, including not only inventories but British and Ameri Conrad Mollenhauer GmbH, Bernard Gordillo, John can newspapers, other English-language newspapers Turner and David Fallows, and his former colleagues (Canada, India, Jamaica), as well as Dutch newspapers (dis- at Indiana University. covered by Jan Bouterse) and Dutch auction catalogs (col- lected by Gerard Verloop) . Appendices cover Dutch refer- ences to the recorder and flageolet, 1801-50; references to
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 7 William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle recorders; the nine- Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte 73 teenth, the small dis- (Augsburg: Wißner; Michaelstein: cant recorder, has been Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein, 2009), given to His Grace 299-330; Lasocki, “New Light on the Duke Maximilian to Recorder and Flageolet in Colonial learn . .” . Another mon- North America and the United States, arch learning to play 1700-1840, from Newspaper Adver the recorder . tisements,” Journal of the American Duty on merchan- Musical Instrument Society 35 (2009): dise imported into 5-80; available as a free download England in 1660: at http://instantharmony.net/Music/ “Recorders, the set of miscellaneous.php . case, containing five In the early 19th century, a few recorders £1 ”. Where encyclopedias still mention the recorder were they imported as a living instrument . But, besides sur- from—France? viving instruments from that century, Germany? We know what evidence do we have that they there were several were actually being used? the recorder in American newspapers, English makers, so As one indication, Nik Tarasov has 1800-15; and additions to the listings why did people import them? unearthed some intriguing examples of for 1388-1630 . All material in foreign Archduke Siegmund Franz of Baroque recorders that were modified languages (Dutch, French, German, Innsbruck, Austria, owned “23 large by later makers . In Budapest there is a Italian, Spanish) is translated into and smaller recorders . (Eight recorders basset recorder by Johann Christoph English . from Vienna)” in 1665 .Were his musi- Denner (1655-1707) to which some- Readers, I know inventories and cians still using them? one added a closed key for the low G#, ads may sound a bit dull, but these The composer Jacob van Noordt similar to the D# key on a traverso .“The listings inspire the imagination to in Amsterdam went bankrupt in idea of such a note produced with a key flights of fancy . Let me give you a few 1671; his bankruptcy inventory lists is archetypical of csakans and flageolets examples . A chieftain in Colombia “18 recorders ”. He spent too much in the first decade of the nineteenth bequeathed “an entire set of shawms money on recorders, perhaps? We all century,” so we may assume the instru- with their recorders, all new” in 1633 . know the feeling . And so on . . . David ment was “modernized” then . A similar What have you heard about the early Lasocki, A Listing of Inventories, Sales, key is found on an alto recorder by history of the recorder in Latin and Advertisements relating to Flutes, Nikolaus Staub (1664-1734) that was America? Precious little, I’ll bet . Recorders, and Flageolets, 1631-1800 auctioned at Sotheby’s in 2007 . The Duke of Newcastle owned (Bloomington, IN: Instant Harmony, Both the Denner basset in Buda www. a “flute recorder” in 1636 .Was that a 2010; available as an e-book from pest and an alto recorder by Johann instantharmony.net/Music/available. flute with a recorder mouthpiece? Benedikt Gahn (1674-1711) in Leip php A citizen of Córdoba, Argentina, ); Lasocki, “A Listing of Inven- zig have had their thumbholes altered owned “49 small wooden recorders” tories and Purchases of Flutes, Record by inserting a plug of ivory containing a in 1643 .What on earth did he do ers, Flageolets, and Tabor Pipes, narrowed hole, again in the manner of http:// with them all? 1388-1630,” available from early 19th-century csakans and flageo- library.music.indiana.edu/reference/ A brewer in Delft bequeathed his lets .Tarasov goes on to wonder how inventoriesto1630.pdf son “the consort of Nuremberg record- ; Lasocki, these innovations were used by per- ers and music books he was given when “Lessons from Inventories and Sales formers of the time .“Old or new reper- he left for Heusden” in 1653 . Recorders of Flutes and Recorders, 1650-1800,” toire? Solo or in ensemble?” Tarasov, from Nuremberg were famous, here in Flötenmusik in Geschichte und Auf “Barockblockflöten 2 0:. Indizien für finding their way to a citizen in The führungspraxis zwischen 1650 und 1850: die Verwendung von Barockblockflöten Netherlands for his son’s house music . XXXIV. Wissenschaftliche Arbeitstagung um 1800,” Windkanal 2010–1, 12-15 . At the Court of Bavaria in 1655, Michaelstein, 5. bis 7. Mai 2006, heraus- Dale Higbee reminds us that the an inventory lists “A very large black gegeben von Boje E . Hans Schmuhl voice flute (in d' ) and sixth flute (in d"), case, therein eighteen small and large in Verbindung mit Ute Omonsky, which played a modest role in the late 8 May 2012 American Recorder century .Then he misses the significant Repertoire The composer Jacob van fact that the original “English flageolet” In an article about flutes and recorders Noordt in Amsterdam was a recorder under a more trendy in the orchestras of Jean-Baptiste Lully name . and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, went bankrupt in 1671; He spends the most time on the Philippe Allain-Dupré notes that double and triple flageolet, then briefly scholars have stated that the plain his bankruptcy inventory covers the flute–flageolet and the word flute (flûte) in France in the 17th lists “18 recorders.” He French flageolet . He quotes from a century always referred to the recorder . Parisian Divertimento by John Parry He even attributes this statement to spent too much money for the interesting combination of me in “dozens” of e-mail messages to single flageolet, double flageolet and him . If I ever said anything so dog- on recorders, perhaps? piano . And he concludes with a look matic, I hereby withdraw it, because We all know the feeling. at the flageolet as performed by both even one piece of contradictory evi- amateurs and professionals . dence would make the statement null Baroque era, “have gradually become The second article, positing that and void, and I am open to examining more appreciated” today . In a short arti- the csakan and the flageolet constituted all the surviving evidence . cle that I overlooked earlier (my apolo- “the alternative recorder” in the 19th One of the purposes of Allain- gies to him), he describes how two century, is based on two arguable prop- Dupré’s article is to discuss one such other sizes of recorder can be useful to ositions: first, that the csakan is “a dif- piece of evidence: the second flute part the modern player: what the Baroque ferent instrument from the recorder, in Lully’s celebrated “Sommeil” from called the third flute (in a1) and the although it is clearly a close relative— Act III of the opera Atys, LWV53 1) fourth flute (in bb . Readers may recall a duct flute of the early Romantic (1676) .The published livret (libretto) that this naming-convention works period of definitive origin and with its names “Six Songes jouants de la flûte” by the interval above the alto in F . own particular repertoire and organo- (six dreamers playing the recorder), Because the third flute requires the logical development ”. Second, it pres- but there are only two parts for flutes, ents as fact that the English flageolet 1 2 same third-transposition as the oboe in G1 clef with the ranges g -bb and d’amore, Higbee has found it suitable was derived from a combination of e1-g2 .The players, at least two of for playing oboe d’amore music such the French flageolet and the recorder . whom were known as the earliest as J . S . Bach’s Concerto in A major, In any case, what I suppose he performers on the new Baroque believed to be the original version of means is that these two instruments transverse flute, evidently performed the keyboard concerto BWV1055, and were an alternative to the recorder . But three to a part . Concerto in D major, the supposed the csakan was a recorder, regardless of Here the range of the second part original of BWV1053, as well as an aria its origin: a duct flute with a thumb- is puzzling .Was it intended for alto from the Easter oratorio . Higbee likes hole and seven fingerholes . And the recorder and the e1 an oversight? Or the fourth flute for “music composed English flageolet, as I have said, was was it intended for tenor recorder, left for oboe or violin written in keys with but a recorder with a fashionable name . in G1 clef rather than the C1 clef we flats ”. That requires thinking of What happened to all duct flutes would expect from Lully’s practice else- soprano fingerings and transposing a in the 19th century is a remarkable where? tone higher (“With a little practice one story . Both English and French types More likely, Lully intended this can do this at sight”) . He appends a of flageolet underwent considerable part for the transverse flute, an instru- list of 15 suitable pieces by Bach, development, adding keywork in the ment for which the G1 clef would be Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi . Higbee, manner of the Boehm flute .The appropriate .Then flutes would be con- “On Playing the 3rd Flute & 4th Flute csakan did the same, then abruptly strued in the sense of “members of the (Recorders in a' and b flat'),” Recorder fell out of fashion around the middle flute family ”. Allain-Dupré supports Magazine 27, no . 3 (autumn 2007): 91 . of the 19th century . MacMillan, “The this interpretation: “To play these two I have reservations about two English Flageolet, 1800-1900,” Early parts correctly using transverse flutes recent articles by Douglas MacMillan . Music 38, no . 4 (November 2010): 559- therefore seems to be indispensable, The first, on the English flageolet in 70; “‘The Alternative Recorder’: The perhaps in unison with the alto record- the 19th century, begins with some Csakan and the Flageolet in the Nine ers who don’t play the low E in the sec- doubtful history of the flageolet, not to teenth Century,” Recorder Magazine 30, ond part . . or else three alto recorders mention small duct flutes in the 18th no . 1 (spring 2010): 13-17 .
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 9 on the first part and three transverse Gottfried (Godfrey) Finger flutes on the second ”. (c 1660-1730),. a Moravian composer One piece of supporting evidence and gambist, arrived in England in I have found for the occasional flute as 1686-87 to serve under the Roman transverse flute: Charpentier has such Catholic monarch James II .When a pairing of alto recorder (flute a bec) James fled to France in 1688, Finger and transverse flute (fl allem) in his began a career as an independent Orphée descendant aux Enfers, H 471. performer, composer and concert (1683-84); and at the beginning of the promoter . second system, when the parts have to In 1701, Finger left the country, be indicated on a single stave, he writes reportedly disgruntled that he was “flutes,” clarifying it as “fl al et a bec” in awarded last place in a composing the third measure of the system when competition . Before leaving England, the instruments double the part . Finger sold a large collection of his One piece of evidence in favor music to two of his colleagues, John of flexibility for “flute” parts: Lully’s Banister II and Gottfried Keller, pre- “Sommeil” made an enormous impres- sumably to pay his travel expenses as sion on Charles II of England in 1676, well as his living expenses until he only six months after its premiere at found new employment . Saint-Germain, when it was performed Peter Holman has now turned up by French singers with French musi- the published catalog of that collection, Conductor Peter Holman cians who, according to a report by the which sheds some light on the reper- (who sometimes appears French ambassador, “jouent fort bien de toire of the famous concerts Finger co- with a different Peter— la fluste” (play the flute very well) . promoted at York Buildings, London . recorderist Peter Holtslag The musicians in question, We can now ascertain that the con- and The Parley of who evidently came over with the certs employed an orchestra of up to Instruments). French opera composer Robert 30 instrumentalists, including strings, Cambert, included James Paisible, oboes (doubling recorders), probably the best-known recorder player of his bassoon, trumpets, timpani and two day; and there is no surviving evidence continuo instruments .The sale of tick- that he played the transverse flute or ets alone could hardly have supported indeed that this instrument was sig- such a large number, so Holman sug- nificant in England until at least the gests “events of this sort were partly 1690s; on the contrary, in the 1710s financed by a group of aristocrats Paisible took up a different flute- prepared to pay much more than instrument capable of making dynam- the advertised ticket price ”. ics, the echo flute—probably a joined As for the music Finger wrote pair of recorders, each having different for the recorder, two sonatas listed in dynamic and tonal characteristics . the catalog—one for two violins, two Citing operas by André Campra recorders, tenor violin and basso con- and Marin Marais, Allain-Dupré states tinuo; and one for recorder, viola da in his conclusions that “the ambiguity gamba and basso continuo—have not of the word flute in French instrumen- survived .The three sonatas for four tation persists until around 1700 ”. recorders and basso continuo presum- Allain-Dupré, “Les flûtes traversière ably included the anonymous surviving et à bec dans les orchestres de Lully et one in G major in the British Library, Charpentier,” Tempo flûte, no . 3 which its modern editor tentatively (December 2010-May 2011): 17-22; attributed to another colleague of John Buttrey, “New Light on Robert Finger’s, James Paisible . Cambert in London, and his Ballet Curiously, Finger’s sonatas for de Musique,” Early Music 23, no . 2 two recorders, two oboes and basso (May 1995): 205-7 . continuo are described as being “in 10 May 2012 American Recorder 2 Chorus’s,” a designation that else- very high esteem . Mattheson called where in the catalog refers to two ...we have neglected one him ‘the greatest opera composer in the vying instrumental groups .This may of the most prolific and world,’ and Scheibe considered him have meant that the parts were dou- idiomatic composers for ‘perhaps the most original musical bled, but perhaps it just refers to the the recorder in the late genius that Germany has ever pro- tendency of the recorders and oboes Baroque era: Reinhard duced ’. He had a profound and lasting to vie with each other . Holman, “The impact on the style of Handel, who, Sale Catalogue of Gottfried Finger’s Keiser (1674-1739). moreover, borrowed countless melodic Music Library: New Light on London Bach worked there—and wrote a few ideas from Claudius, Octavia and other Concert Life in the 1690s,” Research operas for the Court of Braunschweig- operas . Chronicle [Royal Musical Associa- Wolfenbüttel in 1694-98 . “Yet even at the height of his tion] 43 (2010): 23-38; James Paisible Then from 1696 or ’97, on and off fame Keiser’s operas were scarcely per- (attrib ),. Sonata for Four Treble (Alto) until about 1728, paralleling the fluctu- formed outside Hamburg and Bruns Recorders and Harpsichord (Piano), ed . ating fortunes of his workplace, Keiser wick, and after the collapse of the Layton Ring (London: Schott, 1955) . was the main house composer for the Hamburg Opera in 1738 they virtually Lucia Becker Carpena’s doctoral Hamburg Opera at the Gänsemarkt disappeared from the stage and seem dissertation (in Portuguese) demon- (Goosemarket) Theater . He wrote at to have been largely forgotten except strates in glorious detail how we have least 66 operas, of which fewer than by connoisseurs . . . to date the modern neglected one of the most prolific and a third have survived, although that revival of Baroque opera has largely idiomatic composers for the recorder includes “largely complete scores of passed him by, probably because of the in the late Baroque era: Reinhard 19 operas and substantial portions of formidable demands he often makes on Keiser (1674-1739), the foremost several others” (New Grove) . performers, the disconcerting mixture German opera composer of the day . John Roberts writes of Keiser in of languages [German and Italian], and Keiser was trained at the Thomasschule New Grove: “Among 18th-century a tendency among twentieth-century in Leipzig—of course, long before J . S . German musicians Keiser was held in listeners to approach him with expecta-
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www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 11 Example 1. Reinhard Keiser, Adonis, tions based on the very different styles “Angenehmste westen Winde,” mm. 53-57. of Bach and Handel . “Keiser was the first great figure in German operatic history . If he failed Alto Recorder 1 to establish a truly national genre and even contributed to the increasing ital- Alto Recorder 2 ianization of the existing form, he nonetheless raised German dramatic Violin I music to a new level, matching if not surpassing the achievements of his Violin II principal French and Italian contem- poraries . It is unfortunate that so much of his music is lost and that dur- Soprano Solo (Venus) ing his final years, when his creative An - - - - - ge nehm ste powers were at their peak, he should have had so few opportunities for Violoncello composing entirely new operas ”. Carpena established that, of the 2 surviving operas, only Hercules und 3 Hebe (1706), Desiderius (1709) and Tomyris (1717) do not have recorders in the instrumentation . No fewer than 20 operas feature the recorder: Adonis (1697), Janus (1698), La Forza della virtù (1700, rev . 1718), Pomona (1702), Claudius (1703), Nebucadnezar (1704), Octavia (1705), Masaniello furioso (1706), Almira (1706), Carneval von Venedig (1707), Orpheus (1709), Arsinoe (1710), Croesus (1711, rev . 1730), we sten Win de, Heraclius (1712), Fredegunda (1715), Tomyris (1717), Ulisses (1722), Cupido (1724), Jodelet (1726) and Circe (1734) . Collectively these operas include
5 59 arias and eight other movements (for example, a “Sommeil” in Masaniello furioso) with recorder parts .The record- ers are scored mostly in pairs (44 arias), but also singly or in unison (11), in threes (2), four (1) and five (1), some- times in unison or octaves with other instruments such as the violin, viola, ’cello and zuffolo (perhaps bagpipe, today frequently performed by a sopranino recorder or piccolo) . Keiser uses recorders with the an same symbolisms and associations as other composers: the representation of nature (wind, flowers, forest), birds, sleep, and love fulfilled . But he also puts recorders in what Carpena calls
12 May 2012 American Recorder Recorder I “unusual contexts”: love that is unful- Example 2. Keiser, La Forza, “Enttschläfft ihr Sinnen.” filled, suffering or unhappy; farewell, Recorder II lament or despair; irony; and magic . Recorder I Despite Carpena’s careful analysis and background material, I couldn’t Soprano Solo Recorder(Clotilde) II wait to get to her Appendix IV, where we finally get to see some musical examples from these arias .The first Ent- schlafft i- hr Sin- nen, ent- schlafft ihr Soprano Solo Violoncello(Clotilde) comes from Keiser’s earliest surviving Hamburg opera, Adonis: the aria “Angenehmste western Winde,” scored Ent- schlafft i- hr Sin- nen, ent- schlafft ihr for two alto recorders, two pizzicato Violoncello violins, soprano voice (Venus), and basso continuo .The recorders are allot- 6 ted breezy dotted 16th-note figures in thirds, perhaps representing “the most pleasant western wind,” against the vio- 6 lins and voice mostly in eighth notes (Example 1) . Keiser can create the most haunt- 2 13 ing affects from the simplest of figures, as we see in the sleep aria “Enttschläfft ihr Sinnen” from La Forza (Example 2) . Sin- nen, ent- schlafft In contrast, there is a brilliant bird- imitation aria with three recorders, 2 13 Sin- nen, ent- schlafft ent- schlafft, ent- schlafft, ent- schlafft i- hr Sin- nen, entschlafft,
ent- schlafft, ent- schlafft, ent- schlafft i- hr Sin- nen, entschlafft,
20
20 schlafft, ent - schlafft. www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 13
schlafft, ent - schlafft. SWEETHEART “Seliger Stand!” from Masaniello furioso, reminiscent of Handel’s “Augelletti” Recorder FLUTE CO. from Rinaldo, but written five years Lessons Baroque Flutes: our own earlier (Example 3) . “Sweetheart” model in your Fifes, Flageolettes In another bird aria, “Du ange “Irish” Flutes & Whistles. nehme Nachtigal” from Ulysses, I was Send for brochure and/or own antique flute list. astonished to see a top part for “Violini con Flauto” (violins with recorder) and home Example 3 32 South Maple Street Enfield, CT 06082 a second part marked “Flauto d’Echo” Example 3 (860) 749-4494 Keiser, "Seliger Stand!" (echo flute) . I had hoped for a clue www.PatrickRecorder.com [email protected] Example 3 www.sweetheartflute.comKeiser, "Seliger Stand!" about the famous Fiauti d’Echo prob- lem in Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg Alto Recorder 1 Keiser, "Seliger Stand!" Example 3. Keiser, Masaniello furioso, “Seliger Stand!” Concerto, but here the echo-flute Alto Recorder 1 part simply echoes the top part with- Alto Recorder 21 out any notated dynamics; perhaps Alto Recorder 2 the instrument was offstage to create Alto Recorder 3 the contrast . Alto Recorder 2 Alto Recorder 3 Masaniello furioso also includes an aria with recorder obbligato, “Philo AltoBaritone Recorder Solo 3 (Antonio) mele, kräusle die Züge,” where the Baritone Solo (Antonio) recorder sets up furious virtuoso figura- Baritone Solo tion soon taken up by the soprano voice (Antonio) Violoncello (Example 4) . Moreover, the opera fea- Violoncello tures an “Aria con tutti le Flauti all’uni sono” (aria with all the recorders, proba- 2 Violoncello bly actually only two, in unison), “Non 2 mi mirate”; it has a tortured, almost p 2 Bachian melodic line .The aria is unu p sual in beginning with the unaccompa- p nied recorder part, then switching to a p duet with the soprano voice, including p striking sections in unison, before the basso continuo accompaniment finally enters in m . 11 (Example 5) . Se - - We could be forgiven for presum- Se - - ing that many of Keiser’s recorder Se - - obbligatos were in the style of Handel, 2 Bach or Telemann, but these masters 4 2 were all indebted to him . Perhaps the 4 last word should go to Quantz (1752): f Keiser “seems to have been born with f an agreeable disposition for singing f and a rich inventiveness, and thus f enhanced the new [i.e., Italian] manner of singing in a most advantageous way . Good taste in music in Germany unde- niably has much to thank him for ”. ------li- ger Stand! Clearly, recorder players have ------li- ger Stand! much to thank him for as well . Carpena, “Caracterização e uso da flauta doce nas óperas de Reinhard 14 May 2012 American Recorder In his youth Handel The Recorder Magazine learned to play the Example 4 we invite you to visit the site violin, recorder and oboe. www.recordermail.demon.co.uk Example 4 Keiser, "Philomele" Keiser (1674-1739)” (doctoral diss ,. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Example 4. Keiser, Masaniello furioso , “Philomele.” Keiser, "Philomele" Alto Recorder Brazil, 2007) . Siegbert Rampe writes on “new AltoSoprano Recorder Solo (Aloysia) and old things” about Handel’s recorder sonatas .The old is a summary of the Soprano Solo current knowledge of the autographs (Aloysia) Violoncello and prints of the sonatas, as well as their dating . In the “new” he makes a brilliant case for the sonatas having Violoncello 2 been written for Handel to play with his student Anne, Princess Royal 2 (1709-59), the eldest daughter of England’s future King George II . Anne’s governess, Lady Jane Martha Bentinck, Countess of Port land, recorded in a diary entry for her in 1723: “4 jusqua 5 ou jouer du clavesin ou lire; apres jouer avec Handel” (between 4 4:00 and 5:00 either play the harpsi- chord or read; afterwards play with Handel) . She is known to have played 4 the flute, “which in that era doubtless (still) assumes a secure association Phi- lo - me - le, Phi- lo - me - le, with the recorder ”. Besides keyboard instruments, in Phi- lo - me - le, Phi- lo - me - le, his youth Handel learned to play the violin, recorder and oboe . So composer 2 and royal student would have been able 6 to alternate playing the recorder part and realizing the basso continuo on the harpsichord . (In the autograph manu- scripts and prime copies, the works are kraus le die Zu - ge, always designated Sonata a Flauto e Cembalo, not for flauto and continuo ). We can also assume that Anne’s younger sisters Amelia and Caroline 7 Elizabeth would have had a similar musical education, including playing the recorder .The royal sisters could thus have played the sonatas among themselves . Both arrangements would kraus le die Zu ge der lok ken den Keh le die Zu ge der lok ken den account for the generally modest tech- nical demands of the recorder part, but the high musical value of the sonatas .
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 15 Example 5
Keiser, "Non mi mirate"
Example 5 Alto Recorder Example 5 Keiser, "Non mi mirate" Count Aloys Thomas Raymund SopranoExample Solo 5. Keiser, Masaniello furioso, “Non mi mirate.”Keiser, "Non mi mirate" (Mariane) Harrach (1669-1742), now housed Alto Recorder “in two very different places on this Alto Recorder earth: the Austrian State Archives in Soprano Solo Violoncello(Mariane) Vienna and the New York Public Soprano Solo (Mariane) Library ”. Schneider mentions, but does not discuss, more than 20 previ- 3 ously unknown recorder sonatas, Violoncello mostly by Italian composers, presum- Violoncello ably commissioned when Harrach 3 served the Holy Roman Emperor 3 Non mi mi- ra - te, no, mi - ra - te. Karl VI in Naples . These sonatas are now appearing 2 7 in editions by Johannes Pausch for Edition Musiklandschaften in Non mi mi - ra - te, no, mi- ra - te. Hamburg . A concerto in G minor Non mi mi- ra - te, no, mi- ra - te. 5 attributed to Telemann has already 2 appeared in print (Edition Walhall) 7 vo- glio nuo- ve, nuo- ve pe- ne, non mi mi- ra - te no, non vo- glio no, no, and on CD . 5 Harrach’s collection included two 5 more “extremely interesting” concertos: no, non mi mi - ra - te, no no no, no no no no, non for solo alto recorder, strings and con- 2 tinuo by Johann Friedrich Fasch; and 7 vo- glio nuo - ve, nuo- ve pe - ne, non mi mi- ra - te no, non vo- glio no, no, for recorder, strings, bassoon and con- no, non mi mi- ra - te, no no no, no no no no, non 9 tinuo by the Bohemian composer no, non mi mi- ra - te, no no no, no no no no, non Matthäus Nicolaus Stulick, both also published by Edition Musikland vo- glio nuo - ve, nuo - ve pe- ne, non mi mi- ra - te no, non vo- glio no, no, schaften . The Fasch concerto makes 9 no, non mi mi- ra - te no, non vo- glio no, no, “extreme technical demands, compara- ble only to the most virtuoso concertos of Antonio Vivaldi ”. Schneider won- ders whether the concerto was really intended for Harrach himself, or some 9 no, non mi mi- ra - te no, non vo- glio no, no, other player .The opening fast move- 10 ment, in 2/4, includes “divisions” in 32nd notes .The slow movement has a tortuous melody in a Bachian manner . no, non mi mi- ra - te no, non vo- glio no, no, The final movement begins like a regular 12/8 giga, but erupts into vol- 10 no, non nuo- ve pe- ne, non vo- glio, no, no, no. I sguar- di son leys of 16th notes, mostly in broken chords .“The Fasch concerto will cer- tainly become a standard work in the 6 recorder repertoire and will soon appear on programs on an equal footing with 10 no, non nuo- ve pe- ne, non vo- glio, no, no, no. I sguar- di son Rampe also argues that the Sonata Händels Sonaten für und mit Block works by Vivaldi, Sammartini, and in G major, HWV358, which earlier flöte(n),” Tibia 35, no . 3 (2010): Telemann ”. scholars had claimed for a G-alto 187-97 . The more modest Stulick work is 6 recorder or the violino piccolo, was Michael Schneider reports the really a chamber concerto with the intendedno, for non the nuo- vepochette, pe- or ne,miniature non vo- glio, no,happy no, discovery no. of some Irecorder sguar- di son recorder serving as “first among equals” violin . Rampe, “Neues und Altes zu music formerly in the possession of with the first violin, and the bassoon 16 May 2012 American Recorder 6 “above all as basso continuo partner for Hope is quoted enthusiastically on the recorder ”. The third movement the characteristics of the recorder fam- The simplest style is begins as a wild dance in octaves, in ily: the range of colors, and “the agility to merely add fixed what I take to be Bohemian style— in scales, arpeggios, repeated notes and ornaments: trills, similar to the Polish style of the period flutter tonguing ”. He found no balance that we know from works by Telemann . problems with harpsichord, guitar, passing appoggiaturas, Schneider, “‘Neue’ Musik für Block piano (“if one avoids very full textures”) slides and turns. flöte!—Die Schätze des Grafen Har and small orchestra, and the recorder is rach,” Tibia 35, no . 2 (2010): 199-203 . “most effective with voices ”. Turner, 8-15; Marianne Betz, “Verzierungs The autograph manuscript of “The Recorder Music of Peter Hope,” praxis im italienischen Stil am Beispiel Georg Philipp Telemann’s Quartet Recorder Magazine 30, no . 4 (winter der Sonate op . 5/9 von A . Corelli,” in A minor, TWV43:a3, for recorder, 2010): 115-22 . Tibia 8, no . 2 (1983): 343-50; Neal oboe, violin and basso continuo has Zaslaw, “Ornaments for Corelli’s not survived .The three existing edi- Performance Practice Violin Sonatas, Op . 5,” Early Music 24, tions of the work were all based on a The popularity of Corelli’s 12 violin no . 1 (February 1996): 95-115; Peter copy of the score in Darmstadt . sonatas, Op . 5, in England in the Walls, “Performing Corelli’s Violin Now a copy of the parts has 18th century spawned some recorder Sonatas, Op . 5,” Early Music 24, emerged in The Hague . Klaus Hof arrangements, as well as many orna- no . 1 (February 1996): 133-42 . mann makes use of it to discuss at mented versions of the slow and some- length some problematic passages in times fast movements for both violin Instrument Makers the work as transmitted by the Darm and recorder . Maurice Steger’s article and Making stadt manuscript . Hofmann, “Dem on these ornamentations is most useful The advent of databases containing Urtext auf der Spur: Eine fehlerhafte for reproducing a beautiful example of facsimile pages of the majority of Stelle in Telemanns a-Moll-Quartett two from an anonymous manuscript in 18th-century newspapers from both für Blockflöte, Oboe, Violine und Manchester—for the violin, but within England and the U S. . has now made a Generalbass,” Tibia 35, no . 2 (2010): the compass of the alto recorder—that systematic examination of this body of 101-10 . he rightly describes as “profound, har- sources possible for information about John Turner continues his remark- monically and melodically imaginative, woodwind makers . In a 70-page article able series of articles about the recorder and complex ”. (large format) I present the copious music of modern British composers He also analyzes the first two results of such a search for England, by looking at Peter Hope, a native of measures of another movement in supplementing it with results from the Manchester area who has lived seven different versions . Even such a other databases . “for many years in an old mill in rural modest example is enough to demon- Significant new information Dorset ”. Hope has made a living not strate a few different approaches to emerged for more than 40 makers, only as a composer of relatively tonal ornamentation . including the following who made music, but also an arranger for radio, The simplest style is to merely add recorders: John Hall, Simon Robin- television, pops orchestras, and even fixed ornaments: trills, passing appog- son, Peter Bressan, Harris, Thomas pop groups . giaturas, slides and turns . Although all Stanesby Jr ,. George Brown, John Hope’s recorder music, virtually ornamenters generally stick to the orig- Mason, the Schucharts, Henry John all written for Turner, includes works inal melodic outline, even preserving a Muræus, Caleb Gedney and his for solo recorder (A Walk with my Dog distinctive downward leap of a fifth, in daughters, the Cahusacs, Joshua Molly); recorder and guitar; recorder some places the ornamented line skips Collins, George Astor, William Bailey and piano; recorder, string orchestra, up or down to a chord tone, then fills in and George Goulding . An abridged harp and percussion; recorder or the intervals . A few versions are highly version of some of the recorder material oboe, bassoon and harpsichord; mixed intricate rhythmically, including places appeared in the March AR under the chorus, unison recorders and piano; that are notated freely . title, “The Recorder in English News- soprano voice and recorder; and two Interested readers should also papers, 1730-1800 ”. Lasocki, “New song cycles: for soprano, recorder and consult the articles by other researchers Light on Eighteenth-Century English piano, and for countertenor, recorder, listed here . Steger, “Corellis Sonaten Woodwind Makers from Newspaper ’cello and harpsichord . op . 5 in verzierten Fassungen des eng- Advertisements,” Galpin Society Journal lischen Barock,” Windkanal 2010-3, 63 (2010): 73-142 .
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 17 Overtone series on F (beginning in the bass clef to avoid leger lines).
# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
The German recorder player, teacher and scholar Peter and Minguet e Yrol (1754), who have fingerings for 3 4 Thalheimer takes a look at the Mensur of early recorders, a high F# and the rest of the high register up to b or c . term normally translated into English as “scaling ”. In organ- Recorders in category (3) have a weak low register, building, the term simply means the relationship between a sonorous middle register, and an unstable high register, the length and the width of a cylindrical organ pipe . especially on I3; I#3 is unplayable .They have a “short For woodwinds, the German instrument scholar Mensur ”. Hotteterre’s fingering chart (1707), widely Herbert Heyde identified three different meanings in copied in the early 18th century, is for a recorder of this use: the length and diameter of the body and their relation- type . He states flatly: “There is no high F# ”. Thalheimer, ship to one another; the width of the fingerholes; and the “Eng oder weit, kurz oder lang? Blockflöten-mensuren relationship of the cut-up to the mouthhole . In recorder- und ihre Auswirkungen auf Tonumfang und Griff- making, because the bore of the instrument is mostly conical, system,” Tibia 35, no . 1 (2010): 311 . the organ-building definition must necessarily be modified . Following on from his herculean study of Dutch In the 1930s, the German recorder pioneer Peter woodwind instruments between 1660 and 1760, in a Harlan confused the issue by using Mensur in two senses: series of three recent articles Jan Bouterse turns his atten- the width of the bore (narrow, medium or wide) and the tion to one of the most celebrated makers of recorders in distance between the first and seventh fingerholes . Recorder the Baroque era . Born in France as Pierre Jaillard, Peter makers in Vogtland, Germany, started using the terms “long” Bressan (1663-1731) settled in London around 1688 and and “short” Mensur, referring to how stretched out or com- remained there until 1730, when he retired to Flanders, pressed the fingerholes were along the body of the recorder . dying there a year later . Thalheimer goes on to assess recorders by how the In the first article, Bouterse examines five alto recorders type of scaling affects the fingering and production of the by Bressan, based on drawings and measurements by other second partial (octave above the fundamental tone), third researchers, who unfortunately left some incomplete features partial (twelfth), fourth partial (double octave), and fifth and puzzles . Nevertheless, Bouterse is able to conclude that partial (double octave plus a third) . Recorders may be “the windways and labium edges of the Bressan recorders classified according to whether the fourth partial over- are on average slightly more curved than . . recorders by blows: (1) in tune, (2) up to 100 cents too high, or most of the Dutch makers ”. The windows are rather nar- (3) more than 100 cents too high . row in relation to the length and pitch of the instruments . Recorders in category (1) have a strong lower register, Bouterse’s second article looks at the pitch and sound a compass of about two and a half octaves, and a I#3 that of the same five altos, based on recordings and on the is possible without problems (yes, the notorious high F# on descriptions of others, which he criticizes for their vague- an alto!) .The sounding length is very long and the finger- ness: “What exactly is a ‘centered sound’?” Or a “woody holes of the right hand are relatively spread out . Certain sound?” “With such descriptions, you must always con- fingerings vary according to whether the instruments sider the sense or nonsense of the reverse meaning”: have: (a) a cylindrical, or wide, inverse conical bore; or a “non-centered sound” or a “non-woody sound ”. (b) a normal inverse conical bore .The instruments in He concludes that we cannot make any conclusions Ganassi’s fingering charts (1535) bearing the maker’s about the sound of a Bressan alto . But on recordings he marks of Rauch and Schnitzer fall into this category, could hear “the fine attack, resonant sound in the lower being able to play the fourth and even fifth partials in tune . register, and the clear sound in the middle and upper regis- Recorders in category (2) have low and high registers ter ”. The pitch of the instruments varied from about A=405 of equal strength, and I#3 can also be readily obtained . to 414 Hz, a modest difference considering the shrinkage They are considered to have a “long Mensur ”. Such record- of the wood over the centuries, but he finds it “remarkable, ers are represented in the fingering charts of Majer (1732) because the lengths of the joints and the dimensions of the 18 May 2012 American Recorder bores are not so different at all (with In a complementary pair of the exception of the feet) ”. Bouterse found articles, John Turner first writes about The third article discusses the his discovery of an oboe from Joshua bore profiles which, as on all Baroque something that surprised Collinge in a junk shop in Liverpool . recorders, is narrow in an irregular Then I argue that this was the same way from top to bottom . Although him when he made man as Joshua Collins, who emigrated the length of the middle joints and from “Manchester” (probably in fact the position and size of the fingerholes some Bressan copies. Burnley, north of Manchester) to had “a remarkable consistency,” their Annapolis, MD, around 1773 .There bore profiles varied somewhat . Baroque pitch,” produced a fuller and he announced himself as a turner, Even more so, the foot joints sweeter sound, “everything well bal- woodwind maker, instrument repairer showed a surprising variation in length anced, a great joy to play ”. He doesn’t and tuner, and woodwind teacher . and bore profile: length from 101 to say so, but Bressan was trained in He still made “common Flutes” 110 mm, corresponding to the “short” France and would have needed to (recorders) . and “long” feet (scaling) of other mak- adapt his instruments to English pitch Turner, “Joshua Collinge: an ers . Bouterse observes: “as far as I can (around 408 Hz) when he arrived in Eighteenth-Century Mancunian see, there are not so many makers who London . Bouterse, “Five Alto Record Woodwind Maker,” Manchester made both types of feet . . . Bressan ers by Bressan: Windways and Blocks,” Sounds 8 (2009-10): 4-7; David must have used several reamers” or FoMHRI Quarterly, no . 115 (March Lasocki, “Joshua Collins: an a “stirring the soup” technique incor- 2010): 16-26; “Bressan Alto Recorders: Eighteenth-Century American porating lateral motion . Pitch and Sound; and Some Tips to Woodwind Maker (perhaps) from Bouterse found something that Make a Copy,” FoMHRI Quarterly, Manchester,” Manchester Sounds 8 surprised him when he made some no . 116 (August 2010): 15-24; “Alto (2009-10): 8-13; available as a free Bressan copies: a longer middle joint Recorders by Bressan,” FoMHRI download at www.instantharmony.net/ for playing at 392 Hz, “the French Quarterly, no . 118 (April 2011): 5-16 . Music/miscellaneous.php .
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 19 Compact Disc Reviews ______Routes, Roots and Branches
Reviewed by Tom Bickley, players, there’s been growing use of folk Hombres de Maiz: l’âme [email protected] dance material, especially from Eastern italienne dans la musique Europe. This material, often in odd-meter mexicaine . Ensemble In 1975, the release of the LP L’Agonie rhythms and less familiar modal scales, Lucidarium (Gloria Moretti, du Languedoc—recorded by Thomas creates a striking musical conversation voice; Marie-Pierre Duceau, Binkley’s groundbreaking ensemble Studio when placed alongside temporally distant, voice, Mexican vihuela; Bar der frühen Musik and Languedoc folk but affectually close, repertory from the bara Ceron Olvera, voice, singer Claude Marti—broke even newer European Medieval period. double harp, Veracruz harp; ground. For many of us, this was the first It’s also been a fertile ground for new Avery Gosfield, recorder, encounter with a collaboration of early compositions that make these sonic connec- pipe and tabor; Marco Fer music performers and the living textual tions. Among the recordings featuring rari, recorder, clarinet; and musical tradition directly descended these works are The Lost Mode Bettina Ruchti, Baroque from that early repertory. (Annette Bauer, recorders; Shira violin and viola, lyra da The effect of this disc was breathtak- Kammen, strings; Peter Maund, percus- braccio; Francis Biggi, ing, engaging listeners with the sonic con- sion; Derek Wright, oud), East of the plucked instruments; Massi nections between the poetry surviving River (Nina Stern and Daphna Mor, miliano Dragoni, hammered from the horrific Albigensian Crusade recorders, with Omer Avital, bass and dulcimer, percussion). K617 and the music of that distant time. It oud; Uri Shalin, accordion; Tomer Tzur, Records (Harmonia Mundi) K617 served to encourage adventuresome explo- percussion) and Transience: Contempo 228 . 201, 1 CD, 1 hour . Abt . $20 . rations of connections among other tradi- rary modal music (Racheal Cogan, www.cd-baroque.com/index.php/eng/ tions. To some extent, that lineage was recorders; Tony Lewis, percussion), all accueil/disques_k617/catalogue/ carried on in England by groups such as reviewed in earlier issues of AR. The baroque_latino_americain/hombres_ the City Waites in their vigorous rendi- three new discs reviewed here bear strong de_maiz tions of the vernacular music tradition. connections to this essential practice of Una Musa Plebea: Everyday For several years now, especially making connections among vernacular music from Renaissance among the middle generation of recorder music traditions and early music. Italy. Ensemble Lucidarium (Gloria Moretti, voice; Viva Biancaluna Biffi, voice, viola d’arco; Avery Gosfield, Join us! recorder, pipe and tabor; Marco Ferrari, recorder, Membership is a great value: Early Music America is the w Online access to Grove Music Online ($295 value) service organization for the double flute; Francis Biggi, w entire field of early music in Online access to Naxos Music Library ($225 value) North America. viola da mano, Colascione; w Early Music America magazine (quarterly) Elisabeth Benfenati, Ren w www.earlymusic.org E-notes (monthly) and Bulletin (semi-annual) enter discount code CY6KS aissance guitar; Massimiliano w Membership Directory or mention this ad for a Dragoni, hammered dulcimer, 15% discount EMA workshop, Berkeley 2010 percussion with Dolando Call us toll free: Bernardini, Mario Filippi, 888-722-5288 Enrico Bascheri, Andrea Bacci, trad. singers from Early Music America 2366 Eastlake Ave. E. #429 Buti, Tuscany, Italy; Nello Seattle, WA 98102 Landi, Emilio Meliani, improv. [email protected] poets from Buti; Roccu
20 May 2012 American Recorder There’s been growing use of folk dance material, Order your especially from Eastern Europe. This material, recorder discs often in odd-meter rhythms and less familiar through the modal scales, creates a striking musical conver ARS CD Club! The ARS CD Club makes hard-to-find or limited release sation when placed CDs by ARS members available to ARS members at alongside ... repertory the special price listed. All CDs are $15 ARS members/ $17 Others unless marked otherwise. Two-CD sets are $24 ARS members/ from the European $28 Others. Add Shipping and Handling: $2 for one CD, $1 for each additional CD. An updated list of all available CDs may be found at: . Medieval period. www.americanrecorder.org Featuring annette bauer, nina stern and piffaro Mambrini, Francescu Simeoni, trad. poets from ____The Lost Mode Annette Bauer, recorders; Shira Kammen, vielle, harp, violin; Peter Maund, percussion, Derek Wright, oud. Medieval music meets living modal music traditions: Pigna, Corsica, France) . Raum an eclectic set of music from the Middle Ages, melodies from Sephardic, North African, Klang Records (Arkiv Music) RK Armenian, Breton and Basque modal traditions. 2010 2410, 1 CD, 67:03 . $19 99. (mp3 ____Cançonièr Medieval music played on instruments including strings, recorders, percus www.raumklang.de sion. Medieval dances & motets bring to life the rich world of ancient European music- download less) . making. Cançonièr, devoted to music of 12th-15th centuries, as well as traditional music of Ensemble Lucidarium related regions (Balkans, Scandinavia, Middle East), features multi-instrumentalist Tim (www.lucidarium.com), co-directed Rayborn, recorder virtuoso Annette Bauer, Shira Kammen, strings, Phoebe Jevtovic, voice. by recorder player Avery Gosfield and ____Rose of the Compass Nina Stern, recorders & chalumeau; Ara Dinkjian, oud; Shira string player Francis Biggi, is a large Kammen, violin & vielles, Glen Velez, percussion. A unique and mesmerizing musical voyage from Medieval Italy to Armenia, from the Balkans to the Middle East. Alluring ancient ensemble that clearly works and plays melodies, vibrant estampies from the 14th century, treasures of the famed Armenian bard well with wisely-chosen guest artists . Sayat Nova and traditional dances from Bulgaria and Serbia. Nina Stern Music, 2011 These two discs provide much enter- ____East of the River Haunting melodies and exhilarating rhythms from Armenia and the tainment and substance . Balkans by New York based recorder virtuosi, Daphna Mor and Nina Stern; Omer Avital, Hombres de Maiz bears a descrip- bass & oud; Uri Sarlin, accordion; Tomer Tzur, percussion. East of the River Music, 2007 tive subtitle meaning “the Italian soul ____Recordari: The art of the Renaissance Recorder Piffaro, Tom Zajac, Robert Wiemken, Christa Patton, Greg Ingles, Rotem Gilbert, Grant Herreid, Joan Kimball. Best of in Mexican music ”. Research into the Piffaro’s recorder music—sounds of Renaissance consort recorders in their varied sizes and influence of Jesuit missionaries to the combinations—with the addition of lute and harp. Piffaro PR003, 2007 Yaqui people raised questions about ____Waytes: English Music for a Renaissance Band Piffaro. Dances, solo masquing the streams of Italian music entering tunes, fantasias, madrigals & motets by Weelkes, Byrd,Tallis plus other works by lesser well- vernacular Mexican music .The result known composers. Grant Herreid, lute, guitar, shawm, recorder, percussion. is thoroughly ear-catching . Much of ____Vespers Piffaro. Spectacular, acclaimed modern work for Renaissance Band & the repertory sounds familiar to fans Chorus. With choir, The Crossing. Composer, Kile Smith. Navona Records, 2008 of Renaissance dance music . Please indicate above the CDs you wish to order, and print clearly the following: The disc contains 27 tracks divided into four sections: “The Name:______Daytime phone: (____) ______Address: ______City/State/Zip:______Bergamasca and its travels,” “Songs _____ single CDs x $____ = $______of world upside down,” “Matachin, _____ 2-CD sets x $____ = $______Matazi and other warriors,” and Shipping/Handling: $2 for one CD, $1 for each additional CD $______Check enclosed for TOTAL $______“Songs of the earth ”. These titles _____ Please charge the above amount to my MasterCard, Visa or AmEx: # evoke a dream-like quality of inter- ______weaving, and well-written notes con- Exp. Date: ______Cardholder’s signature:______firm that the repertory choices were informed by childhood experiences of Mail to: ARS, PO Box 220498, St. Louis, MO 63122-0498 U.S. singers Barbara Ceron (from Mexico) Fax a credit card order to 866-773-1538 and Gloria Moretti (from Italy) . www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 21 American Recorder Society Publications The disc Una musa plebea has a rougher, but no less charming, sound . Musical Editions from the Members’ Library: Many of the recordings of the poetry ARS members: 1 copy-$3, 2 copies-$4.50, 3-$6, 4-$7.50, 5-$10, 6-$11.50 Non-members (editions over 2 years old): 1 copy-$5, 2 copies-$8.50, 3-$12, 4-$15, 5-$19.50, 6-$23 performed by the Tuscan and Corsican Arioso and Jazzy Rondo (AB) Carolyn Peskin LeClercq’s Air (SATB) Richard E. Wood guest artists were done live in the Belmont Street Bergamasca (ATB) Sean Nolan Little Girl Skipping and Alouette et al hometowns of the poets .There’s a Berceuse–Fantaisie (SATB) Jean Boivert (SATBcB) Timothy R. Walsh Bruckner’s Ave Maria (SSATTBB) Los Pastores (S/AAA/T + perc) bracing quality to the audio as well Jennifer W. Lehmann, arr. Virginia N. Ebinger, arr. Canon for 4 Basses (BBBB) David P. Ruhl New Rounds on Old Rhymes (4 var.) as to the performances, and the gentle Dancers (AT) Richard Eastman Erich Katz contrast between audio and studio Danse de Village (SAB) Kevin Holland Nostalgium (SATB) Jean Harrod Different Quips (AATB) Stephan Chandler Other Quips (ATBB) Stephan Chandler recordings works well . All in all, this Elegy for Recorder Quartet (SATB) Poinciana Rag (SATB) Laurie G. Alberts Carolyn Peskin Santa Barbara Suite (SS/AA/T) Erich Katz disc reminds me of the European Elizabethan Delights (SAA/TB) Sentimental Songs (SATB) David Goldstein, arr. audio collage radio theater tradition Jennifer W. Lehmann, arr. Serie for Two Alto Recorders (AA) Fallen Leaves Fugal Fantasy (SATB) Frederic Palmer known as “hörspiel ” (hear play) . Dominic Bohbot Slow Dance with Doubles (2 x SATB) Both discs by Ensemble Lucid Four Airs from “The Beggar’s Opera” (SATB) Colin Sterne Kearney Smith, arr. Sonata da Chiesa (SATB) Ann McKinley arium demonstrate a great sense of Gloria in Excelsis (TTTB) Robert Cowper S-O-S (SATB) Anthony St. Pierre He Talks, She Talks (AT) Bruce Perkins Three Bantam Ballads (TB) Ann McKinley energy and vitality as the group “lives Havana Rhubarb Rhumba (SATB up to Three Cleveland Scenes (SAT) Carolyn Peskin into” the music, and the sound will 7 players) Keith Terrett Three in Five (AAB) Karl A. Stetson Idyll (ATB) Stan McDaniel Tracings in the Snow in Central Park (SAT) appeal to most people who enjoy the Imitations (AA) Laurie G. Alberts Robert W. Butts In Memory of Andrew (ATB) David Goldstein Trios for Recorders (var.) pop/vernacular edge of Renaissance In Memory of David Goldstein (SATB) George T. Bachmann music . It may even appeal to a larger Will Ayton Triptych (AAT/B) Peter A. Ramsey Lay Your Shadow on the Sundials (TBgB) Two Bach Trios (SAB) William Long, arr. audience in the folk music world . Terry Winter Owens Two Brahms Lieder (SATB) Leaves in the River (Autumn) (SATB) Thomas E. Van Dahm, arr. Erik Pearson Variations on “Drmeš” (SATB) Martha Bishop Rose of the Compass. Vintage Burgundy (S/AS/ATT) Nina Stern, recorders & Jennifer W. Lehmann, arr. ARS Information Booklets: chalumeau; Ara Dinkjian, ARS members: 1 booklet-$13, 2 booklets-$23, 3-$28, 4-$35, 5-$41, 6-$47, 7-$52 oud; Shira Kammen, violin Non-members: 1 booklet-$18, 2 booklets-$33, 3-$44, 4,$55, 5-$66, 6-$76, 7-$86 *Free online to ARS members & vielle; Glen Velez, per- Adding Percussion to Medieval and Improve Your Consort Skills Susan Carduelis cussion. Nina Stern Music Renaissance Music Peggy Monroe Music for Mixed Ensembles *American Recorder Music Constance Primus Jennifer W. Lehmann 8450151623, 1 CD, 56:54 . Abt . $16 . Burgundian Court & Its Music *Playing Music for the Dance Louise Austin www.cduniverse.com Judith Whaley, coord. *Recorder Care Scott Paterson , etc ;. also mp3 downloads . Nina Stern’s disc Rose of the Education Publications Available Online and Free to Members The ARS Personal Study Program in Thirteen Stages to Help You Improve Your Playing (1996). Compass bears more sonic resemblance Guidebook to the ARS Personal Study Program (1996). ARS Music Lists. Graded list of solos, ensembles, and method books. to the aforementioned projects The Lost Mode, Transience, and her own Videos Available Online to All East of the River than to the sound Recorder Power! Educational video from the ARS and recorder virtuoso John Tyson. An exciting resource about teaching recorder to young students. of the Ensemble Lucidarium discs Pete Rose Video. Live recording of professional recorderist Pete Rose in a 1992 Amherst Early Music reviewed here . Conceptually, they fit Festival recital. The video features Rose performing a variety of music and in an interview with ARS member professional John Tyson. together very well . The 14 tracks from the New York- Other Publications based recorder player and clarinetist Chapter Handbook. A resource on chapter operations for current chapter leaders or those considering forming an ARS chapter. ARS members, $10; non-members, $20. include two well-known monophonic One free copy sent to each ARS chapter with 10 members or more. Consort Handbook. Available Online and Free to Members. Medieval dances (Ghaetta and Tre Resource on consort topics such as group interaction, rehearsing, repertoire, performing. Fontane), three traditional Bulgarian
Shipping & Handling Fees: Under $10 - add $3; $10-19.99 - add $4; $20-29.99 - add $5; $30-39.99 - dances, two traditional Armenian add $6; $40-49.99 - add $7. All prices are in U.S. dollars. For Canadian or foreign postage, pay by credit card dances, one traditional Serbian/ and actual postage is charged. Please make checks payable to ARS. VISA/MC/AMEX/Disc also accepted. Romanian piece, one classical Arabic
See www.AmericanRecorder.org for complete publication offerings, for sale and free to members. work, and two compositions by Sayat Nova (1712-95), as well as works by ARS, PO Box 220498, Saint Louis MO 63122 U.S. Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935), Grigor 866-773-1538 toll-free fax Narekatsi (951-1003) and Riyad [email protected] Al-Sunbati (1906-81) . Although this is a wide variety of names/sources, the 22 May 2012 American Recorder rhythmic and melodic similarities yield a very listenable and unified sound . The well-engineered audio conveys the quartet’s great sense of ensemble . While the recorder is the “featured” instrument, the playing by Dinkjian, Kammen and Velez also provides a great deal of the pleasure . The timbres and the photographs in the CD package reveal that Stern uses a set of Medieval recorders made by Bob Marvin, plus Baroque record- ers, and a chalumeau (a predecessor of the clarinet) . While the booklets with the Ensemble Lucidarium discs pro- vide sumptuous notes, there’s very little text (and no booklet) with Rose of the Compass .This certainly encourages purchase of the mp3 downloads . Although the music speaks for itself, given the connections among pieces spanning 1000 years, textual commentary from Stern and her col- leagues would be likely to give listeners more insight into and a fuller experi- ence of their powerful performance .
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 23 Book Reviews ______Now we get it: new book examines Van Eyck and his music
Reviewed by Gwyn Roberts much more . Weighing in at a hefty 753 pages, it thoroughly contextualizes I find it comforting JACOB VAN EYCK AND the man, his instrument and his music . and inspiring that THE OTHERS: DUTCH SOLO Wind develops the type of material in this authoritative and REPERTOIRE FOR RECORDER Ruth van Baak Griffioen’s ground- meticulously researched IN THE GOLDEN AGE, by breaking 1988 dissertation on Jacob book concludes by urging Thiemo Wind . Koninklijke van Eyck and the 1991 book derived us all to go out and enjoy Vereniging voor Nederlandse from it, which is primarily (but not Van Eyck’s music. Muziekgeschiedenis, Utrecht, exclusively) concerned with tracing The Netherlands, 2011 . Hardback, the origins of the tunes in the collec- important part of his work . Since 753 pp, 362 music examples . ISBN: tion . He also expands the area of bells ring for a long time after they are 978-90-6375-2190-4 . Abt . $110 . inquiry enormously . struck, the most effective way to make Like many recorder players, I Wind begins by addressing the a pleasing variation on each main note first encountered the music of Jacob question of who the “lovers of the is to stay largely within a single har- van Eyck in a modern edition, neatly recorder” were—who originally heard, mony . Now I get it! printed in three volumes and full of played and inspired the publication of Throughout this and the follow- fun tunes and variations to play on Van Eyck’s works—citing the hand- ing chapters discussing Van Eyck’s my soprano . I used them as a technical fluit’s unique suitability to players of compositional techniques, Wind challenge and as a way of learning to all levels and social classes and of both uses language that is scholarly and ornament and articulate, and I mostly sexes, along with its affordability and precise while steering clear of unneces- focused on the more-accessible secular portability, as reasons for its popularity . sary jargon, making the work accessible tunes—as did most of the recordings He then discusses Van Eyck’s life, his to readers with a general knowledge I heard—shying away from the psalm publisher, his works, his compositional of musical terms .The final section of tunes and their seemingly-inscrutable and variation techniques, and other the book is dedicated to questions and endlessly-arpeggiated variations . composers active in the same time and of performance practice, including Years later, when I arrived repertoire .The prose is at once clear choice of instrument, tempo, orna- in Utrecht for my first week as a and comprehensive, illustrated by mentation and delivery, all of which recorder major at the conservatory, copious plates and musical examples . receive the same comprehensive yet I was amazed to learn that the bus to A central chapter entitled “Bells not-too-dogmatic treatment . my new student housing would depart and recorder: The secret of the psalm I find it comforting and inspiring from the Janskerkhof, the now-paved- variations” addresses that puzzle I have that this authoritative and meticulously over churchyard where Van Eyck had been wrestling with since I first played researched book concludes by urging played his little flute centuries earlier . Van Eyck as a teenager . Wind engages us all to go out and enjoy Van Eyck’s But the connection between that in no fewer than four separate “evalua- music . Wind gives us license to play strolling, blind recorder player and the tions” of the psalm variations—positing it on whatever instrument sounds social, musical and historical world in along the way that these solemn tunes good and in a “clear, charming, natu- which he lived—the hows, whys, may not, in fact, have been a part of ral, uninhibited, easy-going” way, where-froms and where-tos of his Van Eyck’s regular recorder repertoire . informed by the history of the music and his music-making— Instead, he draws a connection repertoire and inspired by the remained mostly mysterious . between the largely chordal, highly spontaneity of its creator . Thiemo Wind’s masterful recent regular quality of those variations An article adapted from Jacob tome, Jacob Van Eyck and the Others, and Van Eyck’s main job as carillon- Van Eyck and the Others appeared addresses all of these questions and neur, where playing psalms was an in the January 2012 AR.
24 May 2012 American Recorder Music Reviews ______Music inspired by paintings ______and that paints its own pictures
ECHOES OF FERRARA, by some elements of contemporary nota- liberal use of the sostenuto pedal to Geoffrey Gordon . SpencerSongs tion .The players are also called upon produce an effect approaching a harp Music, Inc . Self-publ (. http://geoffrey- to whisper text rhythmically . glissando . Much of this movement is gordoncomposer.instantencore.com), This piece would make a terrific unmeasured; in the learning stages at 2006 . A/T (one player), hc . Sc 39 pp . inclusion at an early music conference least, the recorderist is well-advised to Publ . $20, PDF $14 50. . or as a recital offering, particularly in play from the score . Melodic and har- American composer Geoffrey the context of a mixed program . monic material are based on synthetic Gordon (b . 1968) is composer-in- Carson Cooman is an active com- scales (scales having some alteration to residence for the Xanthos Ensemble poser with a catalog of more than 600 the notes of standard major/minor of Boston (MA) and has written musical works in many forms, ranging scales or modes) . For some players, the works in many genres that have been from solo instrumental pieces to operas, brief moment of flutter-tonguing on widely performed and acclaimed by and from orchestral works to hymn tunes. low G could be problematic; no other audience and press alike . I have found His work is recorded on over 10 labels, special techniques are required . his music consistently impressive, including Naxos and ABC Classics. The breakneck final movement in especially in its command of timbral compound triple meter, “La Danse,” and formal dimensions, and his work THREE MATISSE IMPRESSIONS, requires the sopranino for the recapitu- speaks with an authentic and sub- by Edward Gregson. Forsyth lation . Here, as elsewhere, the accom- stantial musical voice . Music Publishing, 2000 . A/S’o, pf . paniment is light and well-suited to Echoes of Ferrara (2005) is a three- Sc 18 pp, pt 8 pp . Abt . $14 . the recorder .The style strongly sug- movement piece, about 20 minutes in British composer Edward Greg gests the British festive style that has length, for solo recorder (outer move- son (b . 1945) has received numerous evolved since the 1960s .The quick ments for tenor; inner for alto) and commissions to compose for a wide movements of Gregson’s much-played harpsichord, inspired by the history variety of media . Several web sites doc- Tuba Concerto also feature this idiom . of 15th-century Ferrara, Italy .The ument his career—including his own, The publisher deems the work particularly rich legacy of music and www.edwardgregson.com . Gregson and suitable for intermediate-advanced art of that period is the source mate- the dedicatee of the Three Matisse recorder players and the reviewer rial (including extensive musical quota- Impressions (1993), Alix Denzier, are ventures likewise for the accompanist . tions from Josquin, Ockeghem and both admirers of the French artist The duration is about 10 minutes . Compere), which Gordon blends Henri Matisse .The three movements Readers may wish to investigate into an imaginative fantasy . of this work take their titles from three Gregson’s more recent Romance for The three movements are named Matisse paintings, “Pastoral,” “Luxe, recorder and piano (Peacock Press, for the three Graces—Aglaea (Beauty), calme et volupté” and “La Danse ”. 2003), which also exists in a version Euphrosyne (Desire) and Thalia In the ternary “Pastoral,” two four- for recorder and string quartet . (Fulfillment), based on a specific fresco note motives are set in contrary motion John Turner is the editor of the panel painted by Francesco del Cossa . to one another in the piano .The soste- Forsyth Recorder Music series, featur- This is the first work of Gordon’s nuto pedal creates an ethereal effect, ing the work of contemporary British that I have encountered incorporating particularly where the piano stops to composers .Their catalog is online at historical musical material into its dis- allow the recorder to reply, using two www.forsyths.co.uk/sheet-music . course, and these modal/tonal elements distinct motives of its own . Piers Adams has recorded Three are seamlessly combined with Gordon’s The opening of “Luxe, calme et Matisse Impressions on Shine & Shade own freely atonal harmonic palette . volupté” recalls the initial bassoon solo (Upbeat Classics URCD150) . In 1997, Both recorder and harpsichord parts in Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring . As Gregson produced a version of the are moderately difficult and include in the first movement, the piano makes Impressions for recorder, strings, harp
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 25 and percussion that Turner recorded “Morning,” the first movement, on Olympia with the Royal Ballet French Impressionist Claude is in ternary form . In the recapitula- Sinfonia .This is no longer available Monet’s painting of the tion, the opening phrases return, but in on Olympia, but is available as altered sequence .The opening phrase Naxos 8 572503. . Japanese bridge at Giverny is also the concluding phrase . As it was the inspiration for approaches the cadence, the Lydian MONET’S BRIDGE, by David mode is suggested; the second phrase Pye. Orpheus Music OMP157 or this quartet by Australian has a Dorian quality . OMP157 PDF (www.orpheusmusic. composer David Pye. Mood contrasts are indicated com.au), 2006 . AATT . Sc 7 pp, pts 2-3 with “free,” “playful” and “urgent ”. pp ea . Publ . abt . $18, PDF abt . $14 . The composer writes that Modal bipolarity manifests itself French Impressionist Claude another source of inspiration was in the middle where B and Bb are Monet’s painting of the Japanese Percy Grainger’s Immovable Doh, opposed in a given bar, then F and F# . bridge at Giverny was the inspiration in which a given pitch is sustained At two points the performer is for this quartet by Australian composer throughout . Henry Purcell experi- asked to lift the upper lip off the David Pye, a percussionist, conductor mented with this technique masterfully recorder briefly to produce a sotto voce . and composer who is particularly in his Fantazia in F Upon One Note for The result is a physical unsteadiness drawn to dance and theatre music . four viols . More recently, Elliott Carter, that could be avoided by instead open- He is keenly interested in the music of inspired by Purcell, also composed ing the lips at the sides so that the India and Western Java . At the time of static-pitch pieces (e.g., “Etude No . 7” instrument remains securely in place this writing, Monet’s Bridge, which won from Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for and the embouchure can more pre- the 2005 National Recorder Composi woodwind quartet, composed in 1949) . cisely regulate the ventilation . tion Competition (Australia), was Pye’s As the piece concludes, the rhyth- In “Noon,” the performer might only work in the Orpheus catalog . mic density, pitch range and tempo well deliver the desired “light, ener- After a brief set of flourishes, the diminish gradually .The duration is getic” quality at somewhat slower quartet embarks on a mesmerizing about five-and-a-half minutes . tempi than indicated . Irregular meters interplay of motives whose rhythms The four parts are equally impor- such as 5/8 and 7/8 are featured .The bring to mind Eskimo throat-singing . tant, and playing is more or less contin- slendro scale (an oriental pentatonic uous in each .Technically, the piece is An ever-present En adds to the hyp- scale) makes a transient appearance, notic effect . Double-tonguing, flutter- moderately challenging .The opening evocative of Balinese gamelan . tonguing, overblowing and pitch- bars are a bit tricky to coordinate; “Mysterious, with expression” bending are required in all parts . a reading with the score is advised . is the style indication for “Evening ”. Pye notes the affect of the Symmetry is accomplished by a mid- Japanese end-blown bamboo flute, DEGRAVES STREET FOR SOLO stream shift from low-to-mid tessitura the shakuhachi .The allusion is per- TREBLE RECORDER, by Adrian to high, then back to low-mid, rather haps to the pitch-bending technique Vincent . Orpheus Music OMP168 than by melodic scheme . integral to its music . Although shaku- (www.orpheusmusic.com.au), 2007 . The composer reveals awareness hachi repertoire is pentatonic, such A solo . Pt 4 pp . Publ . abt . $16 50,. that special techniques are effective in scales are not a feature of this piece . PDF abt . $13 . inverse proportion to their use .Thus, Adrian Vincent is an Australian although glissandi, finger vibrato and KEY: rec=recorder; S’o=sopranino; composer and recorder player whose extreme overblowing are required, they S=soprano; A=alto; T=tenor; B=bass; gB=great bass; cB=contra bass; Tr=treble; interests include popular and art music . are ancillary rather than predominant . qrt=quartet; pf=piano; fwd= foreword; His activities and accomplishments are Vincent suggests an amplified perfor- opt=optional; perc=percussion; pp=pages; outlined at www.run2r.com/running- mance with artificial reverb, as well sc=score; pt(s)=part(s); kbd=keyboard; music-artists.aspx?ArtistID=9 bc=basso continuo; hc=harpsichord; . might be warranted outdoors or in a P&H=postage/handling . Multiple reviews Degraves Street is a musical dry acoustic . Opportunities for rubato by one reviewer are followed by that reviewer’s name . Publications can be pur- vignette of life on this Melbourne and indefinite pauses in the first move- chased from ARS Business Members, street at morning, noon and evening . ment abound, making duration diffi- your local music store, or directly from The score includes a rather grainy cult to specify .The reviewer’s playing some distributors . Please submit music and books for review to: Sue Groskreutz, photograph of a street scene, c 1940—. of the piece ran just over six minutes . 1949 West Court St., Kankakee, IL 60901 U.S., while uncaptioned, one presumes it is The publisher assigns Degraves [email protected]. Degraves Street at a busy time of day . Street a difficulty rating of “moderate ”.
26 May 2012 American Recorder KLEINE ABENDGESELLSCHAFT, The performer returns to tenor by Rainer Lischka. Girolamo for the last movement, “The Pompous ”. Musikverlag G12 031. (www.girolamo. Although marked “Tango,” the charac- Amherst de), 2010 .T/S solo . Sc 7 pp . $Abt . $19 . teristic tango rhythm is unclear here This set of five brief pieces for and a rhythmic accompaniment seems Early Music unaccompanied solo recorder com- wanting . It is in major rather than prises musical portraits of characters minor, as one expects in a tango . Festival 2012 one might encounter at—as the trans- Top C, which can be recalcitrant at Connecticut College lated title calls it—a small evening on some tenor recorders, is abundant party . All but the fourth, which is for in this piece, a rather challenging suite soprano recorder, are for tenor recorder . of about 8'30" duration . Notes and July 8-15 & 15-22 Rainer Lischka (b . 1942) taught instructions are provided in German composition at the Dresdner Musik as well as rather unidiomatic English . Music of the hochschule in Germany until 2007 . Anthony St. Pierre, of Toronto, ON, German Lands He composed the present work in con- has composed extensively for recorders. His sultation with the Dresden recorder Folia à 4, third prize in the 2007 Chicago teacher Gabriela Richter . Chapter’s composition competition, may be heard at: www.folias.nl. Several of his ... musical portraits of recorder compositions are available for free at http://pages.ca.inter.net/~abelc/ characters one might compositions.html. He holds a B.Mus. encounter at ... a in composition from Ohio State Univer small evening party. sity and M.Mus. in historical performance practices from Washington University. In The opening movement, “The the 1980s, he played oboe with Tafelmusik Charmer,” is in ABA form and begins Baroque Orchestra and with the Studio de with a perky pentatonic tune . Gradu musique ancienne de Montréal. ally, modal inflections appear . with the Farallon Re- The second movement, “The WATER CREATURES, by Lance Eccles corder Quartet, Saskia Careless” (perhaps better translated as . Orpheus Music OMP221 Coolen, Nina Stern & “The Indolent”), is in blues style and (www.orpheusmusic.com.au), 2010 . Glen Velez, Han Tol, features glissandos as well as sputato SATB . Sc 7 pp, pts 3 pp ea . Abt . and flutter-tonguing . Markings are $15 80. . Reine-Marie Verhagen in an assortment of German, English Lance Eccles is an Australian and more! and Italian . composer whose music I have known Both Weeks ABA form returns in the third since the early 1980s . His first pieces Classes and consorts movement, “The Chatterbox and the (self-published), with titles like Blue Taciturn ”. Quick staccato notes and Neon, Pink Neon and Nuclear Cloud, for intermediate to flights of 32nd notes represent the were extremely popular with a recorder advanced players, former, while the latter is reflected in consort I played with at the time .They and... terse groups of notes punctuated by were written for Eccles’s own group, Week I rests . Various meters are juxtaposed . the Reluctant Consort, a group of Baroque Academy The player then takes up the (obviously accomplished) recorder Recorder Boot Camp soprano recorder for the fourth move- players at Eccles’s university in Syd- ment, presumably because it conveys ney, where he was until recently a Week II the voice of “The Capricious Princess” senior lecturer in Chinese . Virtuoso Recorder better than the tenor, which is perhaps Eccles has also composed for the Recorder Seminar a male voice in this suite . For this Sydney Society for Recorder Players . movement too, the reviewer proposes Since the late ’80s, he has been pub- Marilyn Boenau, director an alternative translation—“The lished by Orpheus Music . His prolific [email protected] (781) 488-3337 Moody Princess,” as evidenced by fre- output is for all combinations of quent meter changes .Tremolos, glis- recorders, and the pieces are enchant- sandos and foot-stomping are features . www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 27 DRAGONFLIES, by Lance Eccles, though “Rondo Rag” has a The collection would Eccles. Orpheus Music OMP198 nice jazzy feel and some challenging probably work best (www.orpheusmusic.com.au), 2009 . syncopations .The collection would A, pf . Sc 3 pp, pt 1 p . Abt . $17 . probably work best for a beginner for a beginner looking RHYTHMIC RECORDER, by looking for new challenges . Sr. Duchesne Lavin. Orpheus Edward Southall’s False Lights is for new challenges. Music OMP144, 2005 . A, pf . at the other end of the spectrum, filled Sc 10 pp, pt 4 pp . Abt . $21 . with challenging writing and subtle ing, whimsical, sometimes puzzling, FALSE LIGHTS, by Edward effects . Its overall style is reminiscent of sometimes difficult, and very original . Southall. Orpheus Music later Arnold Schoenberg, with disjunct The three pieces included in Water OMP190, 2008 . A, pf . Sc 6 pp, melodies, pervasive dissonance, and Creatures are “Tadpoles,” “Water Snails” pt 3 pp . Publ abt . $17, PDF $13 50. . extremely detailed dynamic and articu- and “Whirligig Beetles” (Gyrinidae) . I These three recent editions of lation markings . A composer’s note hoped to try out this publication with music for alto recorder and piano from describes the piece as having been an intermediate consort I coach . While Orpheus Music are typical of the range “inspired by tales of the deliberate all three pieces are delightful, I discov- of material available from this enter- wrecking of ships sailing near to ered that this group was only able to prising Australian publisher, which the east coast of England ”. make friends with the middle one, provides a valuable service by offering The character of the opening “Water Snails ”. such a scope of works by composers and closing seems to evoke the eerie All three pieces are programmatic, of varying backgrounds . coastal setting, while the middle sec- and one can easily imagine the slithers Lance Eccles is a prolific com- tion, marked “weightless and simple,” and slipperiness of the inhabitants of a poser for recorder with a lively sense of is scherzo-like .Throughout, the com- freshwater pond on hearing them, but humor . Dragonflies is a tuneful evoca- plex interplay between the two instru- “Water Snails” has the most melodic tion of the creatures, and places only ments will provide a challenge even for content, along with a firm and easily- moderate demands on both players . advanced players, as will the necessity grasped formal structure .The waving Written in a flowing 3/8 time, of maintaining a clear forward direc- of the tadpole tails and speedy circling the piece features a lyrical recorder tion with such fragmented musical of the water beetles are depicted in the part that uses the upper range of the material . While the dynamic markings other two pieces, but the players must alto to good effect .The melody is bro- are wide-ranging and detailed, they be able to sightread the parts, as they ken occasionally with trills and tremoli tend to follow the rise and fall of the are too unrewarding for extensive indi- and the piano accompaniment features line in the recorder part and so should vidual practice (at least for the mem- darting arpeggiated figures, all of generally have their intended effect . bers of my group) with their repetitious which suggest the whirring wings This style is not often encountered passages and fast 16th notes . and sudden gestures of the dragonfly . in music written for the recorder, and The web site lists this piece There are some abrupt harmonic so will prove intriguing for the skilled as Grade 6, and I would label it as shifts, but these, too, suggest the ran- and adventuresome player . “Moderately Difficult ”. For an upper dom movements of the dragonfly’s All three editions are thought- intermediate to advanced group, it flight . At about two minutes’ playing fully and attractively presented . should be a pleasurable addition to time, the piece does not wear out its Although there are a number of dis- their repertoire of concert pieces . welcome and would make an enter- crepancies between the score and part Martha Bixler has long been active taining novelty for a recital program . in Rhythmic Recorder, the two can easily in the administration and with various Sr . Duchesne Lavin’s set of four be reconciled with a few minutes’ care- committees of the ARS. She has been a short pieces entitled Rhythmic Recorder ful comparison . member of the Board of Directors and also paints a series of tone pictures Scott Paterson, a former ARS Board twice been President of the Society, and and would be quite manageable by member, teaches recorder and Baroque served for 10 years as editor of the ARS lower intermediate players .“Jazz flute in the Toronto (ON) area, where he Members’ Library Editions. She is a Waltz” and “Rondo Rag” have the is a freelance performer. He has written teacher/performer on recorders, piano, strongest rhythmic characteristics, on music for various publications for over harpsichord, sackbut and viola da gamba. while “Pensive” and “Pentatonic” 25 years, and now maintains his own Prominent early music ensembles with provide a reflective contrast . studio after over 30 years at the Royal which she has performed include New The writing is simpler here and Conservatory of Music of Toronto. York Pro Musica, Musica Sacra, Bach the effects less dramatic than in the Aria Group, and Berkshire Bach Society. 28 May 2012 American Recorder ______On the Cutting Edge ______Catching Up: Odds & Ends
By Tim Broege, [email protected] I have had an original Roland I had the great pleasure of attend- Digital Harpsichord for over 20 years . ing the final concert on February 3 of rom our friends at Stichting It has served its purpose for rehearsals, the “Sound Re-imagined: John Cage Blokfluit in The Netherlands outdoor performances with amplifica- at 100” at the Juilliard School of Music (NL),F www.blokfluit.org (Jorge Isaac tion, and demonstrations of historical in New York . Held in the stunning and The Recorder Foundation), comes tunings .The harpsichord sounds were (completely remodeled) Alice Tully word of recent commissions for new not bad, and even fooled some audi- Hall at recorder pieces commissioned by ences from time to time that they were Lincoln VisiSonor in 2011 . Here is a partial list: hearing a “real” harpsichord .The organ Center, • André Douw (NL): Music to Hear sounds that came with the instrument, the concert • Mirtru Escalona–Mijares however, were less than satisfactory . included (Venezuela/France): Un Espejismo I was pleased to discover the rede- one of de Mercurio signed Roland harpsichord . It now has Cage’s • Nico Huijbregts (NL): Farfanesque a very practical rectangular case (like a loveliest • Roderik de Man (NL): Fuerza rectangular virginal), improved harpsi- late works, Interior chord sounds, and a vastly improved Fourteen, • Chiel Meijering (NL): Danzai and very usable organ' sound . Specif performed • Fred Momotenko (NL/Russia): ically, this is an 8 flute organ stop, quite simultane- The Cloud Messenger for recorder acceptable for Baroque continuo pur- ously with and electronics poses . In fact, the model C-30 digital another of his late works, Litany for • Héctor Moro (Chile/Germany): harpsichord has two different sound the Whale, for two equal voices . Interior Holandés IV for recorder, sets for small positiv organs, plus forte- Cage’s “number pieces” get their viola, accordion, percussion piano sounds—and both French and titles from the number of performers • René Uijlenhoet (NL): Signal Hill Flemish harpsichord sounds . involved . Many are for unspecified (Except for the two with instruments The C-30’s improved key action instrumentation . listed above, instrumentation is recorder, more closely simulates harpsichord Contemporary music recorderists panpipes, viola, accordion and percussion ). “pluck ”. The addition of a pedal for might enjoy looking at Cage’s Three . Isaac writes that he hopes to com- sustaining effects and register changes, The composer’s description is: “Ten mission 20 new works for 2012 . One plus key-sensitive expression control, time-brackets, all but one with flexible of these, written by Russian/Dutch are important technical advances . beginnings and endings, for three composer Fred Momotenko for The ability to switch from A=415 numbered but not specified instru- recorder and multimedia, will repre- to A=392 (as well as modern A=440) ments . Dynamics are free for short sent The Netherlands during the is a big plus .Temperaments include sounds, on the soft side for long ones” . World Music Days 2012 . Werckmeister, Kirnberger, Vallotti and Another choice for recorders is Meantone . Of course, the instrument Five, for any five voices or instruments . Cage’s “number pieces” requires no tuning, a big plus for All of the late composer’s music is rehearsals and transport . published by Edition Peters . get their titles from the Since so much contemporary John Cage is considered by many number of performers music (with and without recorders) to be America’s greatest composer . involved. Many uses amplification and/or computer Why not celebrate the 100th anni- modification, the C-30 seems ideal for versary of his birth with some per- are for unspecified such an environment .Visit the product formances of his number pieces— instrumentation. web site and take a listen: www.roland. in many ways his most accessible com/classic/c30/productinfo/index.html . music? www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 29 Chapters & Consorts ______Soloists for a concert,Queen for a day, ______Swinging with the Swingettes
The Los Angeles Recorder Orchestra the various organs in the churches The program included two works (LARO) featured two of its members where Bach worked . One of the keys is by English composers . Ralph Vaughan as soloists with the orchestra on two F, very easy to play on recorders .The Williams’s Concerto Grosso was written February concerts, on a program span- other key is Eb,” not as forgiving . in 1950 for a string orchestra . Buskin is ning 17th-century to contemporary . His solution was for the soloists to a jazzy work written for the Manhattan LARO members David Whitley and play the version in F on alto recorders Recorder Orchestra by prolific contem- Marianne Martin were soloists on at A=392 (French Baroque pitch, a step porary composer Andrew Challinger . selections from Bach’s Cantata 106 and lower) .This was compatible with the Another modern note was added Vivaldi’s Concerto in G Minor . orchestra’s Eb version .“This was a mod- by Bohemian Rhapsody, an international LARO music director Thomas ern solution, making the piece more hit written in 1975 by singer Freddie Axworthy edited both works .“I playable for the solo recorders,” he said . Mercury for his rock group Queen . thought it would be relatively easy to Connie Koenenn find a full concerto for two alto record- Lucy and the Swingettes ers, but it wasn’t,” he said . Rather than Lucy and the adapt one of two concertos by Tele Swingettes, led mann, he arranged a Vivaldi concerto Patsy Rogers for two oboes . by , The Bach cantata, for small string bring swing music orchestra and two recorders, took some of the 1930s and creativity . It appears in manuscripts in ’40s to libraries, two keys, he said .“My assumption is assisted living that this was because of the pitches at centers and birth- day parties on Long Island, NY . Vocalist Lucille (l to r): Diana Foster, Jean Johnston, Karen Field regularly Rowley, Patsy Rogers, Karen Wexler, Nancy sings with the Tooney, Debbie Love, Lucille Field. seven recorderists Photograph by Ruth Gangbar. in instantly recog- nizable works by Ellington, Gershwin, Carmichael and other swing-era composers .The group plays ATB and contra bass in toe-tapping arrangements by Stan Davis .The contra doubles the bass, taking the role of a jazz string bass to anchor the group . For a February 12 gig, the ensemble appeared in a celebration of Valentine’s Reiko Yoshimura and Mollie Day at the Mattituck Public Library on Long Island . Music ranged from up- Habermeier, students of Carole tempo “oldies” (Ain’t She Sweet and Sweet Georgia Brown) to ballads (Heartaches Rogentine, played Bach’s and I Get Along Without You Very Well) .The audience especially enjoyed singing fourth Brandenburg concerto along on Bye, Bye Blackbird—and, of course, Valentine’s Day treats . with string orchestra and harp- Field, professor emerita of music at Brooklyn College, has performed all sichord at the January 30 ser- over the world in venues from classical music halls to dive bars . Rogers, a com- vice at Cedar Lane Unitarian poser and recorder teacher, conducts the Recorder Orchestra of New York . Church in Bethesda, MD. Nancy Tooney, Brooklyn, NY
30 May 2012 American Recorder The Northern Virginia Recorder Queen for a Day Society (NVRS) celebrates its 25th In March,the Renaissance and Ragtime anniversary this year . In the group’s 25 Recorder Ensemble celebrated the 90th birthday years, it has played at least 15 public of one of its members, Maryann Miller . She concerts and hosted two workshops . expected only a card and In 1990, NVRS published a Study lunch at the restaurant of Guide for the ARS Level Two Exam, her choice after a weekly with support from an ARS grant . playing session (the usual The group typically plays an array form of celebration) . of instrumentations and a similar broad Instead, awaiting her sampling of musical styles and com- at the curb was a Rolls posers, including original works by Royce limousine once Thomas Gutnick and arrangements owned by another fine for recorder by Bruce Crane . A spring musician named Len concert on April 22 featured five Maryann Miller with “chauffeur” Dick Dick Bahler non . After donning a Fritz, photo by Didi Hoepfinger; (l to r, NVRS charter members: , Queen’s “crown” and president Ed Friedler, Tom Gutnick, group photo by Dick Fritz) Didi and Inge Newstead, “purse,” she was driven Lynn Hoepfinger, John Geohegan, treasurer and music to lunch in royal style . director Deborah Roudebush .To pre- Trudy Wayne, Maryann Miller, The Longmont- Judy Fritz, Sue Peiker, Ed Pinfield. pare for the concert, musical selections based group has played were posted on the NVRS web site, http://sites.google.com/site/nvrecsoc together, with some personnel changes, for over 25 years . Current members are , Maryann Miller, Sue Peiker, Trudy Wayne, Ed Pinfield, John Geohegan, Judy so members could practice at home Fritz, and part-timers from Michigan Didi and Lynn Hoepfinger . Some are accompanying the full “orchestration ”. local chapter members (Denver and/or Boulder), while the Hoepfingers play Ed Friedler with the group when in Colorado .
www.AmericanRecorder.org May 2012 31 Sarasota Winter Workshop exam- turing a covered outdoor chapel where Rainer Beckmann led the annual ple, the some gathered . Sarasota (FL) Recorder Society 8' choir Afterwards, this Pennsylvania workshop on February 4, presenting (lower visitor walked less than a mile to the “The Bassano Connection: Music voices) beautiful white, soft, sand beach of related to the Bassanos, Anglo-Vene might Siesta Key for a half-hour of Gulf- tian Family of Outstanding Musicians, play the gazing: a lovely end for a fulfilling day . Composers and Instrument Makers section, Janice Arrowsmith, (1531-1665) ”. Most of the day’s music and the Philadelphia, PA, focused on the English/Venetian 4' choir and workshop coordinator Bassano family of composers, also enter Nancy Paxcia–Bibbins, Sarasota, FL including selections by Orazio Vecchi, on the repeat—a magnificent sound . A . Ferrabosco II, and John Adson . Also, a participant contributed her Consider advertising in The last part of the afternoon beautiful soprano voice to one piece . shifted to modern and folk music from The workshop was held in a large Brazil: Ernst Mahle, Oswaldo Lacerda meeting room of a church on Siesta and Heitor Villa–Lobos . Participants Key, with lunch in the courtyard, fea- For current rates and specifications, see www.americanrecorder.org/pubs/adver.htm. numbering 41 brought recorders— Please inquire about discounts on multiple- including four each of Paetzold great issue contracts or other special requests. Advertising subject to acceptance by basses and contras, and viola da gamba . ______Classified magazine. Reservation Deadlines: Rainer created 4' and 8' choirs by pair- ______January 1 (Spring), April 1 (Summer), ______July 1 (Fall), October 1 (Winter). ing SATB lines with TBgBcB . For ______For more information, contact the ARS office, CHAPTER NEWS PO Box 220498, St. Louis, MO 63122-0498; 800-491-9588 toll free; 314-961-1866 phone; Chapter newsletter editors and publicity offi- Where the haves 866-773-1538 fax; cers should send materials for publication to: [email protected] AR, [email protected], and have-nots 7770 South High St., Centennial, CO Classified rate for American Recorder: 60¢ per 80122-3122. Also send short articles about of the recorder world word, 10-word minimum. “FOR SALE” and specific activities that have increased chapter “WANTED” may be included in the copy membership or recognition, or just the can find each other without counting. Zip code is one word; enjoyment your members get out of being part phone, e-mail or web page is two. Payment Retiring? Consider Bella Vista, Arkansas! of your chapter. Digital photos should be at must accompany copy. Deadlines are one Visit us and play with our recorder con- month before issue date. Send copy with least 3”x4”x300dpi TIF or unedited JPG sort. We meet weekly year round. We have payment to: ARS, PO Box 220498, St. Louis, files. Digital videos for the AR YouTube sopranino to contra bass instruments and an MO 63122-0498. channel are also accepted. Please send news, extensive music library. In addition, there are photos or video enquiries to the AR address rolling hills, lakes, golf courses, a temperate Advertiser Index above, and to the following: ARS Office, climate and a community concert band. See [email protected], our web site for more Bella Vista resources. AMERICAN ORFF-SCHULWERK ASSN...... 5 PO Box 220498, St. Louis MO 63122; Info: Bill Rees, 479-876-6103, [email protected], AMER. RECORDER SOCIETY...... 1, 3, 21-23, IBC and to Bonnie Kelly, Chair, Chapters & http://sites.google.com/site/bellavistarecorder- AMHERST EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL...... 27 consort. Consorts, [email protected], STEPHAN BLEZINGER...... 13 45 Shawsheen Rd. #16, For Sale: Koblicek Renaissance Alto Recorder JEAN-LUC BOUDREAU...... 11, 23 Bedford, MA 01730. in G, new for $350. L.L. 323-935-6072. EARLY MUSIC AMERICA...... 20 American Recorder (ISSN: 0003-0724), PO Box 220498, St. Louis, MO 63122-0498, is pub- HONEYSUCKLE MUSIC ...... 5 lished bimonthly (January, March, May, September and November) for its members by the American BILL LAZAR’S EARLY MUSIC...... IBC Recorder Society, Inc. $20 of the annual $45 U.S. membership dues in the ARS is for a subscription KEITH E. LORAINE EARLY DOUBLE REED SERVICE. . . . . 4 to American Recorder. Articles, reviews and letters to the editor reflect the viewpoint of their indi- LOST IN TIME PRESS...... IBC vidual authors. Their appearance in this magazine does not imply official endorsement by the ARS. MAGNAMUSIC DISTRIBUTORS ...... 31 Editorial Deadlines: December 15 (Spring), March 15 (Summer), June 15 (Fall), and MOECK VERLAG...... IFC September 15 (Winter). Submission of articles and photographs is welcomed. Articles may be sent MOLLENHAUER RECORDERS...... OBC as an attachment (.doc or .rtf preferred) or text in an e-mail message. They should be for the exclusive PATRICK O’MALLEY, RECORDER TEACHER...... 14 consideration of AR, unless otherwise noted. Photos may be sent as prints, or unedited JPG or 300dpi TIF files (minimum 3”x4”). Advertisements may be sent in PDF or TIF format, with fonts embedded. PRESCOTT WORKSHOP...... 6 PROVINCETOWN BOOKSHOP...... 5 Editorial office: Gail Nickless, Editor, [email protected], 7770 South High St., THE RECORDER MAGAZINE...... 15 Centennial, CO 80122-3122. Books and Music for review: Sue Groskreutz, 1949 West Court St., THE RECORDER SHOP...... 15 Kankakee, IL 60901. Recordings for review: Tom Bickley, 1811 Stuart St., Berkeley, CA 94703. Cutting Edge: Tim Broege, 212 Second Ave., Bradley Beach, NJ 07720-1159. Chapter newsletters, GLEN SHANNON MUSIC ...... IBC other reports: Editorial office. Postmaster: Send address changes to ARS, PO Box 220498, St. Louis, SWEETHEART FLUTE CO...... 14 MO 63122-0498. Periodicals postage paid at St. Louis, MO, and at an additional mailing office. VON HUENE WORKSHOP, INC...... 19
32 May 2012 American Recorder