november 2010 - american recorder · its key mechanism is comfortable and especially well designed...
TRANSCRIPT
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“The new Mollenhauer Denner
great bass is captivating with
its round, solid sound, stable in
every register. Its key mechanism
is comfortable and especially
well designed for small hands. An
instrument highly recommended
for both ensemble and orchestral
playing.”
Daniel Koschitzky
(member of the ensemble Spark)
Denner great bass
Mollenhauer & Friedrich von Huene
Canta knick great bass
Mollenhauer & Friedrich von Huene
“The Canta great
bass is very intuitive
to play, making it
ideal for use in recorder
orchestras and can be
recommended .”
Dietrich Schnabel
(conductor of recor-
der orchestras)
NEW!w
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lenh
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.com
Enjoy the recorder
The recorder case with many extras
… saves an incredible amount of space with
the two-part middle joint
… place for music
… integrated recorder standOrder-No. 2646K Order-No. 5606
With adjustable support spike
G# and E � keys enable
larger finger holes
and thus an especially
stable sound.
Holiday FavoritesAWP0003 Ayton(ed):Carols for Recorders
and Violsvar: SATB $25.00
81 + favorite carols in an 87 page spiral bound book for variouscombinations of SATB recorders or viols.
LCC0016 Clemens: Christmas Treasury SA $7.00
13 favorite songs for soprano and alto
LCC0017 Clemens: Christmas Duos SA $8.00
Following the great success of LCC0016, 12 more favorites for sopranoand alto
TR00039 Bach, JS: Two ChristmasPastorales
SATB $5.00
A musical portrayal of shepherds at night on a mountainside just beforethe joyful angelic visitation.
CM01030 Burakoff/Strickland: Noel,Noel
SA(T,vo) $5.00
11 well-known carols for soprano, alto, optional tenor. Not as difficultand lyrics included.
HAEE006 Lewin (ed):MediaevalChristmas Carols
rr,2vo $16.95
Carols have been a feature of the English Christmas for centuries. Thisselection is taken from a repertoire which flourished in the 15th century.Unlike modern carols, the 15th century carol was a specific poetic formconsisting of a repeated chorus and verses. 13 wonderful pieces in a 15page score with lyrics and translations.MM00007 Trapp Family: A Recorder
Christmas EveVar: SAT $6.95
A collection of 13 carols from around the world. Arranged forcombinations (mostly duet or trio) of SAT recorders and/or voice.
EML0248 Praetorius: Christmas Hymns SATB/SAAT
$9.75
These Christmas settings come from volume VI of Praetorius s MusaeSionae, 1609. This particular volume of Praetorius s mammothcollection contains Christmas pieces, some in several different versions.11 pieces in 4 scores.
CM01038 Burakoff/Strickland:5 Songsfor Chanukah
SSA (vo) $4.00
For two soprano recorders with optional alto recorder and voice
ST12573 Turner (ed):Recorders forChristmas
S/SS + CD $17.95
20 favorite carols with musical accompaniment on an included CD.
RCE0010 Katz: Christmas Music fromMany Lands
SAT,vo $9.95
18 best known songs from France and Germany
AM20157 Christmas Songs for theRecorder
S,G $8.95
Favorites in a collection for soprano and guitar
ORDER TOLL FREE: (888) 665-2721TEL: (860) 364-5431 FAX: (860) 364-5168
Email: [email protected]
Shop Online at magnamusic.comDon’t forget to mention you’re an ARS member and
get a 10% discount!
New IssuesLPMAN14 Martini:20 Secular Pieces Var:SAT/SATB $12.50
A great collection from an Italian composer who had a gift for pleasingand well balanced melody. 20 pieces in a 41 page score for variouscombinations of SAT and SATB recorders.ST20182 Heyens: Easy Concert Pieces S, Pf/H $22.95
Experienced recorder teacher Gudrun Heyens presents a selection ofrecorder pieces which allow for the study of performance literature asearly as from the second year of study. The edition contains individualpieces such as Dornel's Chaconne or Corellis Follia Variations as wellas little pieces by Playford or Susato which can also be played as shortsuites. The collection was compiled with regard to competitions. 39page score and parts.
MK02145 Volkslied:The River S/T, Pf, Perc $19.95
Based on the Native American song The River is Flowing, for sopranoor tenor recorder, piano and drums. Arranged by Sylvia Corinna. 7page score and parts.
1AP00186 Aufterheide:The Thriller Rag SATB $7.50
This 1909 rag is one of the many commercially successful compositionsfrom May Aufterheide. The Thriller Rag puts great emphasis on non-chord tones and melodic chromaticism bringing about a soft glidinglyricism. The form is AABBACC. Level intermediate.
1AP00187 Cozad: Eatin Time Rag SATB $7.50
Eatin Time Rag is one of only two commonly available ragtime piecesfrom little known Kansas City composer Irene Cozad. Eatin Time Rag isan interesting combination of old and new rag styles melded together.Intermediate difficulty.
1AP00189 Koninsky: Eli Greens CakeWalk
ATTB $7.50
Sadie Koninsky was a prominent composer and player in the first fourdecades of the 20th century in New York. Though her 300 pluscompositions were mainly lost, this successfully captures the feeling ofthis typically black composed style.
1AP00190 Bolen: The Smokey Topaz ATTB $7.50
A gentle piece that evokes elements of both cake walks and ragtime andis still frequently played by ragtime artists in the 21st century.
1AP00191 Burgess: Rag-Alley Dream SATB $7.50
Informal cakewalk on a back street comes to mind while listening to thispiece. The piece takes on the style of a sprightly two-step.
New for Recorder OrchestraMK03314 Rosin: God Rest You Merry,
GentlemenNSATBGbCb $37.50
Based on the popular Christmas carol. If there are no great and subbasses, those parts can be played by bass recorders. 10 page score andfull parts, with lyrics enclosed.
PRM0280 Hall: Fantasia on Burns Songs SAATTTBBGbCb
$32.25
PRM0325 Silcocks: Serenade SSAAATTBBGbCb
$29.95
PRM0359 Grieg: Triumphal HomageMarch
SSAATTBBGbCb
$25.75
HARB030 Lewin, AE:3 Welsh Portraits SATTBGb $19.95
ADC0064 Viadana: La Modenese SATB x2 $7.50
ADC0123 Trombetti: Cantemus Domino a7
SSATTBB $6.75
ADC0126 Trombetti: Bonum estconfidere a 7
SAT +SATB
$6.75
Look through samples of these Online
ON THE COVER:
“The MelancholicRecorder”
Illustration byAdina Andrus
©2010
Volume LI, Number 5 November 2010
November seems early to be thinking of making New Year’s resolutions
to exercise. On the other hand, resolutionsmay not be kept; building habits could be abetter strategy, and there’s no time like nowto start new habits. Physiologist Michael
Murphy points out that aerobic exercise
doesn’t just prevent diseases, build bonedensity, help you reduce weight, andgenerally boost your health; it improves
your recorder playing, as well (page 16).Mary Halverson Waldo’s Technique
Tip reminds you to use your body core toproduce a beautiful recorder tone (page 17).
For some, the“holiday season” meansthe “season of giving.” Nina Stern writesabout her efforts to give the gift of music
to children of a slum in Kenya (page 14).Your gift of instruments and/or money canhelp. You can also find out more about themusic that she took on her Kenya trip, inMusic Reviews (page 28), and read aboutother folk songs from around the world.
Looking to buy gifts for music-aficionado friends? Look no further thanour ARS Business Members (page 10).
Gail Nickless
Editor’s
Note______________________________
GAIL NICKLESS, EDITOR
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
TOM BICKLEY, COMPACT DISC REVIEWS • FRANCES BLAKER, BEGINNERS & TECHNIQUE
TIMOTHY BROEGE, 20TH/21ST-CENTURY PERFORMANCE • CAROLYN PESKIN, Q & A
SUE GROSKREUTZ, BOOK & MUSIC REVIEWS • MARY HALVERSON WALDO, EDUCATION
ADVISORY BOARD
MARTHA BIXLER • VALERIE HORST • DAVID LASOCKI • BOB MARVIN
THOMAS PRESCOTT • CATHERINE TUROCY• KENNETH WOLLITZ
WWW.AMERICANRECORDER.ORG
COPYRIGHT©2010 AMERICAN RECORDER SOCIETY, INC.
Features
The Recorder Takes a Stand:Music Connects Students in U.S. and Kenya . . .14By Nina Stern
Aerobic Fitness and Recorder Playing . . . . . . . . .16By Michael J. Murphy
Departments
Advertiser Index and Classified Rates . . . . . . . . . .32
Chapters & Consorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Compact Disc Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19From Vlad Dracula to the Court of Burgundy to Venice
Music Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Around the world: folk songs
On the Cutting Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Tim Broege thinks about contemporary music, and gives examples of some pieces to play yourself
President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Lisette Kielson reflects on time
Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232010 Play-the-Recorder Month and MENC World’sLargest Concert; John Turner and the law; tips formemorizing, and for ornamentation
Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Business Member Focus; Montréal Recorder Festival; Recorder Music Center is Five Years Old; Von Huene Workshop turns 50; more on thelate Hermann Moeck and Johanna Kulbach;Quartet New Generation at Bang on a Can Marathon
GLENNA LANG,
DESIGN CONSULTANT
6
8
14
16www.facebook.com/pages/American-Recorder-Society/118849625628
AMERICAN
RECORDER
SOCIETYinc.
Honorary President
Erich Katz (1900-1973)Honorary Vice President
Winifred Jaeger
Statement of Purpose
The mission of the American Recorder Society isto promote the recorder and its music by
developing resources and standards to helppeople of all ages and ability levels to play and
study the recorder, presenting the instrument tonew constituencies, encouraging increased career
opportunities for professional recorderperformers and teachers, and enabling and
supporting recorder playing as a shared socialexperience. Besides this journal, ARS publishes
a newsletter, a personal study program, adirectory, and special musical editions. Societymembers gather and play together at chapter
meetings, weekend and summer workshops, andmany ARS-sponsored events throughout
the year. In 2009, the Society enters its eighth decade of service to its constituents.
Board of Directors
Lisette Kielson, PresidentLaura Sanborn–Kuhlman,
Vice President; Fundraising Chair Susan Richter, Secretary
Cathy Emptage, Treasurer, Finance ChairMatt Ross, Asst. Secretary; Governance Chair
Bonnie Kelly, Asst. Treasurer Mark Davenport, Program Chair
Jeanne Lynch, Marketing/ Public Relations Chair
Richard Spittel, Membership ChairNancy Buss
Mark DawsonGreg Higby
Mary McCutcheon
Staff
Kathy Sherrick, Administrative Director
1129 Ruth Drive
St. Louis, MO 63122-1019 U.S.
800-491-9588 toll free
314-966-4082 phone
314-966-4649 fax
www.AmericanRecorder.org
In accordance with the Internal Revenue ServiceTaxpayer Bill of Rights 2, passed by the United States
Congress in 1996, the American Recorder Society makesfreely available through its office financial and
incorporation documents complying with that regulation.
ALABAMA
Alabama Recorder Assoc.: JenniferGarthwaite (256-586-9003)
Birmingham: Janice Williams (205-870-7443)
ARIZONA
Desert Pipes (Phoenix): George Gunnels (480-706-6271)
Arizona Central Highlands (Prescott): Georgeanne Hanna (928-775-5856)
Tucson: Scott Mason (520-721-0846)
ARKANSAS
Aeolus Konsort: Don Wold (501-666-2787)
Bella Vista: Barbara McCoy (479-855-6477)
CALIFORNIA
Central Coast: Margery Seid (805-474-8538)
East Bay: Susan Jaffe (510-482-4993)
Inland Riverside: Greg Taber (951-683-8744)
Monterey Bay: LouAnn Hofman(831-439-0809)
North Coast: Kathleen Kinkela-Love (707-822-8835)
Orange County: Jo Redmon (714-527-5070)Redding: Kay Hettich (530-241-8107)
Sacramento: Mark Schiffer(916-685-7684)
San Diego County: Harvey Winokur (619-334-1993)
San Francisco: Greta Hryciw (415-377-4444)
Sonoma County: Dale Celidore (707-874-9524)
South Bay: Liz Brownell (408-358-0878)
Southern California: Jerry Cotts (310-453-6004) &Juanita Davis (310-390-2378)
COLORADO
Boulder: Mike Emptage(970-667-3929)
Colorado Springs: Janet Howbert(719-632-6465)
Denver: Dick Munz (303-286-7909)Fort Collins: Sherry Pomering(970-484-0305)
Early Music Society of Western CO: Bev Jackson (970-257-1692)
CONNECTICUT
Connecticut: Elise Jaeger (203-792-5606)
Eastern Connecticut:Joyce Goldberg (860-442-8490)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington: Art Jacobson (301-983-1310)
DELAWARE
Brandywine: Roger Matsumoto (302-731-1430)
FLORIDA
Ft. Myers: Sue Groskreutz (239-267-1752)
Gainesville: Peter Bushnell (352-376-4390)
Largo/St. Petersburg: Elizabeth Snedeker (727-596-7813)
Miami: Phyllis Hoar (305-385-5386)Palm Beach: Gail Hershkowitz(561-732-5985)
Sarasota: Nancy Paxcia-Bibbins(941-536-0621)
GEORGIA
Atlanta: Mickey Gillmor (404-872-0166)
HAWAII
Hawaii: Irene Sakimoto (808-734-5909)Big Island: Roger Baldwin (808-935-2306)
West Hawaii Recorders:Marilyn Bernhardt (808-882-7251)
IDAHO
Les Bois (Boise):Kim Wardwell(360-202-3427)
ILLINOIS
Chicago: Dennis Sherman (773-764-1920)
Chicago–West Suburban: David Johnson (630-740-9220)
LOUISIANA
Baton Rouge: Cody Sibley (225-505-0633)
New Orleans: Victoria Blanchard (504-861-4289) & David Kemp (504-897-6162)
MARYLAND
Northern Maryland: Richard Spittel (410-242-3395)
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston: Justin Godoy (781-507-4891)
Recorders/Early Music Metro-West Boston: Sheila Beardslee (978-264-0584)
Worcester Hills: Doug Bittner (508-852-6877)
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor: Annabel Griffiths (734-213-3172)
Kalamazoo: David W. Fischer(269-375-0457)
Metropolitan Detroit: Claudia Novitzsky (248-548-5668)
Northwinds Recorder Society:Janet Smith (231-347-1056)
Western Michigan: Jocelyn Shaw( 231-744-8248)
MINNESOTA
Twin Cities: Sue Silber (651-697-7080)
MISSOURI
St. Louis: Norm Stoecker (636-230-9337)
NEVADA
Sierra Early Music Society: Kay Judson (775-322-3990)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Monadnock: Kristine Schramel (413-648-9916)& Lynn Herzog (802-254-1223)
NEW JERSEY
Bergen County: Mary Comins (201-489-5695)& Reita Powell (201-944-2027)
Highland Park: Donna Messer (732-828-7421)
Montclair Early Music:Julianne Pape (845-943-0610)
Navesink: Lori Goldschmidt (732-922-2750)
Princeton: Orum Stringer(217-295-7149)
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque: Bryan Bingham (505-299-0052)
Las Vegas (Flat & Baroque in Las Vegas): Tom Curtis (505-454-4232)
Rio Grande: Martin Winkler (575-523-0793)
Santa Fe: Gus Winter (505-603-8034)
NEW YORK
Buffalo: Mark Jay (716-649-1127)Hudson Mohawk: Lee Danielson (518-785-4065)
Long Island: Barbara Zotz (631-421-0039)
New York City: Gene Murrow (646-342-8145)
Rochester: Liz Seely (585-473-1463) Rockland: Jacqueline Mirando (845-624-2150)
Westchester: Erica Babad (914-769-5236)
NORTH CAROLINA
Carolina Mountains:Carol Markey (828-884-4304)
Triangle: Mary McKinney (919-489-2292)
OHIO
Greater Cleveland: Edith Yerger (440-826-0716)
Toledo: Marilyn Perlmutter (419-531-6259)
OREGON
Eugene: Lynne Coates (541-345-5235)
Oregon Coast: Corlu Collier (541-265-5910)
Portland: Zoë Tokar (971-325-1060)
PENNSYLVANIA
Bloomsburg Early Music Ens.:Susan Brook (570-784-8363)
Erie: Linda McWilliams (814-868-3059)
Philadelphia: Sarah West (215-984-8359)
Pittsburgh: Helen Thornton (412-486-0482)
RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island: David Bojar (401-944-3395)
TENNESSEE
Greater Knoxville: Ann Stierli (865-637-6179)
Nashville: Janet Epstein (615-297-2546)
Southern Middle Tennessee(Tullahoma): Vicki Collinsworth(931-607-9072)
TEXAS
Austin: Frank Shirley (512-832-5600)Dallas: Jack Waller (972-669-1209)Rio Grande: Martin Winkler (575-523-0793)
UTAH
Utah (Salt Lake): Mary Johnson (801-272-9015)
VERMONT
Monadnock: Kristine Schramel (413-648-9916) & Lynn Herzog (802-254-1223)
VIRGINIA
Northern Virginia: Edward Friedler (703-425-1324)
Shenandoah (Charlottesville): Gary Porter (434-284-2995)
Tidewater (Williamsburg): Vicki H. Hall (757-565-2773)
WASHINGTON
Moss Bay: Janice Johnson (425-814-5923)
Seattle: Jill Shupe (206-364-7509)
WISCONSIN
Milwaukee: Carole Goodfellow (262-763-8992)Southern Wisconsin: Greg Higby (608-256-0065)
CANADA
Edmonton: Nils Hahn (780-443-3334)Montréal: Christine Fournier(450-348-0958)
Toronto: Sharon Geens (416-699-0517)
Please contact the ARS officeto update chapter listings.
ARS Chapters
6 November 2010 American Recorder
Iknow I must sound like a brokenrecord—reiterating how signifi-
cant to me is the passing of time (andwhat it brings) between the writingand reading of these greetings.
As I write this, it is the middle ofSeptember—one week before the fallBoard meeting. And I feel truly in astate of suspension: this brief timebetween the former Board and yournew one. It is a period of transition—one that will, of course, continuebeyond next week. It is a time ofunknown—a time of quiet, I think,before the storm (forgive the cliché),before a welcome downpour of newperspectives, new ways of thinking and doing. Many things will havetranspired by the time you read this in November—I can hardly, and won’t even try to, predict them all!
Now, I am in a state of reflection.Next week, and after, my naturalgung-ho tendency will assert itself, but now I am quiet, thinking of thisissue of time: of how we feel it passingquickly or slowly depending on wherewe are in our lives (or any given day);of how we spend this precious com-modity (if only we had more … time);
of how, when we play recorder, a senseof time can move through us physi-cally, taking on a life of its own, some-times tempting us to rush or drag; ofhow time can be marked by anniver-saries (such as those celebrated by theRecorder Music Center, Early MusicAmerica and Von Huene Workshop!),and also by memorable lifetimes (as we honor the passing of HermannMoeck and Johanna Kulbach).
I reflect on time and my own rela-tionship with it—how I fill my stress-full or stress-free days. I considerwhether I have done something good,worthwhile (applause goes to NinaStern—and to all those, not mentioned
in this issue—for her tremendouswork in educational outreach recorderprograms). Have I made a point ofhaving fun (enjoy the Members’Library Edition with this magazine)?
So, in this pre-meeting “Zen”state, I encourage myself, and you, to make time for all that is important.And for news on your new Board ofDirectors and all that lies ahead …stay tuned!
President’s
Message___________________________________Greetings from Lisette Kielson, ARS President
Now I am quiet,
thinking of this
issue of time....
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 7
Lazar’s Early Music(866) 511-2981 [email protected]
www.LazarsEarlyMusic.com
425 N. Whisman Rd., #200, Mtn. View, CA 94043
Strings & Early WindsKüng Moeck Mollenhauer Paetzold Yamaha
Ehlert Wenner Recorders / Baroque flutes
Lu-Mi (Wendy) Ogle Viols / Baroque Strings / Vielles
Guntram Wolf Early Winds / Roland Classic Keyboards
Competitive Prices / Sent on Approval
Personalized Service & Advice
R
E
C
O
R
D
E
R
S
By Mark Davenport, Founder/Director,Recorder Music Center, Denver, CO
The Recorder Music Center (RMC)marked its fifth year in operation lastsummer, since officially opening itsdoors in July 2005 in conjunction withthe ARS’s first Festival and Confer-ence at Regis University in Denver,CO. Since then, the RMC has con-tinued to grow and flourish, with anestimated 18,000 editions of recordermusic and other scores for earlyinstruments and voice.
The RMC instrument collectionhas also grown with the addition oftwo harpsichords, a bass viol, andseveral cornettos added to its assort-ment of recorders. The instrumentsare on display in the RMC Alcove onthe third floor of Dayton MemorialLibrary at Regis, and utilized by stu-dent and community members of theUniversity’s Collegium Musicum. An A-415 low-pitch alto is on loan to a local student who performs in herhigh school Baroque ensemble. Chil-dren from area elementary schools and interested members of the com-munity are also regular visitors.
The RMC’s Archival Collectionhouses important historical materialconnected to the recorder movementin America and abroad. The musiccollection and papers of Erich Katz(honorary president of the AmericanRecorder Society) and Martha Bixler(past president of the ARS) are amongits holdings. The RMC is also theofficial repository for historical papers of the ARS.
Elizabeth Cook, archivist for thecollection, has expanded the accessi-
bility of RMC holdings by more fullyutilizing the library’s web site. Eachcollection now offers helpful onlinefinding aids such as “Scope andContent,” “Historical Notes” and a“Series Listing and Description.” Seewww.regis.edu/library.asp?page=
about.collections.recorder.
The recorder music collectionoccupies the bulk of the RMC hold-ings. This past year the RMC receivedthe substantial recorder music libraryof the late Shirley Robbins, generouslydonated by her daughter Karen Rob-bins. Added to the Center’s largecollections, from Gordon Sandford,David Goldstein, Constance Primus,Rafe Ronkin, Martha Bixler and theDenver Chapter of the ARS, theRMC’s approximately 18,000 scoresmay represent the largest collection ofrecorder music anywhere.
The process of cataloging andbinding these editions is slow andexpensive—on average about $15 perscore. To date, the library has cata-loged and bound about 1400 scores (ata rate of about 40 scores per month).Once cataloged and bound, they areplaced in stacks in the RMC Alcove,next to the recorder instrument displaycase, where they are available forcheckout or through interlibrary loan.
With the majority of the musiccollection still in queue for catalogingand binding, we didn’t want the scoressimply sitting “on hold” for the nextfew years. Consequently, a plan is inplace for lending “pre-catalogued andbound scores” as well. Toward thisend, we have purchased software forthe RMC office where we can morequickly inventory the scores (by title,composer/arranger, publisher, instru-mentation, and location/box number).
A significant development hasbeen the allocation of a large 700+square foot space in the basement ofthe St. John Francis Regis Chapel totemporarily house these scores beforethey are brought over to the library for
The Recorder Music Center Turns Five
Tidings___________________________________Recorder Music Center celebrates five years, EMA turns 25,
Von Huene Workshop is 50, Montréal Recorder Festival
8 November 2010 American Recorder
To date, the library has
cataloged and bound
about 1400 scores
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 9
cataloging and binding. The spacenow includes library shelving andacid-free container boxes. During the school year the Center plans tohave regular hours of operation, whenpeople can come view the holdings of the pre-cataloged and pre-boundeditions and borrow them.
Last summer the RMC awardedits second “Special Projects Grant” to Marissa Kishell (photo at left, withMark Davenport), a senior at RegisUniversity pursuing a B.A. in MusicHistory and Literature, and MusicPerformance (percussion). Thanks toa generous donation from an ARSmember, Kishell conducted work inJune and July preparing collectionsfor cataloging and binding, and inven-torying the boxes of scores. She plansto pursue musicology graduate studiesupon finishing her degree at Regis.
We continue to encourage ARSmembers to take advantage of theservices provided by the RMC andask that you consider donating to theRMC recorder music, instruments orother materials relating to the activitiesand development of the recordermovement.
Do you have recorder
music, recordings or instru-
ments that you would con-
sider donating to the RMC?
For information about
donating material or about
the Recorder Music Center,
please contact Dr. Mark
Davenport, RMC Founder/
Director, at:
Regis University
Mail Code C-4
Department of Fine
& Performing Arts
3333 Regis Boulevard
Denver, CO 80221-1099
303-964-3609
The 2010-11 season marks the 25thanniversary of Early Music America
(EMA), the North American serviceorganization for the field of earlymusic. Special events during 2010-11will include a national conference, and the launch of the EMA Young
Performers Festival, which willinclude the world premiere of a fan-fare commissioned by EMA fromAdam Knight Gilbert, Director ofEarly Music, University of SouthernCalifornia’s Thornton Music School.
EMA will present two majorevents in conjunction with the Boston(MA) Early Music Festival in June:its conference June 15-18, Focus on theFuture: the Next 25 Years of EarlyMusic in North America, featuringkeynote speakers, panel discussions,and professional development work-shops; and a Young PerformersFestival, to be held every other year.
The EMA Young PerformersFestival will have two components.The Festival Ensemble, comprising25-30 outstanding students from uni-versity/conservatory groups aroundthe U.S. and Canada (chosen througha juried process) will learn, rehearse,interact and perform together in Bos-ton under Scott Metcalfe, director of Blue Heron Renaissance Choir.Gilbert’s fanfare will premiere at the Festival Ensemble concert. EMAwill also present up to 10 additionalconcerts by university-based earlymusic ensembles, and offer specialcoaching to the participating students.
In spring 2011, over 100 concertsin at least 25 states and provinces willbe offered by individual and organi-zational EMA members to honorEMA’s 25th anniversary and to raiseawareness of the widespread andvibrant activity in early music inNorth America.
During the 25th anniversary,EMA’s outreach program will include
the expansion of scholarships, grantsand competitions. Grants for festivalperformances by university-basedearly music ensembles will increasefrom one grant to five in 2011. Out-reach grants for early music artistsperforming in schools and for non-traditional audiences will also increasefrom one annual grant to three. (A recent outreach award went toNina Stern’s S’Cool Sounds; seeStern’s article on page 14 in this issue)
The number and size of EMAsummer workshop scholarships willalso increase. Over the past 12 years,EMA has presented 54 scholarshipsfor use at North American summerearly music workshops to high school,college and graduate students.
In spring 2011, EMA’s secondrecording competition will select win-ners to record a debut CD withNaxos. A new Baroque performancecompetition for emerging artists willbe introduced in 2011-12, to comple-ment EMA’s Medieval/Renaissanceperformance competition.
EMA will produce a special25th-anniversary commemorativeissue of Early Music America maga-zine, to be published this month,highlighting the achievements of thefield, and exploring the challenges ofthe future. Special contributors to thisissue include Joel Cohen (BostonCamerata), Kathy Fay (Boston EarlyMusic Festival), Wendy Gillespie(Indiana University), Bruce Haynes(McGill University) and others.
A special edition of Thomas For-rest Kelly’s new book, Early Music: A Very Short Introduction (OxfordUniversity Press), will also be avail-able to EMA members in March.
For updated informationthroughout the year, includingconcerts being presented, visit EMA’s 25th anniversary web page,accessed from www.earlymusic.org.
Happy Silver Anniversary, EMA!
10 November 2010 American Recorder
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF VON HUENE WORKSHOP
Text and photo by Susan E. Thompson, New Haven, CT
Family and friends gathered at 59 Boylston Street, Brookline, MA, in June to join Ingeborg and Friedrich von Huene (at right) in celebrating the 50thanniversary of the establishment of their woodwind-making business, Von
Huene Workshop. Present were the Von Huene children (Andreas, Patrick,Nikolaus, Elisabeth and Thomas), plus their own spouses and children.
A number of musicians, clients and admirers reminisced about theirinteraction with the shop over the years. Among them were Thomas M.Prescott (an apprentice with Friedrich in the 1970s), John Tyson, Miyuki Tsurutani, James S. Nicolson, Aldo Abreu, PeterBloom, Tricia van Oers, Héloïse Degrugillier, Olav Chris Henriksen, Darcy Kuronen (musical instruments curator at theBoston Museum of Fine Arts), Kathleen Faye (Boston Early Music Festival), and Marilyn Boenau (Amherst EarlyMusic). Also attending were members of the shop’s staff—Eric Haas, Roy Sansom (at right in photo above, holding Friedrich’sfirst recorder from c.1960), Roxanne Layton, Owen Watkins, Carol Lewis, Joseph Lewnard and William Henriksen.
Von Huene Workshop was founded in 1960 in Waltham, MA, in an 18th-century barn shared with the harpsichord-making shop of Frank Hubbard. Friedrich’s first instruments were recorders. In fact, his “No. 1”—a narrow-bodied,rosewood alto—was on view at the celebration for all to play and hear.
A Triumphal Lecture-Recital on a Triumphal Entry
By Laura Conrad,Cambridge, MA, [email protected]
A lot of early music groups are experimenting with concerts that aren’t really concerts. For instance, Hesperus plays period-music accompaniments to silent films like Robin Hood. Ensemble Galilei adds live background music to a performance bytwo actors and a stunning collection of still photos from the Smithsonian Institution, First Person from the Edge of the World.
On April 16, I heard an art history lecture about the Triumphal Entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in Antwerp, Belgium(which occurred on April 17, 1635), accompanied by musical selections. Sponsored by the Boston Early Music Festival atthe Harvard Art Museum’s Sackler Lecture Hall in Cambridge (MA), it featured two Boston-area groups, The Imperial
Trumpets and Seven Hills Renaissance Wind Band, with Camerata Trajectina of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Thelecture was delivered by Louis Peter Grijp, Trajectina’s artistic director and lutenist.
We’ve probably all used woodcuts from Hans Burgkmair’s Triumph of Maximilian on flyers and concert programs—this was the same kind of triumph, only most of the floats and arches were designed by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).
The program started with a half-hour lecture about the artistic and historical background. Then came a series of pic-tures of the temporary structures erected for the triumph. For each image, the winds or trumpets played a piece that mighthave been appropriate for that stop on the procession. We know little about the actual music played. What we know comesfrom accounts of money paid to musicians from the area, and from mentions in contemporary accounts of a Te Deum playedat the Cathedral and of a song sung by children of an orphanage on the route (but nothing about who wrote either piece).Works were selected from roughly the right time, mostly by composers living or working in Antwerp and its vicinity.
Camerata Trajectina performed political songs for and against Ferdinand. They claimed to sing the ones for Ferdinandin a Flemish accent and those against in a Dutch accent, but this reviewer can’t confirm that from personal knowledge. Tra-jectina’s Saskia Coolen played recorder interludes, countermelodies and Van Eyck-style variations, with viol and lutecontinuo. The tenor singer used gestures and tone changes appropriate for singing a piece of political propaganda in a bar.
A highlight was the last piece, where all in the room participated in a song written to celebrate the Prince’s defeat of theCalvinists at the village of Kallo. After the audience tried this in Dutch, we switched to the English translation by Ruth vanBaak Griffioen (of Jacob van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lust-Hof fame). Instrumentalists played interludes between the verses. It was particularly impressive to see how they were able to combine the loud consorts with lute and viol by putting physicaldistance between them—the latter were on stage, and the shawms, trumpets and sackbuts were in the side aisle, at the rear.
The audience seemed very cheerful as they left. In this case, having the pictures and history lecture in addition to themusic really did give a better appreciation of what the music was about than a concert would have.
For more information on Camerata Trajectina and to hear musical examples, visit www.camerata-trajectina.nl.
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 11
Passing NotesJohanna E. Kulbach, recorderteacher to countless children as a firstinstrument, died on July 21. She was98 years old. Kulbach had a life-longlove of music that began in her child-hood home in Halle an der Saale inGermany, where chamber music even-ings were frequent, and where she tookpiano lessons from Walter Bergmann.
In preparation for her wish toteach music to children, she studied theDalcroze Method at the Hochschulefür Musik in Berlin. During the yearsbefore WWII, Kulbach joined thefledgling German early music move-ment, learning to play a tenor recorderthat a fellow consort player handed her.Because of her Jewish background, shewas not allowed to teach in Germanyduring the Nazi takeover.
After coming to the U.S. in 1950,she rode the wave of the recordermovement, teaching children over a40-year career in New York City at theNew Lincoln School, Mannes Prep-aratory Department, City and CountrySchool, Village Community School andother schools. She also taught adults atPinewoods Camp, John C. CampbellSchool (NC), and led ARS meetings.
Kulbach wrote recorder books,organized primarily in progressiveorder, comprising folk material towhich she composed accompanyinglines. She wrote The Recorder Guide,Tunes for Children, Tunes for Two and129 Songs and Dances. While drawingfrom her native German folk music,she was also inspired by the rich mate-rial she encountered in the U.S., col-lecting music from many sourcesincluding the American and Englishfolk music presented by teachers at the schools and communities where she taught.
In her later years, Kulbach was a great reader. Her interests encom-passed many subjects, particularly artand history. She never lost her love ofmusic. She enjoyed going to gardens
and museums, and also loved visitorsof all ages, reaching out to understandtheir lives and share with them her life.She never lost her curiosity and desireto help people.
Lisle Kulbach, Arlington, MA�����Johanna Kulbach was a colleague and a neighbor of mine for some 40 years.We met while I was still working as alibrarian—at the same time, workinghard in music. She not only encour-aged me to get into music teaching andperformance, but, realizing that I hadno teaching experience, invited me toobserve her beginning recorder class at the City and Country School. Iwatched for a full school year.
Over many years, I’ve observedmany teachers, but Kulbach was, une-quivocally, the best teacher of childrenI’ve ever seen. And, though my ownteaching career took a very differentdirection, I think of her as a mentor.
Kulbach taught countless NYCchildren, and through her excellentRecorder Guide countless adults from all over the world, as well. ’Til the veryend of her life, it was not uncommonfor middle-aged people to approachher on the street, and thank her for herrecorder teaching. She was always verygracious, and it amazed me that sheseemed to have total recall of studentsshe could not have seen in decades. Ittook awhile to realize that the mischie-vous look in her eye meant that she was exercising a matronly charm to get them to reveal themselves, and thatshe really didn’t remember much aboutthem. But these former students alwaysfelt remembered as individuals, andshe was always genuinely pleased they remembered her.
Dear Johanna, I, too, rememberyou, and am grateful for the chance to publicly thank you for all yourgenerous help to me.
Anita Randolfi, New York City, NY
Dr. Hermann Moeck (1922-2010)was the owner and for many years thedriving force behind Moeck Verlag & Musikinstrumentenwerk in Celle,Germany. He died on July 9; he wouldhave been 88 on September 16.
Moeck took over the family busi-ness from his father in 1960. The firmwas already making recorders, but as amusician—with an acute sense of whatwas required to make his instrumentsacceptable to a higher echelon of musi-cian—he developed instruments basedon historical originals and made them,using high precision engineering tech-niques, to a standard that made themoutstanding among his commercialcompetition.
His winning modus operandi was tocommission leading recorder research-ers and designers to develop modelsbased on known and respected historicoriginals. The Rottenburgh seriesdesign by Friedrich von Huene verysoon became the brand leader world-wide and other copies of Steenbergen,Denner, Stanesby and Hotteterrerecorders followed ...[plus] crum-horns, rackets, cornamusen and otherRenaissance and Baroque instruments.
Moeck was essentially a musicol-ogist; his keen interest in the subjectled him to develop the publishing sideof the business and was responsible forwidening the catalog particularly ofcontemporary works for the recorder.
To the many visitors to the Moeckfactory in Celle, Hermann Moeck wasalways most welcoming. I shall alwaysremember his cheery disposition andwise counsel. We shall all miss him.
Richard Wood, Early Music Shop,UK,(adapted from The Recorder Magazine,
Autumn issue; Tibia’s January issue willinclude a tribute in German to Dr. Moeck)
The Recorder Magazine
we invite you to visit the sitewww.recordermail.demon.co.uk
Ensemble Caprice hosted the ninthedition of the Montréal RecorderFestival on September 16-19. As inyears past, this event was a true cele-bration of the vast possibilities of therecorder, and its international appeal.Both the participants and the facultyreflected the intense musical andintellectual joy stemming from this“simple,” marvelous instrument.
The Festival began on the after-noon of September 16 at the JeunessesMusicales of Canada with a masterclass by John Tyson for advancedamateur recorder players. Tyson’sgentle nature, good humor, and abun-dant enthusiasm instantly put the fourparticipants at ease. He was able to use the students to produce fourseparate courses on various aspects of voicing, phrasing, breathing andimprovisation. Each student ended the session with a deeper appreciationof that person’s own musicality, and a sense of improved performance.
That evening Tyson presented hislecture, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity:Understanding the Musical Democ-racy of Renaissance Polyphony.” Hediscussed the connection between theHumanistic movement—the discoveryof the individual, freedom of expres-sion, and the search for harmony—and
the compositional structure of Renais-sance polyphonic music. He partic-ularly emphasized the importance of“liberté” in expression, the “égalité” ofall the voices in Renaissance poly-phony, and the role of the text as anessential determinant of instrumentalperformance.
On Friday evening, the ensembleRenaissonics (John Tyson, recorders,pipe and tabor, at top in photo; MiyukiTsurutani, recorder and harpsichord,at bottom; Laura Gulley, violin; DanielRowe, ’cello, center in photo) presented aconcert titled, “Il Vero Modo,” whichdemonstrated their ability to draw fromboth classical and popular repertoire to play Renaissance music with superbtechnique and impressive improvisa-tional skills. It was a program filledwith contrast: the audience was emo-tionally moved by Thomas Morley’sChristes crosse, and also physicallymoved to the beat of dance tunes. (See www.renaissonics.com for more information.)
Saturday was a full day of work-shops at McGill University. The festi-val participants were divided into foursections for the chamber music work-shops, which were led by Horacio
Franco (Mexico), Femke Bergsma
(Canada), and Renaissonics’ John
Tyson and Miyuki Tsurutani (U.S.).The groups then combined for a Ren-aissance music workshop with Tysonthat focused on improvisation.
The final workshop on Saturdaywas “Recorder for All,” directed byFranco. In one short hour, he preparedthe participants to perform a doublechoir piece later that evening.
Saturday night’s venue was thebeautiful Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Old Montréal. The“Recorder for All” performance ofAntonio de Salazar’s O Sacrum Con-vivium, conducted by Franco, beganthe evening. Following that, Ensemble
Caprice presented the opening concertof their 2010-2011 season, “ThreeBrandenburgers and an Italian in thecompany of J.S. Bach.” For this per-formance, the members of Ensemble
Caprice (Matthias Maute, director,recorder; Sophie Larivière, flute andrecorder; John Thiessen, Baroquetrumpet; Matthew Jennejohn, oboe;Olivier Brault, Baroque violin; PemiPaull, viola; Susie Napper, ’cello;Nicolas Lessard, double bass; andErin Helyard, harpsichord) werejoined by special guests: Baroqueviolinists Jörg-Michael Schwarz andKaren Marie Marmer from the NewYork City-based ensemble REBEL.
After Brault’s moving perfor-mance of the Sarabande from Bach’sPartita in B minor for solo violin, hejoined the ensemble and fellow soloistsLarivière, Baroque flute, and Helyard,harpsichord, in an exciting rendition of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.
The prelude for Brandenburg No. 4was the Adagio from Bach’s Sonata inG minor for solo violin, played beauti-fully by Marmer. No. 4 itself was a tourde force with truly moving virtuosity,musicality and interpretation. Schwarzplayed the concerto’s violin solo, withMaute and Larivière on recorders.
12 November 2010 American Recorder
Merci, Ensemble Caprice! Festival Les Journées de la flûte à bec était le meilleur!
Master class participant Lynn
Whidden (l) with John Tyson
Montréal treated the audience to fireworks during intermission. Wejoked that the city must have reallyliked the Brandenburg No.4, but intruth the fireworks welcomed the tallship fleet to the Old City harbor.
After intermission, the Italian partof the program appeared: a transcrip-tion of Bach’s Italian Concerto, origi-nally composed for solo harpsichord,and arranged by Maute for strings andsoprano recorder. Maute preceded thatperformance with a movement fromhis Suite in F major from his collectionof 6 Soli per Flauto sensa Basso, which he composed in the Baroque style.
The program ended with Branden-burg No. 2 with Thiessen playing theseemingly-impossible on the naturaltrumpet; Jennejohn, oboe; Marmerviolin; and Maute, recorder. Thun-derous applause brought the ensembleback for an encore: an anonymousChacona from the collection Flores demúsica, which can be found on theEnsemble Caprice CD, Salsa Baroque.
The Festival’s concluding event onSunday afternoon at McGill Univer-sity was a solo concert performed byMexican recorder virtuoso Horacio
Franco, titled “Mexico extreme, A
Taste of Mexico in Music.” Franco’sprogram captivated the audience,moving among contemporary compo-sitions, fresh interpretations of familiarrecorder pieces, transcriptions of twoBach violin solos, and folk music. With one exception, he played theentire concert from memory.
In one remarkable set, he per-formed Indian music from the Mayaand Yaqui tribes on garklein and sopra-nino, accompanying himself with shellsstrapped to his legs. In an African folksong, he alternated single sung notes
with a tone played on tenorrecorder, creating a hocketeffect.
Franco ended the Sep-tember 19 concert with hisrecorder arrangement ofBach’s Chaconne in D minor,which Schwarz had playedon solo violin the nightbefore. It was fascinating tohear both versions played onsuch different instruments.
As the title implied,Franco presented a programof extremes: an extremevariety of musical genresplayed with an extremeamount of technical ability.His expressed desire was to be a musical ambassador,
and to provide a glimpse of the positiveactivity taking place in his nativeMexico. He was extremely successful.
The four days of the festivalproved to be exciting, educational andfun. From Tyson’s animated dance-liketeaching style and Ensemble Caprice’ssuperb musicality, to the musical fire-works of Franco (as well as the har-bor’s celebratory fireworks!), it was aresounding success. We look forwardto the 10th Festival, and many more.
Tony and Lynn Waickman, Ray Brook, NY
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 13
Horacio Franco (all photos
by Ragnar Müller–Wille)
Ensemble Caprice encore: Baroque violins Olivier Brault, Jörg-Michael
Schwarz (Karen Marie Marmer not visible behind); Pemi Paull, viola;
Susie Napper, ’cello; Nicolas Lessard, double bass; recorders Matthias
Maute, Sophie Larivière (Erin Helyard, harpsichord, not visible
behind); Matthew Jennejohn, oboe; John Thiessen, Baroque trumpet
Honeysuckle Music
Recorders & accessories. . .
Music for recorders & viols
Jean Allison Olson1604 Portland Ave.St. Paul, MN 55104
14 November 2010 American Recorder
AMERICAN ORFF-SCHULWERK
ASSOCIATION
Julie Scott, PresidentPO Box 391089, Cleveland, OH 44139-8089440/543-5366; Fax: 440/[email protected]; www.aosa.org
The American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA) is a professional organization of music and movementeducators dedicated to the creative teaching approachdeveloped by Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman. We areunited by our belief that learning about music—learning to sing and play, to hear and understand, to move andcreate—should be an active and joyful experience. Ourmission is:
· to demonstrate the value of Orff Schulwerk andpromote its widespread use
· to support the professional development of ourmembers
· to provide a forum for the continued growth andunderstanding of Orff Schulwerk that reflects thediversity in contemporary American society.
Founded in 1968, membership in the American Orff-Schulwerk Association has grown to include 5,000 musiceducators, musicians and related professionals. AOSAfosters the utilization of the Orff Schulwerk approachthrough a vibrant professional development program thatsponsors hundreds of workshops in 96 local AOSA chap-ters across the U.S. each year and through more than 60certified Teacher Training programs across the country.
CLARION ASSOCIATES, INC.
Anthony Richards35 Arkay Dr., Suite 400, Hauppage, NY 11788800/VIV-ALDI; Fax: 631/[email protected]; www.clarionins.com
The largest insurance firm dedicated solely to the needsof musicians. 45% off for all ARS members.
COURTLY MUSIC UNLIMITED, INC.
Richard and Elaine Henzler3785 Main Street, Warrensburg, NY 12885-1665800/274-2443; 518/623-2867; Fax: 518/623-2869richie@courtlymusicunlimited.comwww.courtlymusicunlimited.com
Call us toll free for Expert advice on selecting arecorder and music for your particular needs. Instrumentsare sent on approval (call for details). We not only checkout each instrument but offer free refinement of tuning onwooden recorders valued over $85.00. Visit our home pageand click on “advice” for helpful hints on playing andpracticing the recorder. If you would like more personalhelp, we teach private and group lessons both in Warrens-burg, NY, and New York City. Call for schedule and rates.Teachers, call for discounts on music and instruments.
We carry Moeck, Mollenhauer, Yamaha, Zen Onrecorders, historical woodwinds, percussion and other folk instruments, as well as sheet music, method books,fingering charts, thumbrests, books, humidifiers, notecards, tuners, cases, music clips, oil, cork grease,metronomes, recorder stands, anti-condensation solution, music stands and swabs.
EARLY MUSIC AMERICA
Maria Coldwell, Executive Director2366 Eastlake Avenue E. #429, Seattle, WA 98102206/720-6270 or 888/SACKBUT; Fax: 206/[email protected]; http://earlymusic.org
Early Music America (EMA) is a not-for-profitservice organization for the field of historical performancein North America. Founded in 1985, EMA’s goal is toexpand awareness of, and interest in, the music of theMedieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods.EMA’s members receive a quarterly magazine, bulletins,and benefits including access to reduced-rate insurance,discounts on publications, concerts and festivals, andeligibility for awards and scholarships. With its broad
membership, including professional performers,ensembles, presenters, instrument makers, amateurmusicians, and audience members, EMA serves as anadvocate for the field throughout the continent.
HONEYSUCKLE MUSIC
Jean Allison-Olson1604 Portland Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55104651/[email protected]
Carrying Yamaha, Aulos, Zen-on, Moeck, Kelhorn,Aura recorders as well as recorder method books. We carrya wide variety of recorder sheet music as well as recordermusic for large groups & recorder orchestras in addition tomusic arranged for recorder and other instruments.Accessories include recorder cases, stands, wooden thumbrests and more. We also carry music for flutes, crumhorns,ocarina, tabor pipe, native flute, tin whistle, bodhran,guitar, strings, fiddle, dulcimer, harp, reed, harmonica,bagpipe, keyboard, dulcimer, voice and choral music.
LAZAR’S EARLY MUSIC
Bill Lazar425 N. Whisman Rd. #200, Mountain View, CA 94043866/511-2981 (toll free inside U.S.) or 650/938-5367Fax: 408/[email protected]; http://LazarsEarlyMusic.com
We sell Moeck, Mollenhauer, Küng, Yamaha, PaetzoldSquare bass, Ehlert and Wenner handmade recorders;Wenner flutes; Cíp gemshorns; optimized crumhorns;Guntram Wolf Baroque and Renaissance winds, and otherearly winds; Roland Classic digital keyboards (harpsichordand organ); Wendy Gillespie (Lu-Mi) & Charlie OgleChinese viols; Baroque strings and bows; Chris Englishand Louis Bégin viol bows; Puchalski vielles; usedinstruments; music and accessories. Keys added, necksbent (painless). Personal service and advice. Instru-ments gladly sent on approval. Very competitive prices.
MAGNAMUSIC DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
Madeline Hunter, Tim Hunter74 Amenia Union Rd., Sharon, CT 06069888/665-2721; Fax: 860/[email protected]; www.magnamusic.com
Importer/distributor of recorders, recorder accessoriesand shakuhachi. Magnamusic holds one of the largestinventories of early and contemporary sheet music avail-able in the U.S. & Canada. Free catalogs. Prompt, friendly service. 10% Discount on purchases made by ARS Members.
MOECK MUSIKINSTRUMENTE +
VERLAG e.K.
Sabine Haase–MoeckLückenweg 4 D-29227 Celle GERMANY49-05141088530; Fax: [email protected]; www.moeck.com
Family-owned enterprise in the third generationproducing high-end recorders and publishing recordermusic, books on music and Tibia Magazine for Wood-wind Players. Moeck organizes courses for recorderplayers and promotes the recorder on a professional levelby awarding prizes at the Moeck/SRP Recorder PlayingCompetition in London, the Montréal InternationalRecorder Competition and others.
PRESCOTT WORKSHOP
Thomas M. & Barbara C. Prescott14 Grant Rd., Hanover, NH 03755-6615603/643-6442; Fax: 603/[email protected]; www.prescottworkshop.com
Prescott Workshop is devoted to making recorders ofthe finest possible quality. All instruments are personallymade by master-craftsman Thomas M. Prescott, whofounded the workshop in 1974.
PROVINCETOWN BOOKSHOP
Joel Newman246 Commercial St., Provincetown, MA 02657508/487-9651; Fax: 508/487-3286
Pioneering in recorder and viol music mail order sincethe late 1950s. We also offer a list of almost 50 editions ofrecorder ensemble music by Andrew Charlton, DavidGoldstein, and Joel Newman.
GERALD SELF, HARPSICHORD MAKER
5119 St. Nicholas, San Antonio, TX 78228210/434-2040; [email protected]; www.gselfharpsichords.com
We have been custom-building fine early keyboardinstruments such as harpsichords, clavichords, virginals,spinets and fortepianos since 1968. Please browse ourextensive line of custom made finished instruments andinstrument kits that you can assemble yourself.
We also provide instrument finishing such as sound-board and case paintings, gilding, and original artwork asspecified by the customer. Other services to address yourearly keyboard needs include restringing, requilling,voicing and instrument rentals.
Let us help you to discover the fulfillment of owning a beautifully made classical harpsichord, clavichord,virginal, spinet or fortepiano.
SWEET PIPES
Jeanne Cox, Laura, Bob and Brett Bergin2300A Michigan Ct., Arlington, TX 76016800/446-1067 or 817/277-9922Fax: 800/576-7608 or 817/[email protected]; www.sweetpipes.com
Our goal and pledge is to present only the best qualityrecorders, finest recorder publications for making music,and the fastest and most caring service available in theindustry. We continue on in the same tradition establishedby Gerry and Sonya Burakoff, our founders. Publishers ofrecorder materials for students, teachers, and performers;method books, solos, ensembles, editions of early music;miscellaneous recorder items; and Aulos and Yamahaquality plastic recorders.
TOYAMA MUSICAL
INSTRUMENT CO., LTD.
Takamura Toyama 41, Oharacho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 174 JAPAN81-3-3960-8305; [email protected]
Toyama manufactures recorders under the Aulosbrand, along with a broad line of elementary musicalinstruments. The Aulos Collection features superbvoicing, patented double joint permits smooth joining with no air leaks, constructed of strong, high-class ABS resin and excellent intonation throughout full range of instrument. (U.S. Agent: Rhythm BandInstruments, Inc.)
VON HUENE WORKSHOP/
EARLY MUSIC SHOP OF NEW ENGLAND
Eric Haas65 Boylston St., Brookline, MA 02445-7694617/277-8690; Fax: 617/[email protected]; www.vonHuene.com
The Von Huene Workshop, Inc., founded in 1960 by Friedrich and Ingeborg von Huene, makes, sells, and repairs fine Renaissance and Baroque historicalwoodwinds. Its affiliate, the Early Music Shop of NewEngland, is a retail store and mail-order division of the Von Huene Workshop that sells recorders, flutes, reed instruments, early keyboards, sheet music, and related items. We are happy to send instruments onapproval for those players who wish to compare beforemaking a commitment.
Information supplied by Business Members responding
FOCUS ON ARS BUSINESS MEMBERS
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 15
A September San Francisco ClassicalVoice feature article mentions the youngplayers of the East Bay (CA) Junior
Recorder Society. See www.sfcv
.org/article/next-wave-baroque.To celebrate its 50th anniversary,
the Adirondack Baroque Consort
(ABC) announces a competition tocompose two recorder quartets.
ABC will choose two works topremiere at its 50th-anniversary con-certs in spring and fall 2012. The quar-tets should be for three recorders, key-board and optional percussion; containthree to five movements; be roughly10-20 minutes in duration; and, inkeeping with the group’s educationalmission, be of intermediate difficulty.
Deadline is September 1, 2011.
Winners will be published by LouxMusic-Dovehouse Editions Canada.For details, see www.abconsort.org,or write to 69 West Hawley Lane,Hannacroix, NY U.S. 12087-0034.
The credits for the 2009 film Fan-tastic Mr. Fox (based on Roald Dahl’schildren's novel) contain the name ofPiers Adams, with other recorderplayers Jill Kemp, Annabel Knight and
Helen Keen (who played piccolo aswell). E-mailed about the experience,Adams replied: “I very occasionally get a call from the main film-sessionbooking company in London. Thissession took place at the famous AbbeyRoad Studios, and the recorders wereneeded for just one long day (finishingwell after midnight). We were onlyinvolved in 2 or 3 of the principalthemes, but each one came in manydifferent guises.... I would guess therewere 30 or more individual selectionsto record. All of the musicians involved[played] together in the same hugestudio, but loosely partitioned, andsome in soundproofed booths (therecorders were all together in a booth).Headphones allowed us to hear eachother (and the click-track) clearly.
“The music was catchy and fairlysimple (fortunate as one never gets tosee it in advance) and conducted by thecomposer, Alexandre Desplat. Jill is ayoung virtuoso player whom I used toteach, and Annabel a well-establishedchamber and consort player in the UK... Helen Keen is a flautist, and didn’tknow until the day that she was goingto be playing the recorder as well! We covered pretty much all sizes ofrecorder from sopranino to great bass, in various combinations.
Nancy Beckman and Tom Bickley were artists-in-residence
in May at the Art Monastery in Labro, Italy, north of Rome,
www.artmonastery.org. Bickley led a four-day intensive on
using chant
within electro-
acoustic
improvisa-
tion; at left,
they play
Bickley’s
electro-
acoustic
version of the
chant hymn
Te lucis ante
terminum.
A Young Player to Watch
By Michael Emptage, Loveland, CO
On April 25, Ariel Branz was fea-tured in a recital in Boulder, CO.Branz is a 17-year-old Boulder HighSchool junior who started playing thesoprano recorder at age eight; she is arecorder student of Linda Lunbeck
and has studied with Mark Davenportas well. In 2009, she traveled to Phila-delphia as a finalist in the Piffaro com-petition for young recorder players;she plans to enter the 2011 competi-tion with music from her April recital.
Branz has remarkable finger facil-ity coupled with facile articulation.Nothing seems beyond her reach:double-tonguing, flutter-tonguing, she does it all with great elan.
The program was remarkable inthe breadth of the repertory played. In the first of three sections, Branzplayed works of Fontana, Van Eyckand Bach, plus a modern piece, Fan-fare by Bob Margolis. Rick Thomasprovided harpsichord accompaniment.
The second segment featured theQuintessence Recorder Ensemble(Cambria Heuston, age 14; LieslJensen, age 13; Branz; and Lunbeck).The quartet played Im Maien (LudwigSenfl), Can She Excuse (Dowland),Two Villancicos by Juan del Encina, and three movements of a Sonata in F Major by Alessandro Scarlatti.
Branz and classical guitaristAdam Buer finished by playing Recer-cada Segunda (Diego Ortiz), Nightclub1960 from Historia del Tango by AstorPiazzolla, Caprice #1 by Hans-MartinLinde, and a movement of a Concertoin F Major by Giuseppe Sammartini.The highlight of this part of theprogram was the Piazzolla piece,which blends traditional tangorhythms with modern tonalities.
Ariel Branz is a star performer;we will certainly hear more of her inthe future.
Bits & Pieces
16 November 2010 American Recorder
RECORDERS IN
NEW YORK CITY
By Anita Randolfi, New York City, NY
The Bang On A Can Marathon washeld June 27 at the World FinancialCenter’s Winter Garden. This is a 12-hour (noon to midnight) free concert;it’s no surprise that it ended late at 1 a.m. The composers and artists whoparticipate represent the cutting edgeof the New York downtown scenedistinguished for its inclusiveness andeclectic mix of art music, jazz, rock,electronica, and non-Western music.
I was delighted that it includedone of my favorite recorder ensembles,Quartet New Generation (SusanneFrohlich, Andrea Guttmann, HeideSchwarz and Petra Wurz). The QNGplayers were allotted two sets over thecourse of the day. The first set includedthree pieces. Dorothee Hahne’s DanceMacabre, a New York premiere, com-
posed for four soprano recorders andelectronics. Flohwalze, a world pre-miere, is a work of German composerMoritz Eggert, who explained to theaudience that his piece utilized a well-known and extremely “annoying” tune,sort of a German version of Chopsticks.Employing an energetic tempo ofmostly notes of the same duration, the players soon began to express theirfrustration with the tune—shouts, cries of exasperation, and stomping.The hysteria grew, and the work endedwith the players throwing small objectsonto the stage and into the audience asa gesture of their disgust. Flohwalze isas much theatrical as musical.
The middle piece of this set,Mortal Flesh by the American com-poser Paul Moravec, is a beautiful andvirtuosic work that employs 20 record-ers played from lowest to highest.
About 5 p.m. QNG took the stagefor its second set of two pieces. BlackBox—a world premiere, by Americancomposer Mary Ellen Childs—is fullof shimmering sounds that build to asudden and mysterious silence, endingwith a few beautifully-voiced chords.
QNG’s final piece was the NewYork premiere of Oh, I Am Sorry, Did IBreak Your Concentration? for recorders
and piano (played by Eggert), by theDutch composer Michael Mesingh.The piece’s short phrases are brokenby sudden stops; the players freeze as ifplaying the children’s game of statues.The high recorders, played mostly intheir high octaves, contrast with andcomplement the vigorous piano writ-ing. The result is not exactly beautiful,but very exciting and theatrical.
Listening to hours of music in theoverly resonant Winter Garden is notan unmitigated pleasure. Still, I wasdelighted for the opportunity to hearthe gifted QNG. They more than heldtheir own in this very creative company.
I also want to mention two con-certs in which I took part. The Man-
hattan Recorder Orchestra, con-ducted by Matthias Maute, gave itsspring program on May 6 at HolyApostles Church. Included were twochromatic madrigals by Gesualdo, theDance Suite XV from Schein’s Ban-chetto Musicale, and J.S. Bach’s FugaAlla Breve e Staccato, and Concerto in CMajor after Vivaldi. Larry Garges wassoloist in the Bach/Vivaldi concerto.Daphna Mor also played Telemann’sFantasia No. 1 for solo alto recorder.
Three Miniatures, a witty piece by Andrew Challenger (b. 1950) pro-vided a more up-to-date sound. Theprogram began and ended with Ren-aissance music by Byrd and Janequin.
On June 11 at the General Theo-logical Seminary Chapel, Chelsea
Wind Recorder Ensemble (GregoryEaton, David Hurd, Barrie andLucinda Mosher, and me) presented“Music of the Hours,” includingGombert’s Dezilde de Cavallero, 5 Recercars by J.K.F. Fischer, Chansonde Matin by Elgar, and Glen Shan-non’s Prelude and Fugue No.1. Also, we played two quintet arrangements by Jean Cassignol: Vivaldi’s Concerto La Tempesta di Mare, RV98/433, andMozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,K.525. The latter was an especiallysuccessful arrangement.
Lost in Time Press
New works andarrangementsfor recorder ensemble
Compositions byFrances BlakerPaul AshfordHendrik de Regtand others
Inquiries:Corlu CollierPMB 3092226 N Coast HwyNewport, Oregon [email protected]
The players freeze as if
playing the children’s
game of statues.
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www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 17
The Pirate or the Gypsy Life:
Two Groups tell the Tales
By Patricia Grimes, Canada and Florida
Last April my husband and I werefortunate to hear a concert in WinterPark (part of Orlando, FL) by Red
Priest from England. Members arePiers Adams, recorder/leader; AngelaEast, ’cello; Howard Beach, harpsi-chord; and on this tour, David Green-berg of Nova Scotia, a “fiddler” as well as a classical violinist, so we weretreated to some “down east” fiddling.
To promote their CD, Pirates ofthe Baroque, they wore black pants/skirtand red shirts with head kerchiefs.What makes their concerts so fascinat-ing are their movements on stage andtheir interactions. Even the ’cellistwalks around. Adams has an expressiveface and body, and never stands still.The concert’s visual aspect is almost asimportant as the music. They playmostly from memory and improvise alot. The music is seldom as the com-poser wrote it—but, as Adams said, thecomposer is dead so he can’t complain.
Among their pieces was Tele-mann’s “Gypsy” Sonata in A minor.Adams said that Telemann stole musicfrom country people, so he fits thedefinition of a pirate. There was also a traditional Nova Scotia fiddle tuneaccompanied by recorder and rhythmictapping on the harpsichord, as well asplucked strings inside the instrument.
Adams left the stage, re-enteringat the back to walk down the aisle play-ing The Nightingale by Van Eyck. It wasunlike any version I’ve heard; his ownvariations on the variations make theinstrument sound exactly like a bird.
Another piece was a very dramaticpresentation, with exaggerated actionsfrom the players, of the Vivaldi con-certo “La Tempesta di Mare.” Theallegro movements increased in speed;the harpsichordist became morefrenzied, while strumming the strings,
until at the end he jumped up andshouted, “Shiver me timbers!”
The final Concert Fantasy on “LaFolia” (stolen from a recorder piece)employed various recorder articula-tions (flutter-tongue, spicato), withstrummed and plucked ’cello strings.
There was a family concert thefollowing morning, using basically thesame repertoire as the previous even-ing. Adams demonstrated the differentrecorders, and explained music formsin simple language for the children. Allexcept the harpsichordist came into theaudience, ran around and back up tothe stage, and lay down, all the whileplaying. There was much applause andan encore, as on the evening concert.
Anyone who sees this group willcome away with a totally different ideaof Baroque music, and really believethat music is fun. (It’s the practicingthat’s work!)
� � �
Ensemble Caprice, based in Mont-réal, QC, appeared at the Ottawa(ON) Chamber Music Festival inAugust. Caprice’s regular members areMatthias Maute, recorder; Sophie
Larivière, recorder and Baroque flute;Susie Napper, ’cello and gamba; ErinHelyard, harpsichord; David Jacques,Baroque guitar; and Olivier Brault,Baroque violin. Maute noted that theinternational ensemble has membersfrom England, Germany, Australia andCanada. On this concert, five playerswere augmented on a few pieces by an(unnamed) sixth percussionist.
Since they were presenting worksfrom their Telemann and the Gypsies CD,all except Larivière wore red tops.Napper particularly looked the part,with her long hair and “gypsy” skirt.
The concert hall was a beautifulold neo-Gothic former church. Theoriginal statues and altar are still there;the stage is in the sanctuary, still refer-red to as such. Acoustics are wonder-ful—the entire ambience makes a great venue for Baroque music.
Maute’s comments were mostly in French (not everyone in Ottawa isbilingual, so many of us missed what Iam sure were interesting and informa-tive details). One remark in both lan-guages was that some Baroque musictraveled from the east to Europe.
The players strolled in, playingtheir first piece, Praambulum, joined bythe percussionist on both a small handdrum and a larger drum. There werepieces by J.S. Bach, Telemann, and theever-favorite Anonymous; five of themwere arranged by Maute. During theplaying, Maute conducted with bodyand head movements and his recorder.
In a collection of Hungariangypsy pieces, they tried to reconstructthe spirit of the music, adding orna-ments and a bass line, and borrowingthe beauty of the melodies. On one,Maute played violin. Noticeable in thisset was Napper’s constant smile; shestood for the whole concert, with ’celloor gamba on a chair in front of her.
The last piece, also Hungarian,featured a solo on the large drum.Maute commented that they played it“just to tell you how much we’re goingto miss you after the concert.” At theend, the performers gave a big yell—of course, the large crowd clapped foran encore, but in vain. All of the play-ing was virtuosic, as always. Mauteand Larivière changed instrumentsmany times, so a variety of recorderswere played, as well as transverse flute.
It’s not possible to compare thisgroup with Red Priest, since theirpresentation is so different! Suffice it to say that both are excellent and reallydo justice to gypsy music.
Shiver me timbers!
18 November 2010 American Recorder
On June 18, I flew to Nairobi, Kenya.I had been planning for this trip formonths and was very happy to finallybe on my way. With me, I had a smallsuitcase for my clothing and a duffelbag filled with 100 plastic Yamaharecorders for the children of the DrugFighters’ School (DFS) in Kibera.
I had heard about Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. Over onemillion people live there—in an areaabout the size of New York City’sCentral Park—with very little in theway of basic services, including run-ning water and electricity. The streetsare open sewers, filled with human and animal refuse and garbage; the air is filled with smoke, soot and dust. Although I had seen manypictures and heard many stories,nothing could have prepared me for the sight and the smell.
As we walked through the streets,we were greeted by every child: “Howare you?” they sang, reaching out theirhands to touch us. We were a group of 29 volunteers, traveling with CrossCultural Thresholds, an organizationdedicated to school-building projectsincluding DFS, which feeds and edu-cates nearly 300 of Kibera’s most at-risk children. I had met a Cross Cul-tural Thresholds Board member at arecording session in June 2009. I wasmoved and fascinated by the work sheand her organization were doing inKibera and she became very interestedin the idea of sharing my music with
the children ofDFS. Exactlyone year later,I was there.
The mainproject of thatweek in Junewas the con-struction of adormitory forchildren who,
for one reason or another, were notsafe sleeping in their own homes.Many volunteers helped with thebuilding; others initiated activitiesincluding tree planting, communityclean-up, and various arts and craftsprojects. One volunteer, a nurse,helped with medical issues andanother, a psychologist, held groupand individual counseling sessionswith the children. I introduced my“Recorders Without Borders”program—developed in the New York City public schools—to approx-imately 100 of the students there.
I knew that I had very little timewith the children—only four fulldays—but hoped to at least introducethem to the joys of instrumental musicmaking. The children were wonderfulto work with: smart, eager to learn,openly affectionate, and incrediblygrateful that we had traveled so far tospend time with them. They were alsovery musical; not only did they learnquickly from me, but they also sharedsome of their own beautiful songs andtraditional music with me and with therest of our group of volunteers.
The teaching conditions were, tosay the least, challenging. Most often,I worked with the children in a tentedarea, near the kitchen—a hut fromwhich smoke from a wood fire, used to prepare the children’s meals, bil-lowed throughout the day. The noisefrom the construction was loud andunceasing. Dust was everywhere.
Nevertheless, in the few days thatI was with them, I was able to teachthe children five notes on the recorderand several tunes, including thechorus to Bob Marley’s One Love,which we performed, together withpercussion accompaniment, at theweek’s closing ceremony (photo at left).
I taught the children entirely byrote. There was no time to teach themhow to read music and I was most
By Nina Stern
The author is one of North America'sleading performers of the recorder and
classical clarinet. The native New Yorkerstudied with Jeanette van Wingerden
and Hans-Rudolf Stalder at the ScholaCantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland,where she received a Soloist's Degree.
From Basel, she moved to Milan, Italy, tojoin the faculty of the Civica Scuola diMusica. Since returning to New York,
Stern has performed regularly as soloist orprincipal player with prestigious
ensembles such as the New York Phil-harmonic, New York City Opera, New
York Collegium, Philharmonia Baroque,Sinfonia New York and American
Classical Orchestra. She has played underthe baton of leading conductors such as
Loren Maazel, Kurt Masur, ChristopherHogwood, Jane Glover, Ton Koopman
and Jordi Savall, and recorded for Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Sony
Classics, Telarc, and Smithsonian.
In addition to her work with S'CoolSounds, Stern is the author of RecordersWithout Borders, a two-volume book of
original compositions for recorders andpercussion in the styles of traditional
music from around the world, intendedfor use in the classroom (see Music
Reviews in this AR). Her latest projectsinclude performing traditional music of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
She recently released an album of worldmusic entitled East of the River.
The Recorder Takes a Stand: Music Connects Students in U.S. and Kenya
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 19
interested in their experiencing thethrill of playing music together.
I was also able to work moreclosely with two of the older studentswho took to the recorder and learnedvery quickly. We worked together at every opportunity, snatching 10minutes here, 10 minutes there, fromour busy days. I taught them morenotes (a full octave) and more compli-cated tunes, including Water Come A Me Eyes, a beautiful Caribbeansong, which we also performedtogether at the end of the week. I toldthese two students that I hoped thatthey would share their knowledge withthe younger students after I left. Theywere happy to be entrusted with thatresponsibility and were proud to showoff their accomplishments—keepingtheir recorders with them at all timesand practicing at every opportunity.
One of the students became myunofficial assistant, helping me tohand out the recorders—we had putnames on the instruments, which arestill kept at the school, so that eachstudent had his or her own—andhelping to translate into Swahili when necessary. Most of the olderstudents speak English beautifully,since they are taught both languages at the school, but the younger ones still occasionally needed help tounderstand my English.
In the months leading up to mytrip, I had worked to create a relation-ship between students at two schools inthe Bronx—the AmPark Neighbor-hood School and the Fieldston LowerSchool—and the students of DFS.
The childrenexchanged letters,telling each otherabout their families,their homes, and howthey spent their days,and shared a musicalexchange accom-plished throughvideotape.
Carter Via, the founder andExecutive Director of Cross CulturalThresholds, visited with the childrenin the Bronx, sharing with theminformation about Kibera andthe children of DFS. Thefamilies of the AmPark Schoolraised money to send recordersto the children in Kibera, andthe DFS children made shakers(this was one of the arts andcrafts projects overseen by someof the volunteers) to send backto their friends in the Bronx.
The differences among the children could not havebeen greater—and yet, asTamjeed, a student in theAmPark Neighborhood Schoolsaid, “We are playing the samesong.” This turned out to be literallytrue when the two groups collabo-rated on the composition of a newpiece, The Rhythms of Kibera. This was based on rhythms improvised bythe children in Kenya, to which thechildren of New York City added
melody and more layers of percussion.(The Kibera students played on camelbones, shakers, and cups and nails.DFS was in the possession of only oneor two small drums when I arrivedthere. I had made a conscious decisionnot to purchase and bring drums fromthe U.S. to Africa, where extraordi-nary percussion instruments are made locally. Before leaving Kenya, I purchased three beautiful Masaidrums and had them delivered to the children of the school.)
The impact of the exchange—in terms of increased understanding of people far from home and in suchvastly different circumstances—waslife-changing for both groups. And for me, the experience was equallypowerful. It is my hope that I willcontinue to connect children throughmusic in this country and from all over the world.
Get involved! If you would like tohelp the children of the Drug Fighters’School in Kibera, please go to the Cross Cultural Thresholds web site:www.crossculturalthresholds.org.
To help Nina Stern continue connectingchildren in this country and abroadthrough music, see the S’Cool Sounds website: www.scoolsounds.org. Donationsof new and slightly used instruments arealso welcome.
The differences among
the children could not
have been greater—
and yet, as Tamjeed, a
student in the AmPark
Neighborhood School
said, “We are playing
the same song.”
As a physiologist often appearingwith other scientists on our local
public radio station (WAMC’s VoxPop: The Science Forum, Albany, NY),we routinely receive questions fromcallers interested in the effects of music on our bodies and on our minds. For example, a recurring andpopular theme surrounds the questionof pre-natal exposure to music andsubsequent musical and/or cognitiveability (experimental data are emerging—both pro and con—surroundingthis phenomenon).
Occasionally, questions also ariseabout learners of music in their child-hood or older years, and the possiblehealth benefits (or problems!) thatmight occur as a result of playing aninstrument. For example, experimentaldata on human cognitive changes (the so-called “Mozart Effect”) areconflicting, but good animal andhuman studies are emerging that showat least some effect on brain function.
However, an article by S.M. Jones and E. Zigler (see the list ofResources accompanying this article)also makes it clear that these samebrain changes are better achieved with “high quality, intensive, multi-domain interventions” to earlycognitive development. This isscientific “gobbledygook” for “whystop at music alone as a fetal or child-hood strategy to improve develop-mental outcome?” Nevertheless, activeparticipation in musical activities—including in older persons with geriat-ric and mild cognitive impairment—has been shown to be clearly beneficial.
As a recorderist and scientist—and as a person about to enter my sixthdecade—the topic of health benefitsfrom musical participation is intriguingon a personal level. I am often asked to distill the scientific literature intosomething a lay person can under-
stand. This is no mean feat, as wescientists are often hindered in publicdiscourse by the prickly technicallanguage of science!
For our purposes in this article,the hypothesis to be tested should notbe limited to “playing a wind instru-ment (recorder) is good for yourhealth,” but also the converse, “aerobic fitness (and good health) is good for your recorder playing.”What does the scientific literature say?
Wind instrument players, likevocalists, require enormous controlover the use of breathing if they are tobe successful in creating good tone—with nuanced and sustained phrasing,and pitch control (see the excellentarticles under Resources by IsabelleCossette and coworkers on professional fluteplayers, from 2000 and 2008). Specif-ically, relatively deep inspiration (orinhalation) is followed by incrediblycontrolled expiration.
In essence, we use alternate respi-ratory muscles to resist the diaphragmand elastic recoil after breathing in.This exhalation control is especiallyneeded when switching back and forth from the smaller, higher-voicedinstruments (soprano/sopranino) to the lower-voiced bass, great bass andcontra bass.
Further, many recorderists havethe additional challenge of switchingfrom the flauto dolce to the variety ofreeds (capped or otherwise) that areoften included in mixed consorts.Wind instruments that require higherexhaling pressures from the lungs(sackbut, anyone?), to produce sound
20 November 2010 American Recorder
By Michael J. Murphy, Ph.D.
The author is a Distinguished Teaching Professor,
Emeritus, from State University of New York at Cobleskill.
He is a bass/baritone and recorderist with the Bleecker Consort
and Lycaeides and the Secretary of theHudson-Mohawk Chapter of the ARS.
Source articles used to prepare this article are most likely to be
available at a university library or through interlibrary loan. If availability is a problem,
contact the author for a copy [email protected].
Aerobic Fitness and Recorder Playing
Aerobic fitness (and
good health) is good for
your recorder playing.
that is pleasing and in tune, actuallymay even cause pulmonary trauma—including bronchial barotraumas(injuries due to pressure changes, such as those suffered by deep seadivers) that may result in asthmatic-like reactions. They may also causeunusual cellular changes in the mucosa (the lining of the respiratorysystem). This is especially true in smokers and those with chronicrespiratory problems—and even inthose relatively healthy individuals who do not exercise in a preventivemanner to stay generally fit.
Obviously, the recorder—requiring much less breath pressure,but incredible respiratory (and articu-lation) control—is likely to be morebeneficial to health than injurious. (My mentor, Laura Hagen of IndianaUniversity, emphasized good breath-ing techniques and fitness from myfirst lesson with her years ago, saying,“Your recorder is an extension of notonly your breathing, but of your wholebody.”).
Obviously, a program of regularaerobic exercise will result in positiverespiratory, neural, and other physio-logical and psychological changes thatwill improve recorder playing. Aero-bically fit individuals have lower heartrates, may produce fewer circulatingstress steroids (interested in lessen-ing performance anxiety?), greaterlung/vital capacity and superiorrespiratory muscle control, greateroxygen-carrying capacity, and evenimproved immune function.
Mean improvements in aerobicfitness range from 10-15%, frombaseline (i.e., from where we startedout), but are also (frustratingly!) highlydependent on each person’s individualautonomic nervous system (the part ofthe nervous system that regulatesorgans and muscles).
The bottom line is that a healthy,aerobically fit body can result both inmore sustained and even breathing, as
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 21
Technique TipTone Quality and the Use of Breathing Muscles
“Relax Your Butt!” This is a phrase heard again and again by various studentstaking Marion Verbruggen’s master classes. How does a recorder studenttranslate this wonderfully earthy directive into a better musical performance?
When successfully used, the technique above engages muscles deep in thebody core, which in turn offer a deep, glorious support to one’s air flow. Anotherlike image is used by the yoga teacher, who says to exhale “through the soles ofyour feet.” This type of downward energy in recorder playing results in a solid,smooth upward flow of air, which in turn creates a pure, clean “canvas” of tonequality. While this relaxed, but actively fluent, support is doing all the work increating your canvas of sound, it can also provide the added benefit of releasingan overworked throat and tongue, which were trying to provide the supportwhich had been previously lacking in the body core.
Off-the-Recorder Exercise:1. Standing, hold a drinking straw horizontally from your lips (try the wide
diameter McDonald’s-style for starters); without tonguing, blow. Directyour air to a target on the far side of the room. Feel the downward energythrough the rear, all the way down through the legs and feet, into the floor.
2. Next, with articulation, repeat the above activity and “play” a familiarmelody, such as a Susato dance, into the straw.
3. Next, repeat all of the above, but with the straw pulled a fraction of an inch away from the lips (no longer touching). In order to get a decent sound of air and articulation in the straw, you can’t help but engage thoseall-important core muscles.
Translating it into Music: Do the above off-the-recorder activity frequently during your daily practice,
alternating straw and recorder. Memorize the kinesthetic feeling in your body,while putting your air stream into the small space of the straw hovering in frontof your lips. Then simply imagine that your recorder is that hovering straw.
Mary Halverson Waldo
well as in more fine control or finesseduring performance. If you wish toderive more pleasure and relaxation in
making music with the recorder, ahealthy body is one way to do this. So, get out and swim or bike or walk
or dance on a regular basis. Theimprovements—even in experiencedplayers—may surprise and delight you.
22 November 2010 American Recorder
Resources
Cacciafesta, M., E. Ettorre, A. Amici, P. Cicconetti, V. Martinelli, A. Linguanti,A. Baratta, W. Verrusio and V. Marigliano, “New frontiers of cognitiverehabilitation in geriatric age: The Mozart Effect,” Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics (2010), in press, corrected proof, March 2010.
Cossette, I., P. Monaco, A. Aliverti, P.T. Macklem, “Chest wall dynamics andmuscle recruitment during professional flute playing,” Respiratory Physiology& Neurobiology 2, no. 1 (2008): 187-195.
Cossette, I., P. Sliwinski, P.T. Macklem, “Respiratory parameters duringprofessional flute playing,” Respiratory Physiology 121, no. 1 (2000): 33-44.
Deniz, O., S. Savci, E. Tozkoparan, D.I. Ince, M. Ucar, and F. Ciftci, “Reduced pulmonary function in wind instrument players,” Archives ofMedical Research 37 (2006): 506-510.
Hage, B., C. Armstrong–Esther, and M. Sandilands, “On a happier note:validation of musical exercise for older persons in long-term care settings,”International Journal of Nursing Studies 4 (2003): 347-357.
Hautala, A.J., A.M. Kiviniemi, and M.P. Tulpo, “Individual responses to aerobic exercise: The role of the autonomic nervous system,” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 33, no. 2 (2009): 107-115.
Lucia, R. M., “The effects of playing a musical wind instrument in asthmaticteenagers,” Dissertation Abstracts International 54, no. 8 (Ed.D. thesis, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1993): Section A, 2939. Sponsor:Harold Abeles.
Sebastian, J. and S. Koelsch, “Musical training modulates the development ofsyntax processing in children,” Neuroimage 47 (2009): 735-744.
Jones, S.M. and E. Zigler, “The Mozart Effect: Not learning from history,”Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 23, no. 3 (2002): 355-372.
Teenage asthmatics who
play musical wind
instruments exhibit
fewer physical
manifestations
of asthma, have an
improved sense of well-
being and are less prone
to emotional swings than
the non-wind players.
Playing a musical wind
instrument has the
potential of being a
long-term therapeutic
agent for asthmatics.
—R. M. Lucia,
“The effects of playing a
musical wind instrument
in asthmatic teenagers.”
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 23
Reviewed by Tom Bickley
THE BLACK DRAGON: MUSIC
FROM THE TIME OF VLAD
DRACULA (CA.1431-76).
CANÇONIÈR (ANNETTE BAUER,
RECS, BELLS, VOICE, LUTE, PERC;
PHOEBE JEVTOVIC, VOICE; SHIRA
KAMMEN, VIELLE, HARP, VOICE;
TIM RAYBORN, VOICE, PERC, CITOLE,
LAUTA, TROMBA MARINA, PSALTERY,
’UD. Cançonièr CANCD 02, 2010, 1 CD, 60:00. CD $13.99, MP3 down-load $9.99 (www.cdbaby.com/cd/
canconier2). www.canconier.com
San Francisco Bay Area ensembleCançonièr follows its self-titled debutCD with this concept-driven recordingof 15th-century music. With eye-catching graphics and strong design,directors Annette Bauer and TimRayborn invite listeners’ attention to the17 tracks of music from the period andregion of what is now southern Romania.This disc will satisfy lovers of Medievalmusic even as it stretches into slightlylater repertory and connects that withEastern European folk musics.
Bauer, Rayborn and Shira Kammenarticulate the rhythms and melodic con-tours with vitality. Phoebe Jevtovic’svoice conveys both the purity of timbredesired in Medieval art music and theenergetic edge so necessary for a morevernacular sound. The ensemble singingsupports the repertory, but the sound isstrongest when the virtuosic instru-mentalists combine with the solo voice.
Highlights of the disc are Amoroso(15th-century Italian dance with a droneon the tromba marina), the final trackVon Ainem Wutrich…,” and Oswald vonWolkenstein’s Wol Auf Wir Wellen Slafen.
The recorded sound (mastered byDerek Bianchi) provides a bright, clearstereo image, with subtle audio process-ing (although the occasional multi-tracking seems slightly less balancedthan optimal). Rayborn wrote excellentinterpretive notes and did a great job inadapting and performing the 15th-century prose. The CD sleeve includeslistings of instruments and their makers,and identifies who sings on each track.
CIRCLE OF THE DANCE.
ALMA BRASILEIRA (CLÉA GALHANO,
REC; JOAN GRIFFITH, GUITAR, MAN-
DOLIN, CAVAQUINHO; LUCIA
NEWELL, VOICE; WITH GUESTS
LAURA CAVIANI, PIANO; TIM
O’KEEFE, PERC). Pleasing Dog Music 002, 2010, 1 CD, 60:00. CD$12.97, MP3 download $9.99(www.cdbaby.com/cd/AlmaBrasil
eira). http://pleasingdogmusic.com
Five musicians recorded these 15 tracks in Minneapolis, as noted byAndrea Canter (a writer on jazz), “5,000miles from Rio” yet “just a heartbeat” indistance. Cléa Galhano’s solid work withstandard recorder repertory is well-known among ARS members. Here shecollaborates with other Minnesota-basedperformers immersed in the vernacularmusics of 20th-century Brazil. The discincludes music by major figures inBrazilian music such as HermetoPascoal, Ari Barroso, Luis Bonfa, WaldirAzevedo, and Pixinguinha (the stagename of Alfredo Da Rocha Viana Filho,a Brazilian musical genius who lived1879-1973). Other tracks by JoanGriffith (known throughout the Amer-ican Midwest as a guitarist, teacher,performer and composer) demonstrateher fluency in these styles of music.
For many listeners, this discresonates with memories of the sound-track to the 1959 film Black Orpheus.With close listening, the eloquence ofthese forms emerge and one hears theconversation among the song forms(choro, baião, bossa, etc.). American earshave been so conditioned by sax playerStan Getz’s bossa nova recordings that weforget that this repertory is originallyvocal with guitar and cavaquinho
Compact Disc
Reviews___________________________________ Unconventional and mainstream releases
This disc resonates
with memories of the
soundtrack to the 1959
film Black Orpheus.
accompaniment. Galhano’s recorderplaying in no way mimics Getz’s saxwork, but rather contributes anotherelegant voice to the ensemble.
The strongest tracks in this very listenable disc are Bonfa’s classic Manhã de Carnaval (“Black Orpheus”)and Griffith’s Sertão.
MUSIC FROM THE COURT
OF BURGUNDY. CIARAMELLA
(ADAM GILBERT AND ROTEM
GILBERT, DIRECTORS, RECS,
SHAWMS, BAGPIPES; SUSAN JUDY,
SOPRANO; N. LINCOLN HANKS &
TEMMO KORISHELI, TENOR; DOUG
MILLIKEN, RECS, SHAWMS, BAG-
PIPES; DEBRA NAGY, SOPRANO, RECS,
SHAWMS; GREG INGLES, SLIDE
TRUMPET, SACKBUT; ERIK SCHMALZ,
SACKBUT; SIDNEY HOPSON, PERC).
Yarlung Records 05785, 2009, 1 audio-phile CD, 61:24. $19.99. www.yarlung
records.com/#ciaramella1
Adam and Rotem Gilbert continueCiaramella’s tradition of excellence in
recording and performance with thisCD. Repertory by Dufay, Binchois,Ciconia, Agricola, Ghiselin, Isaac,Busnois, Josquin, Pullois, Pykini andJohannes de Pinarol stand alongsideanonymous pieces plus works in theBurgundian court style by AdamGilbert. The music is grouped in sets,often of one melody or by one composer.
The very thoughtfully engineeredrecording captures the ensemble’ssuperb playing and singing. It is verygratifying to hear a recording quality that so well matches the performingensemble.
Engaging, readable notes byproducer Bob Attiyeh describe therecording process, instruments used, and personnel involved. Adam Gilbert’s“Thoughts on the Music” is a thought-ful essay that connects the dots amongthe pieces and the role of this music atthe Burgundian Court.
This is a recording of high merit. It will be of particular interest to thosewho love this repertory and should be
required listening for anyone unfamiliarwith music of the early Renaissance.
THE SPIRIT OF VENICE:
MUSIC BY GABRIELI,
WILLAERT, VIVALDI AND
OTHERS. THE BRISK RECORDER
QUARTET AMSTERDAM (MARJAN
BANIS, SASKIA COOLEN, ALIDE
VERHEIJ, BERT HONIG). GlobeRecords GLO 5235, 2009, 1 CD,60:00. Abt.$18. www.globerecords.nl
In the CD booklet for The Spirit ofVenice, Saskia Coolen writes that all of thepieces have a connection to Venice andthat “we have arranged pieces of musicfrom different centuries like preciousstones in a mosaic.” The music rangesfrom the late 15th century (ClementJannequin) to early 21st century(Coolen’s own 2007 Estampie andRenske Vrolijk’s Ghost Wall from 2008).
When a recorder quartet plays aprogram of this chronological breadth,there is the danger of the uniformity ofthe recorder sound becoming a pro-
24 November 2010 American Recorder
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crustean bed, making it all sound “thesame.” The Brisk Quartet avoids thattrap by employing a variety of instru-ments and registers, virtuosic articulationand phrasing, and careful choice of orderof the pieces.
The best example of the last is thatthe temporal center of the program is alovely, evocative and substantial (9:07)work by Vrolijk. Her Ghost Wall uses liverecorders and recorded vocal and elec-tronic sound to convey the sounds thewalls of a building might remember.That is preceded by Coolen’s arrange-ment of an Allegro movement from aVivaldi string concerto and followed by asuite of 16th-century dances by Bendusi.
The majority of the pieces are shortand familiar. The flow brings happy jux-tapositions among the known pieces andplaces the unfamiliar in a welcomingcontext.
The CD notes are helpful, thoughbrief. The recorded sound is up to Globe Records’ usual high standard.
TELEMANN: TWELVE FANTA-
SIAS AND OTHER WORKS.
ALDO ABREU PERFORMING ON
18TH-CENTURY RECORDERS FROM
THE VON HUENE COLLECTION,
WITH SUZANNE STUMPF, TRANS-
VERSE FLUTE; THE MUSICIANS OF
THE OLD POST ROAD. BressanRecords 0901, 2009, 1 CD, 72:00. CD $20, MP3 download $12(www.cdbaby.com/cd/aldoabreu).www.aldoabreu.com
Boston-based virtuoso Aldo Abreuwrites of the intimate quality of thesound of the instruments in Friedrichvon Huene’s collection, and thatintimacy draws in the listener. Thevariety of timbres and pitches among the alto, voice flute, tenor, fourth fluteand bass recorders constitutes an audiocatalog of instruments by makers such as Bressan, Stanesby, Jr., Scherer,Boekhout, and Denner (and VonHuene’s excellent copying of a Bressan).
Of the 55 tracks, 53 contain worksby Telemann, plus one each by Quantz
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 25
Fall Favorites by Red Priest with Piers Adams, recorder!
____JOHANN, I’M ONLY DANCING
Dynamic music by the Baroque’s greatest genius,, inspired by Bach’s improvisatory zeal.
Epic versions of Brandenburg Concerto No.3, great D minor Toccata and Fugue. 2009.
____NIGHTMARE IN VENICE
Vivaldi, Corelli, Purcell, LeStrange, others. Dorian.
____PIRATES OF THE BAROQUE
Musical piracy of compositions, ideas & identity, featuring music of Vivaldi, Tartini, Leclair,
Simonetti,Couperin."... swashbuckling virtuosity."-NPR. 2007.
____VIVALDI: THE FOUR SEASONS
"If you think you know the Seasons, if you've heard it (or played it) far too often to ever
want to hear it again-go straight out and buy this recording.-Early Music Today. Also
A. Corelli's Christmas Concerto. Red Priest, 2005; re-release of 2003 Dorian recording.
Holiday CDs
____CHRISTMAS AT THE CASTLE
Five centuries of holiday music from many lands; a Christmas concert set in a castle,
played & sung by 17 musicians on recorders, strings, percussion & voice.
____IN NOVA CANTICA, A CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS
Eileen Hadidian, recorder & Renaissance flute, with voice, violin, vielle, gamba and lute.
Traditional carols, chansons, festive dances of the 13th-17th centuries. Healing Muses.
____MUSIC FOR A WINTER'S EVE
Eileen Hadidian, recorder & Baroque flute, with voice, violin, viola da gamba & Celtic
harp. Traditional, Renaissance and Medieval songs. Healing Muses.
____RENAISSANCE GLORY: CHRISTMAS WITH THE FESTIVAL CONSORT
Voices, recorders, crumhorns, shawms, brass, strings, hurdy-gurdy. 2006.
Order your
recorder discs
through the
ARS CD Club!The ARS CD Club makes hard-to-find or limited release
CDs by ARS members available to ARS members at the
special price listed. All CDs are $15 ARS members/
$17 Others unless marked otherwise. Two-CD sets are $24 ARS members/
$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: www.americanrecorder.org.
Please indicate above the CDs you wish to order, and print clearly the following:
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Mail to: ARS, 1129 Ruth Dr., St. Louis, MO 63122-1019 U.S.
Fax a credit card order to 314-966-4649.
and Pepusch. The recording quality isuniformly strong, with transparency inthe solo recorder sound and a wonder-fully balanced ensemble sound in theTelemann Concerto in E minor for fluteand recorder.
This is a fine disc—not only for thepleasure of the repertory, but also tostudy one approach to the justly-belovedTelemann fantasias—and a rare chanceto hear genuinely historical instruments.
26 November 2010 American Recorder
American Recorder Society PublicationsMusical Editions from the Members’ Library: ARS members: 1 copy-$3, 2 copies-$4.50, 3-$6, 4-$7.50, 5-$10, 6-$11.50Non-members (editions over 2 years old): 1 copy-$5, 2 copies-$8.50, 3-$12, 4-$15, 5-$19.50, 6-$23
ARS Information Booklets:ARS members: 1 booklet-$13, 2 booklets-$23, 3-$28, 4-$35, 5-$41, 6-$47, 7-$52Non-members: 1 booklet-$18, 2 booklets-$33, 3-$44, 4,$55, 5-$66, 6-$76, 7-$86
Education Publications Available Online for Free to Members The ARS Personal Study Program in Thirteen Stages to Help You Improve Your Playing (1996).Guidebook to the ARS Personal Study Program (1996).ARS Music Lists. Graded list of solos, ensembles, and method books.
Videos Available Online to All Recorder Power! Educational video from the ARS and recorder virtuoso John Tyson. An excitingresource about teaching recorder to young students.Pete Rose Video. Live recording of professional recorderist Pete Rose in a 1992 Amherst Early MusicFestival recital. Features Rose performing a variety of music. and an interview of him by ARS memberprofessional John Tyson.
Other PublicationsChapter Handbook. A resource on chapter operations for current chapter leaders or those consider-ing forming an ARS chapter. ARS members, $10; non-members, $20.One free copy sent to each ARS chapter with 10 members or more.Consort Handbook. Available for Free to Members Online. Resource on consort topics such as group interaction, rehearsing, repertoire, performing.
Shipping & Handling Fees: Under $10 - add $3; $10-19.99 - add $4; $20-29.99 - add $5; $30-39.99 - add $6; $40-49.99 - add $7. All prices are in U.S. dollars. For Canadian or foreign postage,pay by credit card and actual postage is charged. Please make checks payable to ARS.VISA/MC/AMEX/Disc also accepted.
See www.AmericanRecorder.org for complete publication offerings, for sale and free to members.
ARS, 1129 Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO 63122 [email protected]
Arioso and Jazzy Rondo (AB) Carolyn PeskinBerceuse–Fantaisie (SATB) Jean BoivertBruckner’s Ave Maria (SSATTBB)
Jennifer W. Lehmann, arr.Canon for 4 Basses (BBBB) David P. RuhlDancers (AT) Richard EastmanDifferent Quips (AATB) Stephan ChandlerElegy for Recorder Quartet (SATB)
Carolyn PeskinElizabethan Delights (SAA/TB)
Jennifer W. Lehmann, arr.Fallen Leaves Fugal Fantasy (SATB)
Dominic BohbotFour Airs from “The Beggar’s Opera” (SATB)
Kearney Smith, arr.Gloria in Excelsis (TTTB) Robert CowperHavana Rhubarb Rhumba (SATB up to
7 players) Keith TerrettIdyll (ATB) Stan McDanielImitations (AA) Laurie G. AlbertsIn Memory of Andrew (ATB) David GoldsteinIn Memory of David Goldstein (SATB)
Will AytonLay Your Shadow on the Sundials (TBgB)
Terry Winter OwensLeaves in the River (Autumn) (SATB)
Erik PearsonLeClercq’s Air (SATB) Richard E. Wood
Adding Percussion to Medieval and Renaissance Music Peggy Monroe
American Recorder Music Constance PrimusBurgundian Court & Its Music
Judith Whaley, coord.
Improve Your Consort Skills Susan CarduelisMusic for Mixed Ensembles
Jennifer W. LehmannPlaying Music for the Dance Louise AustinRecorder Care Scott Paterson
Little Girl Skipping and Alouette et al(SATBcB) Timothy R. Walsh
Los Pastores (S/AAA/T + perc) Virginia N. Ebinger, arr.
New Rounds on Old Rhymes (4 var.) Erich Katz
Other Quips (ATBB) Stephan ChandlerPoinciana Rag (SATB) Laurie G. AlbertsSanta Barbara Suite (SS/AA/T) Erich KatzSentimental Songs (SATB) David Goldstein, arr.Serie for Two Alto Recorders (AA)
Frederic Palmer Slow Dance with Doubles (2 x SATB)
Colin SterneSonata da Chiesa (SATB) Ann McKinleyS-O-S (SATB) Anthony St. PierreThree Bantam Ballads (TB) Ann McKinleyThree Cleveland Scenes (SAT) Carolyn PeskinThree in Five (AAB) Karl A. StetsonTracings in the Snow in Central Park (SAT)
Robert W. ButtsTrios for Recorders (var.)
George T. BachmannTriptych (AAT/B) Peter A. RamseyTwo Bach Trios (SAB) William Long, arr.Two Brahms Lieder (SATB)
Thomas E. Van Dahm, arr.Variations on “Drmeš” (SATB) Martha BishopVintage Burgundy (S/AS/ATT)
Jennifer W. Lehmann, arr.
Each CD review contains a header withsome or all of the following information, asavailable: disc title; composer (multiplecomposers indicated in review text);name(s) of ensemble, conductor, per-former(s); label and catalog number (dis-tributor may be indicated in order to helpyour local record store place a special order;some discs available in the ARS CD Clubare so designated); year of issue; totaltiming; suggested retail price. Many CDsare available through such online sellers aswww.towerrecords.com, www.cdnow.com,www.cdbaby.com, www.amazon.com, etc.Abbreviations: rec=recorder; dir=director; vln=violin; vc=violoncello;vdg=viola da gamba; hc=harpsichord;pf=piano; perc=percussion. Multiplereviews by one reviewer are followed by that reviewer’s name.
Now available from
Turtels & Twins Press
The Ground Bass Compendium
A collection of 83 Renaissance & Baroque ground basses from original sources in multiple keys
with variants
The Renaissance Fake Book Vol. 1
A collection of popular English Renaissance music in fake book
format from original sources 121 pieces with variants
Also AvailableEditions for Renaissance lutewww.renmusicbooks.com
Credit Cards & PayPal Accepted
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 27
Play-the-Recorder Month I congratulate the ARS in joining theNational Association for Music Edu-cation’s (MENC) 2010 World’sLargest Concert with elementarystudents throughout the U.S. playingthe Japanese folk song, Koinobori, onrecorders. Such collaborations holdpromise for increasing awareness of the role that the recorder can play with thousands of potential futurerecorder players.Unfortunately, Ibelieve there is also a risk of reinforcingin the minds of many that the recorderis a simplistic pre-band instrument forelementary students ... [a prerequisiteto] playing “real” band instruments.
I encourage ARS to continue their efforts with MENC’s World’sLargest Concert as well as also reach-ing out to challenge secondary stu-dents (primarily premier high school10th, 11th and 12th-grade band andorchestra students) to utilize therecorder in solo and small ensemblewoodwind interscholastic competitionsthat already exist ... in many states.
Imagine the potential increase inawareness and credibility among manyof America’s finest future musicians asthey and their peers successfully com-pete with recorder and mixed-consortperformances. Further, they could beused as accompaniment for interscho-lastic vocalist competitions. Within ashort period of time, it could be realis-tic to endeavor to provide additionalopportunities for any number of thesestudents who then continue to utilizethe recorder as part of their collegiateeducation.
I recognize that many states do not currently accept the role ofrecorder at the secondary level for
competition. This is where I challengethe ARS and its members to undertakethe pivotal role to help pave the way increating access to these competitionsand encouraging top high school stu-dents to pursue including the recorderas part of their musical experience.
I believe the results could be trulyrewarding and significant in promotingthe role of the recorder in music inAmerica.
Respectfully, Kim Wardwell,Boise, ID
RESPONSE FROM EDUCATION PRO-
GRAM AND FORMER BOARD MEMBER
LESLIE TIMMONS: For the first time in the history of MENC’s annualWorld’s Largest Concert, a recorderpart was included as a part of theperformance materials distributed toparticipating schools across the coun-try. Honoring the fact that many stu-dents are given a brief introduction tothe soprano recorder during elemen-tary school, ARS Board memberBonnie Kelly is to be commended forher work in designing a part accessibleto students of all levels. ARS looksforward to more collaborations of thisnature that help illuminate the role ofthe recorder in school music programs.
Memorize your MusicThe Technique Tip in the September2010 issue may get people to attemptmemorizing music, but may I offerwhat I consider to be a golden tip formaking it work? I don’t remember whotaught me this, so I’m only passing iton.
Start at the end of the piece. Takethe last measure, or two measures atthe most, and practice those for a day.
Next day, take the last three measures,and make sure you properly drill them.Go on, working backwards throughthe piece until you have the wholething down, and never add more thanabout a measure a day. If you noticethat you haven’t memorized it perfectly,spend another day on the same spot.
This will prevent the familiarproblem that you know the beginningof the piece by heart, but somehow getstranded halfway. Since you’ve playedthe later parts more than the begin-ning, you’ll be very familiar with them.
This technique will feel weird,since on most days you’ll be starting at ... some arbitrary point in a phrase.However, those illogical places areusually where you make your mistakes,so for every potential trouble spot youwill actually force yourself to practice itfor a day. This prevents the familiarsyndrome of playing through a piece,stumbling somewhere, going back afew measures, trying again, and stum-bling in the same place, ad infinitum.
Victor Eijkhout, Austin, TX
Ornamentation: Less is MoreIn the January 2010 AR (MusicReviews, p. 29), Sally Harwood says ofan alternative ornamented soprano partprovided for the Minuetto of G. B.Sammartini’s Sinfonie in F-Dur that it“at times seems to suggest ornamenta-tion for its own sake rather than formelody enhancement.” This remindsme of an otherwise excellent concert Ireviewed, which included a perfor-mance of a Handel recorder sonatawith waywardly exuberant ornamenta-tion, which seemed to me to have littlemeaningful relationship with theoriginal. Unfortunately, too many
Response___________________________________John Turner, Esq., Memorization Method,
Ornamentation Tips, Play-the-Recorder Month Music
28 November 2010 American Recorder
other performances, including manyrecordings, show little understandingof the purposes of ornamentation.
Handel has given us ample indi-cations as to how he might have orna-mented his own sonatas. This is thesubject of an important article byDavid Lasocki and Eva Legêne,originally published in three issues ofAmerican Recorder during 1989, andagain in a revised version in a longsingle article in an issue of RecorderEducation Journal devoted to ornamen-tation (No. 6, 2000, pp. 44-59). Anyserious performer of Baroque recordersonatas should know that article andpossess this complete issue of the REJ.
Handel would have accepted thatornamentation was never likely to beexactly the same from one performanceto another, and that it was de rigeur inAdagios and in repeats. Rightly orwrongly, J.S. Bach and F. Couperinavoided the issue by writing out theirown ornamentation, forbidding any-thing more. Conversely, Telemannprovides us with a working compen-dium of his ornamentational stylewithin his Methodische Sonaten.Corelli’s Adagios are no more thanoutlines for free improvisation, but inthe violinistic manner of the time.
One recent recording describes in some detail in its program notesexactly how the soloist, in this case amezzo-soprano, has approached orna-mentation in her performance—anadmirable idea, but not to be overdone.This is Francesco Maria Sardelli’s2008 Vivaldi Edition CD, New Dis-coveries (Naïve 30480), where RominaBasso writes on p.17 with considerableinsight on “The art of improvisingvariations” in Vivaldi’s vocal music. Itshould be noted that recorder orna-
mentation is very close to vocal orna-mentation as the recorder, alone amongwind instruments, is capable of a vari-ety of articulation and word-modelingsimilar to that of the voice. She says she has tried to use ornamentation “toheighten the expressivity, the brillianceor the incisiveness of a passage bygrafting one’s own melodic imagina-tion on to the line created centuries ago by Vivaldi, Handel, or Porpora, … transforming something withoutchanging its substance.”
Such thinking—and ornamenta-tion requires considerable thoughtalongside a spirit of adventure—is veryclose to Harwood’s comment quotedabove. Note that Basso specifies threerelated functions of ornamentation—being enhancement of the expressivityof the melodic line, the most important,sharper incisiveness (e.g., in dancemusic), and, sometimes, brilliance.
While disapproving of ornamen-tation that purports to be “authentic,”but isn’t, or which is blatantly self-indulgent, I accept that there is a placefor ornamental pyrotechnics displayinga performer’s technical skill andinvention, if that is what the performerwants and what his audience [pays]money to hear. In his flautino concertosVivaldi depends on virtuosity for theireffect, and much the same could besaid about Van Eyck’s solos and theflorid embellishments suggested forthe decoration of madrigal melodies bylate 16th-century Italian writers ofmanuals (e.g., Bassano, Bovicelli orRognoni). Autographs exist whereVivaldi has written in his own floriddecorations.
It is just a pity that too manyprofessionals get by with more tech-nical aptitude than musicianship—probably due to a lack of backgroundstudy. And virtuosity has little to dowith Handel’s recorder sonatas.
Anthony Rowland–Jones,Cambridge, England
The Truth and Nothing but
the Truth—about TurnerWe would like to offer clarification aswell as additional information aboutJohn Turner. In the review of a con-temporary musical composition byDavid Johnson called Music forHallowe’en (September 2010 AR, p. 29), it was stated that Turner (thepiece’s editor) “intended to study law.”Thanks to music reviewer Anthony St. Pierre, we have since learned manymore details about Turner’s active life.
Most important, Turner did studylaw at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge,England. His legal career includedmany years of representing distin-guished musicians and musical organi-zations. We regret the error in theinformation regarding his law career.
As a musician, Turner was apioneer performer of early music with David Munrow’s Early MusicConsort of London. He has per-formed as recorder soloist with theAcademy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Chamber Orchestra and the English Baroque Soloists. His recordings include five sets of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos.
Turner now devotes his time toperforming, writing, reviewing, pub-lishing and composing. More recently,he has concentrated on contemporarymusic. He has edited numerous con-temporary compositions, includingThe Contemporary Series for PeacockPress. Recent CDs include music ofDavid Lumsdaine, Anthony Gilbert,Alan Rawsthorne, Richard Arnel andGeorge Nicholson. A well-knowninternational performer, he has broad-cast recitals on BBC with pianist PeterLawson. He has given premiere per-formances of some 300 works for therecorder, many of which have nowentered the standard repertoire.
Sue Groskreutz, Music and Book Reviews Editor
Responses from our readers are welcomedand may be sent to AR, 7770 South HighSt., Centennial, CO 80122, or e-mailed to
[email protected] may be edited for length and
consistency.
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 29
By Tim Broege, [email protected]
Why is it that so many music-lovers flinch at the words “con-
temporary music?” Art museums areoften crowded with people eager to seethe latest in painting, sculpture, videoor performance art. Modern dancecompanies often score successes withthe latest choreography, often set to challenging new music. Radicalrestagings of theatrical masterworksand operas often become the “talk of the town.”
And yet audience members can be seen fleeing up the aisles when the“contemporary” piece is about to beplayed on an orchestral or chambermusic concert. Concert-goers ask me if a program is going to include any of “that contemporary stuff.”
I must say I find it difficult toknow what is meant when people referto “contemporary music.” Do theymean music written during their life-times? Music of the second half of the20th century and first decade of thisone? Non-tonal music? Music withouta steady pulse? Music influenced byrock rhythms and melodic styles?Minimalist music? Serial music? Electronic music? Trance music? All of these?
An informal survey of concert-goers, which I have conducted for the last year or so, surprisingly indi-cates that many people regard contem-porary music as the products of the“Second Viennese School”—i.e.,Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg andAnton Webern. Hardly contemporary,one must say—since these are com-posers of the first half of the 20thcentury—yet the stereotype of
“tuneless music” of unrelentingtension and expressionistic harshnesspersists in many people’s minds whendescribing contemporary music.
An almost equal number of per-sons in my informal survey indicatedthat, for them, contemporary musicmeans minimalism, in particular themusic of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. The stereotype here is unend-ing repetition of simple melodic andharmonic formulas, and overuse ofamplification.
I notice that the majority ofpublications for recorder—solo orensemble—that are labeled as “con-temporary” are tonal and traditional in form and rhythm. Publishers givecustomers what they want, after all,and it is no surprise that the recorderworld—a large component of which isamateur players who play for sheer joyand love of the recorder—has votedwith its collective pocketbook. Tradi-tional or “retro” music sells, and musicin newer non-traditional idioms andstyles can be harder to promote.
Yet the recorder world is fortunateto have many fine professional soloistsand ensembles that embrace contem-porary music and perform it withenthusiasm and high style. TheAmsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartethas done a wonderful job program-ming and recording contemporaryrecorder ensemble works, many ofthem products of the performers them-selves. Quartet New Generation isanother recorder ensemble for whomcontemporary music is vital and essen-tial. Soloists such as the incomparablePete Rose have brought so many con-temporary recorder pieces, includingtheir own works, to varied audiences.
I have some questions of my own.How many of us in the recorder worldlisten frequently to recordings ofcontemporary music (recorder andotherwise)? How many of us includecontemporary pieces on our concertprograms? How many of us regularlyadd new contemporary pieces to ourpersonal libraries? How many of ushave a well-defined concept of “con-temporary music?” How many of usharbor the above-mentioned stereo-types of contemporary music?
I suggest two simple exercises tohelp focus your appreciation of main-stream “contemporary” idioms.
Take out your recorder and trythis pitch series, playing slowly at first,and improvising on the given pitchesin sequence if possible: G, B�, D, F�,A, C, E, G�, B�, C�, E�, F�. This seriesis rather lyrical and lovely, I think, withtriadic implications and a strong inter-val profile. Contemporary? It is the 12-pitch series upon which Berg’s ViolinConcerto is based. The concerto wascompleted in 1935 and premiered in1936. It is a masterpiece and timelessin its expressive power, more in thetradition of Johannes Brahms (as ismuch of Schoenberg) than any musiccontemporary with it. I highly recom-mend it for serious listening.
And here is a fragment that can beplayed by soprano and alto recorders
On the Cutting Edge___________________________________ Contemporary music: some thoughts and questions
I suggest two simple
exercises to help focus
your appreciation
of mainstream
“contemporary” idioms.
30 November 2010 American Recorder
over a deep bass drone (organ or string bass would be nice, but piano would do)on the pitch B. Play slowly and sustain all pitches below.
This example is diatonic (staying within the key signature, rather thanemploying chromatic accidentals), adding one beat in each successive measure(up to a total of 11 beats, and then taking away one beat each measure untilreaching five beats, finally tacking on one six-beat measure as a coda. This is very much a “process piece,” very minimal in its musical material. It is, in fact, the beginning of the piano piece für alina by Estonian composer ArvoPärt, who is often labeled a “spiritual minimalist.” The piece dates from 1990 and is thus truly contemporary, but its idiom is timeless. This music has as muchin common with Medieval music as it does with today’s music. If this musicalfragment intrigues you, please consider ordering a copy of the sheet music (Universal Edition UE 19 823). With some octave transpositions the whole piece (only two pages long) can be played by recorders.
At the basic level, contemporary music means music created during ourlifetimes. Members of your ARS chapter or other ensemble who write somethingoriginal for the group to play are creating contemporary music.
We live in eclectic times, and there seems to be no end to the variety ofmusical languages currently in use. Again I pose some questions. What do we
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(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1. Publication title: American Recorder. 2. Publication No.0003-0724. 3. Filing date: September 27, 2010. 4. Issuefrequency: Bi-monthly except summer. 4. No. of issuespublished annually: five. 6. Annual subscription price: $36.7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication:American Recorder Society, 1129 Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO63122-1019. Contact person: Kathy Sherrick. Telephone: 314-966-4082. 8. Complete mailing address of the head-quarters or general business office of publisher: same. 9. Fullnames and complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor, andmanaging editor: Publisher: American Recorder Society, 1129Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO 63122-1019. Editor: GailNickless, 7770 South High Street, Centennial, CO 80122.Managing Editor: same. 10. Owner: American RecorderSociety, 1129 Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO 63122. 11. Knownbondholders, mortgagees. and other security holders owningor holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds,mortgages or other securities: None. 12. Tax Status (forcompletion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail atnonprofit rates): The purpose, function, and nonprofit statusof this organization and the exempt status for federal incometax purposes has not changed during preceding 12 months. 13. Publication Title: American Recorder. 14. Issue Date forCirculation Data: September 2010. 15. Extent and nature ofcirculation. A. Total number of copies. Average no. copies eachissue during preceding 12 months: 2540. No. copies of singleissue published nearest to filing date: 2500. B. PaidCirculation: 1. Mailed outside-county paid subscriptionsstated on PS Form 3541. Average no. copies each issue duringpreceding 12 months: 2060. No. copies of single issuepublished nearest to filing date: 2006. 2. Mailed in-countypaid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541. Average no. copieseach issue during preceding 12 months: 0. No. copies of singleissue published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Paid distributionoutside the mails including sales through dealers and carriers,street vendors, counter sales, and other paid distributionoutside USPS. Average no. copies each issue during preceding12 months: 0. No. copies of single issue published nearest tofiling date: 0. 4. Paid distribution by other classes of mailthrough the USPS (e.g., first-class mail). Average no. copieseach issue during preceding 12 months: 139. No. copies ofsingle issue published nearest to filing date: 139. C. Total paiddistribution. Average no. copies each issue during preceding12 months: 2199. No. copies of single issue published nearestto filing date: 2145. D. Free or nominal rate distribution (bymail and outside the mail). 1. Free or nominal rate outside-county copies included on PS Form 3541. Average no. copieseach issue during preceding 12 months: 0. No. copies of singleissue published nearest to filing date: 0. 2. Free or nominal ratein-county copies included on PS Form 3541. Average no.copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 0. No. copies ofsingle issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Free ornominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS(e.g., first-class mail). Average no. copies each issue duringpreceding 12 months: 83. No. copies of single issue publishednearest to filing date: 86. 4. Free or nominal rate distributionoutside the mail. Average no. each issue during preceding 12months: 45. No. copies of single issue published nearest tofiling date: 55. E. Total free or nominal rate distribution.Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months:128. No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date:141. F. Total distribution. Average no. copies each issue duringpreceding 12 months: 2327. No. copies of single issue pub-lished nearest to filing date: 2286. G. Copies not distributed:Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months:213. No. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date:214. H. Total. Average no. copies each issue during preceding12 months: 2530. No. copies of single issue published nearestto filing date: 2490. Percent paid. Average percentage duringpreceding 12 months: 94.4 Actual percentage for single issuepublished nearest to filing date: 93.8. 16. Publication ofStatement of Ownership. Will be printed in the November2010 issue of this publication. 17. Signature and Title ofEditor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner: KathySherrick, Administrative Director, September 27, 2010. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits materialor information requested on the form may be subject tocriminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 31
mean when we say “contemporary?” Is Igor Stravinsky contemporary? John Cage? Karlheinz Stockhausen?Stephen Sondheim? John Coltrane?Green Day? Sonic Youth?
The challenge, as it has been sincethe early years of the 20th century, isboth to convey and revel in the joy ofnew musical creations. In Beethoven’stime almost all music was new (con-temporary). In our time all music—Medieval to modern, from Australia to Zambia—is available in recordedform and is often performed inconcert.
But music that is new and fresh—no matter what the idiom—remainscentral to the ongoing vitality of ourart, whether playing on recorder, piano, violin or guitar or singing our hearts out.
Embrace the contemporary andspread the news: contemporary musicis cool, fun—and there’s something in it for everyone.
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www.AmericanRecorder.org
32 November 2010 American Recorder
RECORDERS WITHOUT
BORDERS, ED./ARR. NINA STERN.
Sweet Pipes (www.sweetpipes.com).Vol. I: SP2409, 2008. SS perc. 12 pp.$5.95. Vol. II: SP2411, 2009. SS perc.,CD incl. 19 pp. $19.95.
Nina Stern is a renowned performeron both recorder and Classical-era clari-net. Highlights of her impressive resumeare included in the preface for these pub-lications, as well as with her article onpage 14 in this AR. Most important forthe current review is her work withS’Cool Sounds, a music education pro-gram she founded in 2002 in the NewYork City public schools. In this pro-gram, Stern uses music from all over theworld so that children can learn about
other cultures while also learning to playan instrument in a music ensemble. Forthis work, she received an Endicott Fel-lowship in 2003 and was honored withEarly Music America’s 2005 “EarlyMusic Brings History Alive” award.
She recently traveled to teach in theKibera slum of Nairobi.There, Sterntaught some of tunes in these books and led the children in a performance. Iapplaud Stern for her courage and dedi-cation to bringing music into the lives of severely underprivileged children.
The subtitle of the first volumesums up what is inside: 12 BeginningRecorder Pieces from Around the Worldusing only three notes (B,A,G) and Per-cussion. The ethnicities and countries
of origin of the tunes include Andean,Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Caribbean,Native American, Celtic, Hungarian,Armenian, Macedonian, Middle East-ern and Kenyan. The tunes are easy toplay, since they only use three notes, butthey are lively syncopated pieces withmore complex rhythms than one mightexpect. Learning by rote may benecessary for some children.
Some of the pieces have a secondsoprano part that is usually simpler. Forexample, in the Andean, Macedonianand Middle Eastern tunes, the secondsoprano part is played all on one note.The Native American tune features asecond part (the chorus) that plays everyother measure in unison with the first
Music
Reviews___________________________________ More music to travel by
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part. In the Celtic tune, the secondsoprano alternates between two notes,and in the Hungarian tune, the secondsoprano is in canon with the first. In theArmenian tune, the second player holdsa drone throughout. The Kenyan tunefeatures a call and response (leader andchorus) between the two soprano parts.
Percussion scoring includes partsfor drums (almost any type of drum willdo), agogo bells, guiro, shaker, claves,rattle, ankle bells (sleigh bells), fingercymbals, tambourine, djembe, cowbell,and even foot stomping. A drummingtext key as well as instructions for how to produce the sounds, “Dum, Tek, Ka,Slap and Scratch,” are included.
The subtitle for Volume II againsums up the contents: 13 Beginning toIntermediate Recorder Pieces from Aroundthe World using one octave (low D to middleD) and Percussion. Ethnicities and coun-tries of origin include Native American,Middle Eastern, German (Praetorius),Flemish (Susato), Macedonian, Bengali,Greek, Welsh, African American, Brazil-ian, Puerto Rican, Ghanaian and Jamai-can. Although this volume extends thesoprano recorder range from low D tomiddle D, F� is the only chromatic note.
The tunes are arranged in the orderof the complexity of their arrangements—none of the parts is especially difficultby itself, but the layering of melody andpercussion becomes quite dense andmight pose some ensemble challenges.There are also rhythmic challenges suchas a tune in 5/4 and another in 7/8.
As in Volume I, the second sopranoparts are simpler—using drones, alter-nating between two notes, or playingone-note rhythmic ostinatos. Near theend of the volume, the lower sopranopart begins to take on more of a melodiclife, sometimes playing a third beneaththe melody, or becoming a counter-melody that crosses the main melody.
Volume II also comes with a play-along CD. Each tune has four tracks onthe CD: a full performance, percussionparts only, percussion parts with thesecond recorder part, and percussionparts with first recorder. Most important,
the recorder parts are nicely performedby Stern and use a variety of articula-tions, thus providing a great model forbeginners. Percussion parts on the CDare performed by Shane Shanahan.
The tunes in both of these volumeshave no text—thus, they are strictly forplaying without singing. In my life as amusic educator, I never met a child whodidn’t like music reinforced with lots ofpercussion. The pieces are all short, butStern suggests making them longer bylayering the parts, bringing various linesin and out to create varied compositions.
I believe that elementary musicteachers would love these books, partic-ularly teachers who give children theirfirst exposure to the recorder. Orff-Schulwerk teachers could have a realcreative feast with the blueprints laid outin these books—highly recommended!
Sue Groskreutz has music degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University and theUniversity of Illinois, plus Orff-Schulwerkcertification from DePaul University.Playing and teaching recorder are thegreatest musical loves of her life. She was president of the American RecorderTeachers’ Association for 10 years.
RECORDER SOLOS ON BAL-
KAN FOLK SONGS & DANCES,
ARR. COSTEL PUSCOIU. Mel BayPublications MB98540 (www.melbay
.com or www.billsmusicshelf.com),2009. Sc 28 pp. $9.99.
This is a very interesting collection,offering traditional folk music from Bul-garia, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Croatia,Slovenia, Dalmatia, Serbia, Albania,Bosnia and Macedonia. Many of theharmonies are foreign to our “Western”ears, but they grow on a person.
This fun collection gives one a nice overview of diverse kinds of music.
Many of the pieces are really charmingand give a different perspective on ethnicmusic. I often think of Celtic tunes asbeing very suitable for the recorder, butonce I adjusted to the Eastern sound thatmakes more use of chromatics, I reallyenjoyed these pieces. This collectionoffers practice in more challenging timesignatures such as 7/8, 7/16 and 9/16,among others.
The introduction is well-written and serves to acquaint the musician withthe types of music in the collection anddances that would be performed withthem in the various countries. At theURL in the introduction are pianoaccompaniments as well as sound files to get these tunes in your ear.
Stacey Storm grew up in a musicalhousehold. Music is still a family affair, withher husband on recorder and her mother onpiano or harp. Storm learned piano at agethree. Love of folk music and classic countrymusic eventually brought harps and recordersinto the family routine. Storm and herhusband drive a semi truck route weekly; they attract listeners during their rest periods,playing recorder duets.
SOLOS FOR SOPRANO
RECORDER COLLECTION 1:
AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND
JAMAICAN MELODIES,
ARR./ED. CLARK KIMBERLING. MelBay MB20977 (www.melbay.com),2008. S rec. Sc 45 pp. $9.95.
This collection of African-Americanand Jamaican melodies for sopranorecorder is part of a larger music project(see next page) by Dr. Clark Kimberling,mathematics professor at the Universityof Evansville (IN). His web site,http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/,provides links to an extensive database of music, historical notes and composerbiographies. The musical selectionsinclude Christmas carols; Irish, British,Native American and African melodies;American Indian songs; and music bywomen composers, among others. Manypieces (although not those published in the Mel Bay series) can be downloadedfor free.
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 33
I never met a child
who didn’t like music
reinforced with lots
of percussion.
The introduction to Collection 1refers to the recorder solos as advanced,presenting material for the developmentof skills such as multiple-tonguing,extended breath control, and playinghigh notes. This is indeed the case. Thesongs reach into the uppermost registerof the soprano, are generally quick intempo, include some tricky syncopationsand contain numerous chromatic notes.
As many melodies were originallyunwritten, their nuances are hard to getright from the notation alone. Kimber-ling’s web site has recorded versions ofsome of the African-American melodies,but it required downloading mediasoftware that I decided not to attempt.
I would recommend this edition foradvanced players who enjoy a variety ofmusical styles. We tend to think of folkmusic as easy, but these arrangementsdefy that stereotype. To master the notesthemselves, and then to actually bringthem to life musically, takes serious prac-tice. These exciting melodies make greatsolo pieces, perhaps embellished withpercussion or harmony. As practicepieces, they challenge breath control,technical facility and musical intuition.
Beverly Lomer is an Adjunct Professorof Humanities at the Harriet L. WilkesHonors College of Florida AtlanticUniversity, where she teaches courses inmusic and culture. She is also a recorderplayer whose primary interest is inperformance from original notation.
34 November 2010 American Recorder
times can a listener stand hearing high Don soprano?) In some cases, a piecebegins as a nice folk song and progressesinto a display of virtuosity.
It would have been nice for chordsymbols to be included, as it would havemade it easier for others to accompanythe soprano player. As it is, one has onlya single line for the soprano recorder.
I did not like these as well as theother Mel Bay collections that I haveenjoyed. They are technically demand-ing and would teach a number of impor-tant skills, but on the whole they may beless interesting to an average group oflisteners (for instance, at a seniors facilityor a community gathering).
Stacey Storm (see reviewer bio on p. 29)
SOLOS FOR SOPRANO RECORDER, ARR. CLARK K. KIMBERLING.
Mel Bay Publications (www.melbay.com, www.billsmusicshelf.com). Eachvol. publ. in 2009. S rec. Sc 52 pp. $14.99. Links to historical notes for each vol. are at http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/. There are also helpful audio clips.
NO. 3: IRISH MELODIES. MB20979. NO. 4: AMERICAN MELODIES TO 1865. MB21229.NO. 5: AMERICAN MELODIES AFTER 1865. MB21230.NO. 6: BRITISH MELODIES. MB21469. NO. 7: MELODIES BY WOMEN. MB21675. NO. 8: EASTERN EUROPEAN AND JEWISH MELODIES. MB21676.
Mel Bay publishes well-known recorder collections. Clark Kimberling is aprolific composer/arranger and has a number of other published works. He has aPh.D. in mathematics as well as being trained in music composition.
These six new publications are by far the most advanced volumes for recorderthat I’ve seen from Mel Bay. Each volume contains arrangements of many well-known melodies as well as several original compositions. In the introduction to eachbook, Kimberling states the goal of improving the skills of tonguing, breath controland playing high notes. Anyone who works through these volumes will certainlyimprove those skills and others, including reading in many key signatures, changingkeys many times within a single piece, and playing in uncommon time signaturessuch as 7/16. Most of the pieces are difficult to sight-read.
These collections are aimed at the advanced recorderist. Most of the pieces gothrough several modulations. (The arrangement of Amazing Grace changes key ninetimes while also shifting to 5/8 time.) Many of the pieces are meant to sound improv-isational; others are theme and variations form using several time signatures. Somewander so far from the basic, known tune that one wonders where the original tunewent. Others are quite pleasing to the ear and will be worth the effort to perfect them.
When the volumes arrived, I was delighted to have so many familiar melodies inone place. Further examination revealed that each one would take considerable workand practice to be worthy of performance. The arrangements do provide uniqueinsight into the thought process of a person who can play by ear and improvise.
Many of the arrangements, while being very challenging and demanding for theperformer, leave something to be desired from the listener’s standpoint. They exploitthe full range of the soprano recorder, reaching high D numerous times. (How many
“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
Provincetown Bookshop Editions
www.AmericanRecorder.org November 2010 35
Les Bois Recorder Society (LBRS)of Boise, ID, met in September withFour Shillings, an Elizabethan madri-gal choir, in a collaborative effort thatcombined recorders, gambas andvoice. Four Shillings started the meet-
ing with a brief performance, singingJohn Dowland’s Fine Knacks for Ladiesand John Wilbye’s Adieu, Sweet Ama-ryllis. They closed with a clever Eliza-bethan time-period rendition of Can’tBuy Me Love by John Lennon andPaul McCartney.
Afterward, LBRS together withFour Shillings worked through Mor-ley’s April is in My Mistress’ Face andNow is the Month of Maying, andWeelkes’s Cold Winter’s Ice Is Fled.
Members from both groups feltthe collaboration created a dynamicwell worth repeating.
Michigan’s Northwinds Chap-
ter has had opportunities to “strut its stuff ” and let folks know aboutrecorders, playing for the NorthernMichigan Ministerial Association’sannual meeting, the Summer Solsticein Harbor Springs, a fundraiser for theRavenshill Discovery Center in EastJordan and the Charlevoix HistoricalSociety Garden Party at the Historic
Chapters
& Consorts___________________________________Rochester’s “year-at-a-glance,” collaborating in Idaho,
playing where the Northwinds blow
Positively Baroque!, formed as a group of folks in the Ft. Myers (FL) areawho liked to go on extended sight-reading bashes, have taken their activities to the next level. They performed their first-ever concert at Peace LutheranChurch in Ft. Myers last January, and were invited to repeat that concert,“Gems of the 17th and 18th Centuries,” on May 2 at The Violin Shop in BonitaSprings. They are booked to perform again at Peace Lutheran for January 2011.
(l to r) Chad Brodbeck,violin; Sue Groskreutz,recorder; Suzanne Ferguson,soprano, bass viola dagamba; Lynn Kraehling,harpsichord, organ; Eliza-beth P. Spang, traverso;(not shown: Be Engler,soprano; Roy Engler,baritone, bass gamba).
Rochester (NY) Chapter’s 2009-10season began in August 2009 with anoutreach group of 4-10 membersdoing gigs at local farmers’ markets,gaining some exposure, severalrecruits, and a tiny bit of income.
September 2009 marked the startof regular classes—weekly for begin-ners and bi-monthly for others—with a sight-reading drop-in held inoff-weeks. Two unusual classes wereoffered: a beginner class for formerwoodwind players and an earlynotation class (taught by Neil Seelyand Marian Henry, respectively).
A highlight of the season was theworkshop with Eric Haas in March(which, ironically, won us a Play-the-Recorder Month prize from the VonHuene Workshop, his employer).
March and April also broughtopportunities for many of our mem-bers to play at a large garden show,and for smaller groups to present pro-grams at a school, church and library.
Our final event is always thespring concert where the wholechapter plays one piece together andeach class performs a number or two.This year musical selections rangedfrom 15th-century works to 20th-century rags, providing a showcasefor the versatility of the recorder and a musical “travelog” for the audience.
Liz Seely
FOR SALE Von Huene Alto Lignum vitae, ivory
mouthpiece and rings and thumb bushing 440,
excellent condition. Call George 215-242-8816.
SEND IDEAS for articles on education topics,
or submit an article or lesson plans, to
education department editor Mary Halverson
Waldo at [email protected].
Advertiser Index
AMERICAN ORFF-SCHULWERK ASSN. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
AMERICAN RECORDER SOCIETY. . . . 10, 21, 22, 26, 27
STEPHAN BLEZINGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
JEAN-LUC BOUDREAU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 27
COURTLY MUSIC UNLIMITED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
EARLY MUSIC AMERICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
HONEYSUCKLE MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
BILL LAZAR’S EARLY MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
KEITH E. LORAINE EARLY DOUBLE REED SERVICE . . . 3
LOST IN TIME PRESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
MAGNAMUSIC DISTRIBUTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC
MOECK VERLAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC
MOLLENHAUER RECORDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC
PRESCOTT WORKSHOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
PROVINCETOWN BOOKSHOP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
THE RECORDER MAGAZINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
THE RECORDER SHOP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
SWEETHEART FLUTE CO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
TURTELS & TWINS PRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
VON HUENE WORKSHOP, INC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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Full page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5522/3 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4391/2 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3661/3 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2861/4 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2231/6 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1751/8 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1271/12 page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 951 column inch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 58
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Published five times per year: January, March, May, September, November.
Reservation Deadlines: December 1 (January), February 1 (March) ,April 1 (May), August 1 (September), October 1 (November).
Rates good through November 2011. Pleaseinquire about discounts on multiple-issuecontracts, inserts, or other special requests.Extra charges for typesetting, layout, half-tones, and size alterations. 133-line screenrecommended. Advertising subject toacceptance by magazine. First-time adver-tisers must include payment with order.
For more information, contact the ARS office, 1129 Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO 63122-1019; 800-491-9588 toll free; 314-966-4082 phone; 314-966-4649 [email protected]
36 November 2010 American Recorder
AMERICAN RECORDER (ISSN: 0003-0724), 1129 Ruth Dr., St. Louis, MO 63122-1019, is publishedbimonthly (January, March, May, September and November) for its members by the AmericanRecorder Society, Inc. $20 of the annual $45 U.S. membership dues in the ARS is for a subscriptionto American Recorder. Articles, reviews and letters to the editor reflect the viewpoint of their individ-ual authors. Their appearance in this magazine does not imply official endorsement by the ARS.
EDITORIAL DEADLINES: November 15 (January), January 15 (March), March 15 (May), July 15(September), and September 15 (November). Submission of articles and photographs is welcomed.Articles may be typed, or sent as an attachment (Word or RTF preferred) to or text in an e-mail mes-sage. They should be for the exclusive consideration of AR, unless otherwise noted. Photos may besent as prints, or unedited JPG or 300dpi TIF files (minimum 3”x4”). Advertisements may be sent inPDF or EPS format, with fonts embedded.
EDITORIAL OFFICE: Gail Nickless, Editor, 7770 S. High St., Centennial, CO 80122; 303-794-0114;[email protected]. Books and Music for review: Sue Groskreutz, 1949 West Court St.,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,other reports: Editorial office. Postmaster: Send address changes to ARS, 1129 Ruth Dr., St. Louis,MO 63122. Periodicals postage paid at St. Louis, MO, and at an additional mailing office.
Classified___________________________________Where the haves
and have-nots of the recorder world
can find each other
CHAPTER NEWS
Chapter newsletter editors and publicity officers should send materials for publication to: AR, [email protected], 7770 South High St., Centennial, CO
80122-3122. Also send short articles about specific activities that have increased chaptermembership or recognition, or just the enjoyment your members get out of being part of your
chapter. Digital photos should be at least 3”x4”x300dpi TIF or unedited JPG files. Please send news to the AR address above, and to the following:
ARS Office, [email protected], 1129 Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO 63122-1019; and to Bonnie Kelly, Chair, Chapters & Consorts Committee,
[email protected], 45 Shawsheen Rd. #16, Bedford, MA 01730.
Classified rate for American Recorder: 60¢ perword, 10-word minimum. “FOR SALE” and “WANTED” may be included in the copywithout counting. Zip code is one word;phone, e-mail or web page is two. Paymentmust accompany copy. Deadlines are onemonth before issue date. Send copy with pay-ment to: ARS, 1129 Ruth Drive, St. Louis, MO63122-1019.
Depot. Also, they provided back-ground music for the Great LakesChamber Orchestra’s annual dinner,and played at the South Boyne ArtFair in Boyne City.
They placed themselves on theauction block for bidding at a fund-raiser for the Great Lakes ChamberOrchestra.
The group’s 15 members were inRenaissance costumes for some ofthese events (as in the photo below).
In September, the Greater
Denver (CO) Chapter received agenerous donation, from Kathy Irvineof Denver, of recorders and music that had been the property of her latemother, Katherine Doe of Santa Fe,NM. Some of the recorders are forsale to benefit the chapter.