Music recommendations

Drama and style - exploring Italian Baroque Sonatas

If I ask you to name a Baroque recorder sonata, which composer would immediately spring to mind? Handel, or perhaps Telemann? They’re two of the biggest names of the Baroque era (what a shame Bach never composed any recorder sonatas to complete the trilogy!) but there were many others who also wrote for our favourite instrument. 

In today’s blog we’re going to visit 18th century Italy to explore some marvellous repertoire from composers who were well respected in their day, but perhaps aren’t household names today. Some of these composers spent their lives working in their home country, but many visited London, which was arguably the place to be for musicians in the early 1700s, and some of them decided to stay. 

It’s been such a pleasure diving into this musical world - at times elegant, often dramatic and always oozing with Italian style. I’ve come up with a playlist of seven recorder sonatas, but each one is part of a longer playlist too. I’ve included a link to each album and I hope perhaps you’ll bookmark them on YouTube so you can explore them further. All are available to stream/download too, and some of them as CDs, so I’ve included links to these too. So sit down with a cup of your favourite beverage (or perhaps a glass of chianti or a cappuccino?) and relax as I transport us to Italy. 

If these inspire you to try them for yourself I’ve dug out links to the music for each sonata, which you can download and print. Many are also available as facsimiles of 18th century editions, which are fascinating in their own right. If you have some spare time, why not print out both versions so you can compare 18th and 21st century notation. Many of them are remarkably easy to read and I love the way these online resources allow us to go back in time and see the notation exactly as the composer would have known it.  

Francesco Barsanti - Sonata in C major Op.1 No.2

Flute Sonatas from the Italian Baroque, Vol. 2 - Frans Brüggen (recorder), Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord), Anner Bylsma (cello)

Warner Classics: 9029527253

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - Modern edition or 18th century facsimile

As recorder players we often borrow music from other instruments to expand our repertoire, but this can create problems. Sometimes the pitch has to be altered and the process of transcribing often results in music which feels less comfortable on the recorder. Happily, Barsanti’s music has none of these pitfalls. Not only were his six sonatas originally composed for the recorder, but the composer was also a talented player of the instrument and you really can tell.

Barsanti (1690–1775) trained as a lawyer in Padua but at the age of 24 he abandoned this career for a life in music, travelling to London, perhaps with composer Geminiani. A talented recorder player and oboist, he quickly found a role in the Haymarket orchestra, where Handel’s operas were produced. He stuck with this until 1735, before moving to Edinburgh for nearly a decade. Here he took up a post with the Edinburgh Music Society and enjoyed the patronage of Lady Erskine. He also married a local woman called Jean (her surname remains unknown) and their daughter Jenny became a well known actress in both London and Dublin. 

Sadly the Edinburgh Music Society wasn’t a rich institution and after receiving a 50% pay cut in 1740, and having several requests for a rise turned down, Barsanti eventually returned to London. After eight years away his previously strong reputation had faded so he agreed to become a violinist in Handel’s opera orchestra. 

An example of Barsanti’s quirky approach to slurs

Fortunately for us, Barsanti’s six recorder sonatas were rediscovered by Walter Bergmann in the 1940s and he published three of them through his work with the publisher, Schott. When you play them it rapidly becomes clear these are the work of someone who really understood the recorder. Not only do the notes lie easily under the fingers, but he has a quirky approach to articulation, adding slurs and staccato to the music where most other composers of the day left such musical decisions entirely to the performer.

The C major Sonata is one of my favourites from this set, recorded here by Frans Bruggen way back in 1972. The opening Adagio is remarkably florid and feels quite operatic at times, with its chromatic moments and highly ornamented lines. The recorder and basso continuo lines are very much equal partners throughout the sonata and there’s a lovely sense of conversation in the Allegro.

Benedetto Marcello - Sonata in F Op.2 No.12

Flauto Veneziano - Dorothee Oberlinger (recorder), Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca

Deutsche HM: 88697988632

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - Modern edition or 18th century facsimile

Benedetto Marcello

Like Barsanti, Marcello (1686-1739) also worked in the law, although Marcello did this in parallel with his musical life under pressure from his father. While living in Venice he was a pupil of Antonio Lotti and followed his teacher in composing a vast array of music, including instrumental pieces, hundreds of cantatas and many operas. Alongside the music his satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (1720) became very popular in his lifetime, although initially it was published anonymously. In it he mercilessly criticises Italian opera of the period, from its artificial storylines, extravagant staging and the vanity of the singers.

He offers the following satirical advice to composers and singers:

"The modern Music Composer should possess no knowledge about the Rules of good composition, except for some principle of universal practice... He should not understand the numeric Musical Proportions, nor the optimal effect of contrary Motions, or the bad Relation of Tritones and augmented Intervals."

"To the Singers – It is not necessary that the VIRTUOSO can read, or write, or have a good pronunciation of vowels, and of single and double Consonants, or understand the sense of Words, etc., but it is better if he mistakes Senses, Letters, Syllables, etc., in order to perform Ornaments, Trills, Appoggiature, very long Cadences, etc. etc. etc."

Ironically, by the time this piece was published Marcello had himself already composed one opera of his own and subsequently wrote several more, although I wouldn’t like to say whether or not he followed his own advice!

This sonata is the final one from his Op.2 set, composed early in his career. Most sonatas from this period comprise three or four movements, but here Marcello goes for five, two of which take the form of dances from the period - a Minuet and Gavotte. He finishes the work with a beautiful Ciaccona, which is based around a repeating four bar bassline. Unlike a ground bass (where the continuo team play the same bassline throughout) in a ciaccona (or chaconne) the accompaniment explores the melodic and harmonic possibilities of this sequence, gradually becoming an equal partner with the recorder line.

Francesco Mancini (1672 – 1737) Sonata No.4 in A minor

Francesco Mancini: Six Recorder Sonatas - Yi-Chang Liang, Machiko Suto & Ensemble IJ SPACE

Claves: CD1907

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - Modern edition or 18th century facsimile

Francesco Mancini (1672-1737) hailed from Naples, and is one of a number of composers who benefitted from Alessandro Scarlatti’s absence from the Neapolitan court between 1702 and 1708. During this time he was Director of the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto and maestro of the Capella Reale. On Scarlatti’s return he resumed his original role as his deputy, finally taking a step up once again on the elder composer’s death in 1725.

I introduced you to Mancini’s charming recorder sonatas in my October 2023 Sounding Pipes playlist, but I couldn’t resist including another of my favourites here, beautifully performed by Yi-Chang Liang. You can sense Mancini’s experience as a composer of opera here, especially in the first movement with its sudden contrasts of mood and tempo.

Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani - Sonata in D minor Op.3 No.12

Upon a Ground - Tabea Debus (recorder), Lea Rahel Bader (baroque cello), Johannes Lang (harpsichord), Kohei Ota (theorbo), Jan Croonenbroeck (organ)

Classic Clips: CLCL12

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - modern edition or 18th century facsimile

Sources of information on Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani (1682-1757) seem to be rather sparse, but he was evidently an active composer, writing lots of vocal music. However, he also produced a collection of twelve recorder sonatas, a handful of which have been edited into modern playing editions.

This sonata is utterly intriguing. The opening Largo is rather abstract in its form, exploring constantly shifting harmonies rather than going for clear melodic lines. This is followed by a typical lively Allegro but from here it becomes ever more dramatic. Movement three is a solo for harpsichord (fully written out in the 18th century edition) which gives the recorder player a chance to breathe and creates a sizeable introduction to the final movement. The Sonata climaxes with an exciting set of variations on La Follia - a popular melodic and harmonic progression which has been used by composers from the 15th century to the present day.

Tabea Debus has chosen to use a large continuo team for this recording, comprising organ, harpsichord, cello and baroque guitar. They play with a remarkably light touch for such a large ensemble and I love the variety of tonal colours they’re able to create. There are moments which feel positively ecclesiastical (recorder and organ for instance) which contrast with other variations played with a sense of wild abandon in keeping with La Follia’s Iberian origins.

Diogenio Bigaglia - Sonata in A minor - descant recorder

Corelli & Co - Parnassus Avenue - Dan Laurin (recorders), Hanneke van Proosdij (harpsichord, organ, recorder), David Tayler (theorbo/baroque guitar), Tanya Tomkins (cello)

BIS: BISCD945

Listen to the complete album here

Sheet music - modern edition.

The majority of solo recorder repertoire from the Baroque was composed for the treble, so this delightful sonata for descant by Diogenio Bigaglia (c.1678-1745) immediately stands out from the crowd. Bigaglia was well respected by his peers (including notable composers such as Vivaldi, Marcello and Albinoni) but today he’s all but vanished into obscurity. He joined a Benedictine monastery in Venice when he was just sixteen, but continued to compose both instrumental and vocal music alongside his role there.

This sonata is probably the best known of his works today, but if this whets your appetite, Bigaglia’s Opus 1 set of sonatas is also worth exploring. The title page labels them as sonatas for violin or flute (meaning recorder) and continuo. This was a common strategy during the Baroque (both Handel and Telemann did the same), perhaps because composer knew the music would work on either instrument, or more likely because it gave the potential for greater sales!

Francesco Maria Veracini - Sonata no.6 for violin or recorder

Vivaldiana - Michael Form (recorder), Dirk Börner (harpsichord), Melanie Flahaut (bassoon) & Delphine Biron (cello)

Pan Classics: PC10255

Listen to the complete album here

Sheet music - 18th century facsimile

Francesco Veracini

Veracini’s Twelve Sonatas for violin or recorder (another multipurpose set, like Bigaglia’s Sonatas mentioned above) were composed for Prince Friedrich August when he visited Italy to recruit musicians for the court in Dresden. Ultimately he hired an entire opera company, including Antonio Lotti as director and the famous castrato Senesino. The company included violinist Veracini, who was reputedly paid a very high salary. Already a well known violin virtuoso, he was required to compose music for the court and in 1717 became Kapellmeister in Dresden.

Veracini had a fearsome reputation, both as a violinist and for his arrogance. A quarrel with one of his fellow musicians led to a fall from an upstairs window which broke Veracini’s leg. There are conflicting accounts of the incident (did he jump or was he pushed?) but it seems the other court musicians were relieved to be rid of Veracini when he fled Dresden afterwards.

In the sonata I’m sharing here, Michael Form creates a virtuosic performance which I imagine would have delighted Veracini. Alongside his reputation as a player, Veracini was widely recognised as a stylish and talented composer. The music historian Charles Burney said of him, "he had certainly a great share of whim and caprice, but he built his freaks on a good foundation, being an excellent contrapuntist". Michael Form has chosen to reflect this ‘whim and caprice’ with his endlessly creative ornamentation and I hope you find his infectious sense of joy as pleasing as I do.

Giuseppe Sammartini - Sonata in F major Sibley No.23

Sammartini - Sonatas for recorder & bass continuo - Maurice Steger (recorders), Sergio Ciomei (harpsichord & organ), Mauro Valli (cello), Christian Beuse (bassoon), Margret Köll (harp), Eduardo Egüez (theorbo & guitar) & Naoki Kitaya (organ)

Harmonia Mundi: HMC905266

Listen to the complete album here

Sheet music - 18th century facsimile

My final Italian sonata comes from another composer who was one of the most respected performers of his time - Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750). Originally from Milan, Sammartini spent the majority of his working life in London where he gained a reputation as "the greatest oboist the world had ever known". He was reputed to be able to make the oboe sound like the human voice, such was the beauty of his tone. Like most woodwind players of the day, he also played recorder and flute, working in Handel’s orchestra and many others besides. He later worked closely with Haydn, playing a part in the development of the younger composer’s classical style.

Giuseppe Sammartini

In this sonata, Sammartini’s development of the Baroque style into something even more expressive is immediately clear. Most composers of the period chose a single tempo for each movement, but Sammartini explores the dramatic possibilities of shifting the boundaries. Nowhere is this more evident than the second movement, which veers dramatically between a jaunty Allegro and slower improvisatory sections, packed with extreme emotions. As if this wasn’t enough, he continues with an astonishing Adagio, so dramatic it sounds positively operatic. Having comprehensively wrung out our nerves, the final movement is one of pure joy, allowing us a moment to come back to earth again!

~ ~ ~

There ends our brief sojourn to Italy - one I hope that’s been both inspiring and entertaining for you. It’s easy to be distracted by the big names of the Baroque period, but I hope perhaps this has opened your eyes to some of the other composers who wrote for the recorder. Do you have a favourite Italian sonata I’ve missed, perhaps by another composer? If there are other pieces you would include among your favourites please do tell us about them in the comments below - I’d love to hear which Italian Baroque composers you just couldn’t live without!

Sounding Pipes, Edition 6

With Christmas almost upon us, for this edition of Sounding Pipes I’ve gathered together another eclectic collection of music for you to enjoy during the festive break. Some of them are standalone works, while others are longer programmes you can escape into if you need some time away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas.

J.S. Bach - Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 140

Netherlands Bach Society, directed by Jos van Veldhoven

As recorder players we often ‘borrow’ music from other sources to expand our repertoire - undoubtedly an enjoyable way to broaden our musical horizons. If you’re going to do this I think it’s important to also explore the original source of your music, whether that’s via live performances or recordings. One of my consort videos this week was a trio movement from Bach’s famous Wachet auf Cantata so I’m beginning this edition of Sounding Pipes with a wonderful recording of the entire cantata.

Most people will have at least a passing familiarity with the melody from this cantata’s most famous chorale movement, even if that awareness comes from a series of adverts for Lloyds Bank from the 1980s! That movement is of course just a small section of a much longer work, so this live performance helps put it into context. If you play a lot of Baroque music (and most recorder players do) I encourage you to listen to repertoire from this period as more than just background music. It doesn’t necessarily need to be played on recorders - music for any instruments or voices can help us learn more about stylish phrasing and articulation, especially when performed in a historically informed way.

Corelli Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.8 Christmas Concerto

Dorothee Oberlinger and Tabea Seibert with Sonatori de la Gioisa Marca

While I’d like these playlists to be something you can dip back into at any time of year, I wanted to include at least one Christmas related piece. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto is another very famous work, originally composed for a trio of solo string instruments (two violins and cello) with string orchestra. It’s been purloined by many different instruments but this particular arrangement is one made back in the 18th century, when the work was still quite new. Playing the solo violin lines on recorders creates a very different soundworld, and this performance has oodles of energy and drive.

Anton Bruckner - Vexilla regis prodeunt, WAB 51

Quartet New Generation Genuin GEN89143

After all that Baroque energy we come another borrowed piece, but with an altogether calmer mood. Bruckner’s choral music often fits well on recorders - the range of the human voice is comparable to the recorder and his legato melodic lines suit the instrument comfortably. Here Quartet New Generation play Vexilla regis prodeunt on a consort of low recorders and their low, mellifluous tones are just magical. The end result is perfectly tuned and is distinctly reminiscent of an organ played on its flute stop. Take a moment to stop the world, close your eyes and just let this glorious sound wash over you!

Richard Harvey - Concerto Incantanto

Michala Petri (recorders) with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, directed by Jean Thorel OUR Recordings 6220606

If you’re not already familiar with Richard Harvey there’s a good chance you might either have heard some of his film and TV music or have heard his playing in the soundtracks of films such as Harry Potter or The Lion King. He’s a fantastic recorder player and his disc of Vivaldi recorder concertos was one of my favourites when I was a teenager.

In 2009 he composed Concerto Incantanto for Michala Petri and there’s undoubtedly some film music magic going on here. Listening to the work I also spotted echoes of more traditional recorder music, including a snippet (intentional or otherwise) from Walter Leigh’s Sonatina for recorder. So often recorder concertos are just accompanied by strings, but here Richard Harvey uses a broader colour palette, incorporating woodwinds, harp, celeste and percussion to create a fantastical soundworld. Digging around on the net I also found this adorable clip from the world premiere performance where he joins Michala Petri on stage, recorder in hand, to whip through a Handel trio sonata, playing on two sopraninos with strings accompanying!

In this YouTube playlist you get an added bonus as the album also includes Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Recorder Concerto and Gordon Jacob’s Suite for recorder and strings. I’ve featured the latter piece in an earlier Sounding Pipes playlist but it’s always interesting to compare different versions of works. The Arnold Concerto is a typically dynamic piece of music and one I once heard it in the presence of the composer himself in Harrogate when I was a teenager. I was blown away by his writing and naturally went to tell him how much I’d enjoyed it, although I seem to remember he seemed distinctly underwhelmed by my naive, youthful enthusiasm for his music!

The Flanders Recorder Duo in concert

Recorded on 24th October 2021

You’re no doubt familiar with the Flanders Recorder Quartet, but did you know that Tom Beets and Joris Van Goethem have continued performing as a duo since the quartet gave their final performance in 2018? Their enthusiasm for discovering fresh duo repertoire is infectious and their programming uniquely creative. Recent projects have included a CD, editions of the music they play and a new CD recorded with the composer Sören Sieg, which is due for release in 2024 - you can find lots of information about all of these on their website here.

The video below is a concert programme featuring a huge mix of repertoire, from medieval to the current century. Alongside music by Bach and Telemann, you’ll find Vaughan William’s Suite for two pipes (a welcome addition to the more familiar one for four), melodies from Renaissance Spain and Glen Shannon’s dynamic Slingshot. Both the music and the instruments are engagingly introduced by Tom and Joris, leaving me wanting to explore more of this music myself. If you’ve never met them in person, this is a great glimpse of their creative teaching style. If the chance comes to work with them I recommend you grasp the opportunity with both hands!

Find an hour to sit down with this in a comfy chair with a cuppa or a glass of something warming and it’ll be time well spent…

Morning joy

Short animated film directed by John Henry Hinkel.

Here we have something a little different, but still with a recorder connection. This short film introduces us to a recently widowed composer who’s depressed. His attempts to compose come to nothing until he finds himself being serenaded by a bluebird, whose voice is performed by recorder player Charlotte Barbour-Condini. The film contains barely a word of dialogue who needs language when music and storytelling are combined so beautifully….

That wraps up Edition 6 of Sounding Pipes and I hope you’ve enjoyed my selections. I know YouTube can be a huge time waster, but if you look in the right places it can also be a wonderful source of musical inspiration. If you have favourite performers you enjoy listening to why not share them in the comments below and we can all go exploring online - who knows, some of them may find their way into future playlists here!

Sounding Pipes, Edition 5

When do you listen to music? Do you make time to sit down and give it your full attention, or are you a multitasker, enjoying music as an accompaniment while you do other things? I have a to confess I’m not very good at the latter approach - I tend to get distracted by the music, perpetually analysing what I’m hearing. But I do have one time each day when I can explore, and that’s when I’m at the gym or out for a brisk walk around our village.

This week I wandered the country lanes near home, listening to an eclectic mix of repertoire and I’m pleased to be able to share some of my discoveries with you in the latest of my Sounding Pipes playlist. I’ve dug out a varied selection of music, exploring the recorder’s rich repertoire. Some of the pieces are works you may have played yourself, but I hope you’ll discover some new repertoire here too.

Francesco Mancini - Sonata No.7 in C major

Francesco Mancini: Six Recorder Sonatas - performed by IJ SPACE, featuring Yi-Chang Liang (recorder), Machiko Suto (harpsichord), Asako Ueda (archlute) and Chia-Hua Chiang (baroque ‘cello). Claves CD1907

Mention the name Mancini to most people and they’ll probably think of Henry Mancini (composer of the Baby Elephant Walk and the Pink Panther theme) but his 18th century namesake is someone whose music every recorder player should explore. He was active as a teacher and composer in Naples, writing 29 operas plus a mixture of other vocal and instrumental work. His twelve recorder sonatas are beautiful works, composed so sympathetically for the instrument.

There are several recordings available of Mancini’s recorder sonatas, but this one captured my imagination with its fluidity and beautiful musical textures. Adding an archlute or theorbo to the continuo team is a stroke of genius and seems to make the music sparkle. Yi-Chang Liang is a beautiful player, adding his own exquisite ornamentation to enhance the melodic lines. I’d not come across him before, but he’s also a member of the Royal Wind Music and is evidently someone to watch.

If you don’t already know the Mancini recorder sonatas (and even if you do, for that matter!) I recommend exploring the whole of Yi-Chang Liang’s album as I’m sure you’ll find lots to inspire you. You can find a playlist containing all the tracks here.

Dick Koomans - The Jogger

Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet - Pictured Air. Channel CCS8996

It’s almost thirty years since Dick Koomans composed The Jogger for the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet, and in that time it’s become a classic of the recorder quartet repertoire. I remember hearing them perform it in a recital at the Wigmore Hall as a teenager and I was blown away by the sheer energy of the music. This performance is quirky combination of live performance and pop video. We see Bertho Driver, one of the quartet members, frantically running through the streets, pulling a large case (presumably full of recorders) behind him as he dashes for the tram. You can sense his heart pounding through the music, ending with a flourish of Bach and a moment of total collapse.


Johann Heinrich Schmelzer - Sonata à 7

The Royal Wind Music - Alla dolce ombra’ Lindoro MPC0712

The Schmelzer Sonata is a rarity in the recorder consort repertoire - a piece originally composed specifically for recorder consort from the Baroque era. The instrument was a popular choice for solo and chamber music, but for some reason few composers of this period chose to write consort music. Of course, there’s lots of Baroque repertoire we can play if we don’t mind borrowing from other instruments, but there’s a satisfaction to be had from performing music composed with our instrument in mind.

This Sonata is always a popular choice with ensembles, although I’ve heard many a consort come to grief in the central section, with its unpredictable fugal entries. This performance, by The Royal Wind Music, is particularly lovely - played at both four foot and eight foot pitch, in a warm, resonant acoustic. If you’ve never played the Schmelzer yourself and this whets your appetite, I made a consort video of it back in August 2020 which you can find here, along with the music. You’re very welcome to round up six friends to join you, or just play along with me!

Michael Nyman - If from The Diary of Anne Frank

Echoing Voices - Andrea Ritter (recorders) & Daniel Koschitski (piano). ARS Produktion ARS38098

The diary written by Anne Frank during her time spent in hiding from Nazi persecution between 1942 and 1944 has inspired a vast number of films and documentaries, but until this week I hadn’t come across the animated film made in Japan in 1995. The music for it was composed by Michael Nyman, including this song, If, which has been recorded in countless different ways, both instrumental and vocal.

In this particular recording we hear Andrea Ritter playing the vocal line on the bass recorder, accompanied at the piano by Daniel Koschitzki, who you may also have come across as a recorder player in the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet. I defy you not to be moved by this heartbreakingly beautiful melody.


J.S. Bach Organ Sonata No.6 in G major, BWV530

Piracy: Baroque Music Stolen for the Recorder - Genevieve Lacey (recorders) & Linda Kent (harpsichord & chamber organ) ABC Classics 28948171293

Borrowing music from other instruments is something we do all the time to supplement the recorder’s repertoire and this particular piece is one I’ve played myself. Bach composed six organ sonatas in the late 1720s. Some of the movements are reworkings of earlier music (often taken from his many cantatas), but No.6 is the one work in the collection where he started completely afresh. In its original form, Bach writes three melodic lines - one for the organist’s right hand, the second for the left and the lowest voice for the pedals - and they’re all equally important. From that perspective they are ripe for transcription and this Sonata works particularly well when the right hand line is played on the recorder, leaving the keyboard player just two voices to cope with - quite enough for most mere mortals!

In this beautiful recording the Australian recorder player Genevieve Lacey pairs a tenor recorder with a Baroque chamber organ (played by Linda Kent) and this subtle pairing means it’s tricky at times to know where the voice of the recorder ends and the organ begins - they’re just perfectly matched.


J.S. Bach - Orchestral Suite No.3 - Ouverture

Orchestral Suites Nos.1-4: Ton Koopman & Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Deutsche HM G010003033955W

While my Sounding Pipes playlists are always predominantly going to feature the recorder, sometimes I like to include other mediums, especially if there’s a connection to the other resources I share with you. My consort for this week was the Rondeau from Bach’s 2nd Orchestral Suite and in my accompanying Hints & Tips video I suggest you get into the habit of listening to good recordings of music to gain a better insight into the type of articulation and phrasing used for Baroque music. I couldn’t resist sharing such a recording here and I plumped for the Ouverture from Bach’s 3rd Orchestral Suite - my favourite of the four. This is one of Bach’s most extravagant pieces of orchestral music, featuring oboes, bassoon, trumpets and timpani alongside the strings, but the performance practices used are just the same as in the smaller scale music we play on the recorder.

While reading about the Suites I was interested to learn that Bach probably added the wind instruments later to enhance his string writing. When deciding which recording to share here I found I was too attached to the richer orchestral sound, but if you’re intrigued to hear Bach’s pared down original you can find it here, directed by Lars Ulrich Mortensen.

If you enjoyed playing the Rondeau I shared over on my Consorts page, you can listen to the original version for flute and strings here and, just for good measure, all four Orchestral Suites can be found here! You can never have too much Bach….

The Fool on the Hill

Tali Rubinstein - recorders

It’s become something of a tradition for me to share a more lighthearted piece in each of my Sounding Pipes playlists and this fun video by Tali Rubinstein immediately caught my attention when it was suggested to me by the YouTube algorithm. Long time readers will know I’m a fan of The Beatles, and Paul McCartney plays the recorder in their original version of this song. If you want a quirky fact to share with friends (who knows, it might come in handy in a pub quiz one day too…), he was taught to play the recorder by Margaret Asher, mother of actor Jane Asher, when he lodged with the family in the early 1960s. To this day he often uses the instrument in his solo albums.

Tali Rubinstein’s recording of The Fool on the Hill has clear echoes of The Beatles’ original, but she adds her own virtuosic flair, even sneaking in a snippet of Here Comes the Sun along the way. Whether this is your favourite sort of music or not, I defy you not to be smiling by the time you reach the end!

So there you have edition five of Sounding Pipes - hopefully you found some inspiration and entertainment along the way. If you’ve discovered some recorder shaped gems through your own musical explorations do share them in the comments below so we can all share the enjoyment!

A Bounty of Byrd

I don’t know about you, but the idea of commemorating the year a composer died has always seemed an odd one to me - surely the year of their birth would be a greater reason for celebration? That said, I guess noting both dates gives us two excuses to mark the existence of the greatest composers so maybe I shouldn’t quibble!

William Byrd

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of two noteworthy Renaissance composers - William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes. The two composers may have died in the same year, but they hailed from different generations and lived very disparate lives. Byrd (born around 1540) remained a devout Catholic throughout his life (despite working for a Protestant monarch who banned catholicism) and lived for more than eighty years. Weelkes, on the other hand was a notorious drinker, named as the most disorderly member of staff at Chichester Cathedral. This came to a head in 1617 when he was dismissed as organist and choirmaster for ‘drunkenness and outrageous blaspheming’. No doubt his baudy lifestyle took its toll and he died in November 1623 at the tender age of 47. I recently shared a beautiful choral work by Weelkes which was performed at the Coronation of King Charles III and his music is absolutely worthy of further exploration.

Of course today William Byrd is undoubtedly the more highly admired composer and it’s his music we’ll explore in this edition of the Score Lines blog. Byrd composed a vast array of both sacred and secular music for voices, but it’s his music for viol consort which is perhaps most often borrowed by recorder players. Compared to his choral output, the viol consorts are few in number, but exquisite in quality. When you begin studying the Fantasias you quickly realise there’s barely a superfluous note among them and he’s a master at developing simple themes into glorious polyphonic writing.

I’ve selected my favourite pieces from Byrd’s consort output to share with you and have found some beautiful recordings for you to explore - some played on recorders, others performed as Byrd intended on viols.

Fantasia I à 4

The first of Byrd’s four part Fantasias is an exquisite example of how to weave something magical from simple ingredients. Starting with a rising scale he explores its possibilities, combining the voices together in different ways before inverting the idea and falling again. Don’t be misled by this apparent simplicity though - after lulling the players into a sense of calm he introduces some wonderfully funky syncopated rhythms which will give any musician pause for thought! The Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet create a wonderfully sonorous effect with their low consort of recorders, making the whole thing sound effortless.

If you’d like to try playing this for yourself I shared it as one of my Consort Videos back in January 2021 and you can find both the music and video here.

Fantasia II à 6

This was the piece which really won me over to Byrd’s music - until we played it with the Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia I’d always found his music rather dry. Playing it with an orchestra of larger recorders (treble down to contrabass) the sound was enticing and I quickly realised this was far from being starchy consort music. In reality this Fantasia is packed with dance rhythms and even squeezes a snippet of Greensleeves in for good measure.

The bFIVE Recorder Consort capture the many characters of Byrd in their performance and you really get an understanding of the complex nature of his rhythms.

https://youtu.be/63KfutdJA3c INSERT VIDEO BLOCK

Fantasia III a 6

Compared to the previous piece, Byrd’s third six voice Fantasia is initially darker and more mellifluous. This time he begins with a simple falling arpeggio pattern and in the passage that follows you’ll hear a smattering of false relations. These are places where minor scales rise and fall simultaneously, creating direct clashes between sharp and natural versions of the same note. It’s a particular feature of English music from this period (you’ll find them in the music of Tallis and later in Purcell too) and adds a piquancy to the harmonies. Eventually the sonorous sound world gives way to a series of rustic dances and this wonderful recording by the Phantasm viol consort brings a real sense of joy and energy to them.

Phantasm - viols https://youtu.be/o-dbgl8ZZ8U

Fantasia II à 3

Byrd’s three part Fantasias may not share the lush texture of their larger scale counterparts, but they’re just as skilfully crafted. In the space of just two minutes Byrd whittles out no fewer than five musical ideas, playing endlessly with the rhythms. At a one point Byrd has one voice playing triple time rhythms while the others remain doggedly in duple time, yet it still feels like a coherent whole. In the extract below you can see the triple rhythms marked with red brackets, while the blue brackets show the duple rhythms which run in parallel.

Piffaro

https://youtu.be/Dw4flKaVmgk

The three part Fantasias are a great place to start if you’re new to Byrd’s consort music, with a more minimalist style and fewer rhythmic complexities. Subscribers to my Score Lines newsletter will find all three in your Members Area. If you’re not a subscriber and would like access to these and lots of other exclusive resources you can join, free of charge, here.

Pavan and Galliard à 6

Byrd composed many Pavans and Galliards for keyboard, but there’s one lone pairing for viol sextet. In typical Byrd fashion, this is anything but a straightforward example of these dance forms. He shoehorns triple rhythms against the duple meter of the Pavan, while the Galliard is an endless conversation between the two highest voices.

Fretwork

https://youtu.be/3C4D7HqXCFk


Browning - The Leaves be Green

Perhaps the ultimate example of Byrd’s consort writing is his set of variations on Browning, a song popular during his lifetime. I’ve written a whole blog post about the different ways composers have used this theme in their writing, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share it again. The music may be based on an eight bar melody, but Byrd creatively weaves his magic, leading the musicians in ever decreasing circles and increasingly complex cross rhythms.

If you fancy playing Browning in the comfort of your own home you’ll find the music and a Consort Video of it here. You’re welcome to use it with friends, but if you prefer you can always dip your toes into these syncopated waters with my video, safe in the knowledge I won’t hear any mistakes you may make!

To complete my exploration of Byrd’s consort music we have a fabulous live performance by The Royal Wind Music, played on a double consort of four and eight foot pitch recorders.

https://youtu.be/oMzyMu20uRY

Have I whetted your appetite to explore more of Byrd’s consort music? Or maybe you’re already a fan? I’d love to know which of his works are on your desert island list - perhaps your favourite is one I haven’t shared here? Do leave a comment below to share your favourite music and recordings.

Sounding Pipes Edition 4

During my long train journey back from Edinburgh last week I whiled away the hours listening to music - a handy way of blocking out the distractions of screaming babies and the couple bickering with each other across the aisle from me. Having four hours to explore music, both familiar and new, was such a luxury, rather than squeezing it in between work. It also allowed me to narrow down my choices for my fourth Sounding Pipes playlist, which I hope may inspire you to go exploring yourself.

As ever I’ve picked a mixed bag of music, with pieces from many different eras - some serious, some lighthearted - hopefully something for everyone!

Georg Philpp Telemann - Water Music - Hamburger Ebb' und Fluth

Telemann, Corelli & Bach Chamber Music - Emelie Roos (recorder), Anna Paradiso (harpsichord), Dan Laurin (recorder) and Höör Barock BIS2235

Mention Water Music and most people will think of Handel’s suites, composed for a Royal celebration on the River Thames. But did you know that Telemann composed a suite too, arguably even better than Handel’s?

Telemann composed Hamburger Ebb' und Fluth (Hamburg ebb and flood) in 1723 to celebrate the centenary of the Hamburg Admiralty. Hamburg was an important port, situated on the River Elbe, and to reflect this Telemann’s music depicts a series of mythological gods connected with water, including Neptune and Triton. We see these supernatural characters in a variety of activities - sleep, play, love and more. He uses the recorder in several movements but in this Sarabande we hear Thetis, the mother of Achilles, being lulled in sleep by two treble recorders.

I’ve been lucky enough to perform this beautiful music several times (although always playing baroque bassoon rather than recorder) and I enjoyed it so much that I’ve arranged a collection of the dances for recorder ensemble. A couple of these have featured in my consort music videos, but if these whet your appetite to try more the full collection is available here

If you enjoyed the Sarabande, the whole suite is available on YouTube as a playlist here.

Paul Hindemith - Trio from Plöner Musiktag

Fruit of a Different Vine - Alison Melville, Nathalie Michaud & Colin Savage (recorders) Atma Classique ACD22206

In the early days of the recorder’s twentieth century revival contemporary music for the instrument was pretty sparse. Carl Dolmetsch played a significant role in expanding the range of fresh solo repertoire by premiering new works in each of his Wigmore Hall recitals - for instance the Lennox Berkeley Sonatina I wrote about in my last Sounding Pipes playlist.

In Germany the recorder was also garnering interest, perhaps most notably with Peter Harlan, a guitarist and instrument maker. After attending a concert at the Haslemere Festival Harlan saw the potential of the instrument and purchased a set of the recorders Arnold Dolmetsch had recently begun making, with the intention of making his own when he returned home. Unfortunately he didn’t realise these instruments were pitched at A 415, so the bottom note of the treble sounded to his uninformed ears like an E at modern concert pitch. If he followed this logic he would have made a consort of recorders pitched in E and B (rather than the familiar F and C), but of course that meant any music ended up with key signatures containing lots of sharps - hardly ideal. Harlan’s compromise was to make recorders in D and A, which could at least play easily with string instruments.

It was this misunderstanding which led Paul Hindemith to compose a trio for a music day held at a school in Plön in 1932 for recorders in A and D. Hindemith performed it with two friends, but the score indicates it can be played by single or by multiple players per part. Of course, the requirement for recorders at an unusual pitch meant this piece was rarely played in Britain until the composer gave permission in 1952 for Walter Bergmann to create a new edition for recorders in F and C.

Hindemith’s music may not be to everyone’s taste and I have to confess I find much of his compositional output a little uncompromising. However, his Trio for recorders has a quirky charm and is a definite favourite of mine. It has three contrasting movements which conjure up different images in my mind. The first makes me think of a bustling street scene in 1930s New York, with parping horns and some blues musicians standing on a street corner (there’s definitely a hint of Gershwin in there). The second movement has a robotic feel, and one can only wonder if perhaps Hindemith had Fritz Lang’s 1927 futuristic film Metropolis in mind. The Trio culminates in Sostenuto movement which, at a tempo of crotchet = 40-50, seems to absorb all the excess energy of the preceding two. In comparison to the others it has a much cooler tone, maybe casting a spotlight on more perilous corners of the city where one perhaps shouldn’t venture after dark for fear of what might be lurking among the grimey alleyways.

If the Hindemith Trio is new to you the full work is available to listen to (along with the rest of Alison Melville’s album) here and the music (in the C and F recorders version) can be found under the ‘Arrangements and Transcriptions’ tab on IMSLP.

Oliver Davis - Earth from The Elements

Arcadia - The Hanke Brothers Signum Classics SIGCD590

Apple Music launched their new classical music app the day I set off for Edinburgh - the perfect opportunity for me to have a rummage around and see if a standalone classical app makes the task of finding specific pieces and recordings simpler (it does!). While music streaming services aren’t good for the musicians who appear on them (the royalties they pay are notoriously poor) they’re a great way to browse and find unfamiliar recordings. Apple Music Classical offers the option to browse by instrument, so naturally I took a look through the offerings for recorder.

Among the many familiar pieces of repertoire I found Oliver Davis’s The Elements, composed for the unlikely combination of piano, viola, recorder and tuba. My interest was piqued and I was amazed how well this eclectic mix of instruments works in the right hands. Oliver Davis has composed for film, television and ballet, as well as concert works and his music has a distinctly minimalist feel, with repetitive rhythmic and melodic patterns.

The movement I’ve chosen to share with you is Earth, which Davis describes this way:

“I wanted to create a grounded feel so anchored the music with long pedal notes in the tuba and used a repeated rhythmic pattern in the viola to propel the music towards its climactic ending.”

I love the way he uses this unique combination of sounds to create contrasts and I think I can honestly say I’ve never heard a tuba played with such delicacy, and certainly never with a recorder before! As with many of my other suggestions, the whole album this movement comes from is available here for you to explore further.

Peter Philips - Pavan Passamezzo

Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet and Sour Cream

The Passamezzo Antico chord progression

We’re stepping back some 400 years for my next suggestion to one of my favourite pieces of Renaissance consort music. Using the Passamezzo Antico ground bass, Peter Philips weaves his magic, creating an endless tapestry of musical lines. This eight bar chord progression has been used as the basis for music by composers for centuries.

Some choose to use a tool like this as a ground bass, with an endlessly repeating pattern in the lowest instrument while the higher parts weave their magic above. But Philips takes a different approach, using the chords as the skeleton of his music and allowing all the voices a chance to take an equal role in the melodic movement.

I wanted to find a recorder consort performance of Pavan Passamezzo to share with you and it was a bonus to discover this coming together of two recorder supergroups - the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet and Frans Bruggen’s Sour Cream. The fact that they’re performing it on a low consort of Renaissance recorders is just the icing on the cake as they create a wonderfully lush timbre.

J.S.Bach - Cantata 39, Brich dem hungrigen dein Brot

Bach’s manuscript of Cantata 39 - click to see enlarged.

Bach Cantatas Vol.16 - Ton Koopman with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir. Challenge Classics CC72216

My next recording is one spontaneously suggested to me by Apple Music as I was travelling several months ago. Bach wrote Cantata 39 for performance in June 1726, when he was working at St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig. It’s a sacred work, with a text which implores us to be grateful for God's gifts and to share them with the needy. The slow opening section shows Bach’s mastery of orchestral writing in the way he combines the instrumental tones (two recorders, oboes, strings and choir) and I recommend you listen to it with the sound turned up to really savour Bach’s magical shifts of harmony. This is followed by a livelier section, during which I’m sure I spotted a little snippet in the recorder parts, borrowed from his own Brandenburg Concerto No.4!

A sneaky bonus… Cantata 82 - Ich habe genug

While listening to this selection from Ton Koopman’s Bach Cantata series I rediscovered another gem which I just had to include. The opening aria of Cantata 82, Ich habe genug, doesn’t include any recorders, but the music is absolutely heavenly - a simply exquisite combination of melodic lines for oboe and bass voice. The video below begins with this particular aria, but there’s nothing to stop you listening to the rest as well if the fancy takes you!

Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade

Flanders Recorder Quartet

I always try to include something light to complement the serious music in my Sounding Pipes playlists and this time it’s a spot of big band jazz, played by the Flanders Recorder Quartet. Although it’s perhaps best known as an instrumental piece, several different sets of lyrics were connected with the tune during Miller’s lifetime. Miller never recorded a vocal version, but it did make it onto Frank Sinatra’s 1966 album, Moonlight Sinatra. Had Miller survived World War II one can’t help but wonder whether he would have approved of Sinatra’s take on what had become Miller’s own signature tune.

The Flanders Recorder Quartet bring their own laid back approach to this timeless classic, performed at one of their last concerts together in Taiwan in November 2018. The communication between Bart, Paul, Tom and Joris is such a joy to see and I can’t help but smile at the cheeky interaction between Tom and Joris one minute and fifty five seconds in!

Scott Schultz’s Thirty Second Concerts

Browse through all of Scott’s videos here.

If you need a short twice-weekly pick me up, my last suggestion surely can’t fail to make you smile!

Scott Schultz was once a professional french horn player and during the pandemic he was looking for a way to keep himself occupied. The result was his twice weekly ‘30 Second Concerts’ which feature recorders, percussion instruments and a healthy sense of humour. Scott has three rules for the creation of these videos:

  1. All technology used must have no cost associated with their use (hence the 30 second limit)

  2. All instruments used must be acoustic only and preferably designed to be used by children

  3. All arrangements are created by Scott from available no-cost resources

I’ve subscribed to Scott’s YouTube channel for a few months now and his humorous approach to the music never fails to make me smile. He always dresses up for the occasion and no musical genre is off-limits. At the time of writing he’s released just over 400 videos, so it’s all but impossible to pick just one. I can’t imagine how much time he must put into creating these musical moments (the costumes alone must take some time to dream up!) but they brighten my day when they pop up in my YouTube subscriptions feed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Have I succeeded in my mission to broaden your musical repertoire? I so enjoy creating these playlists as it helps me discover unfamiliar music and new recordings of pieces I know well. If there’s an area of music you’d like me to include more of in future playlists do leave a comment below - I find it inspiring to receive recommendations too!