Anthology of the Recorder, Vol. 1

The recorder’s heyday was the early Baroque period. In fact, until the 18th Century the recorder was known simply as ‘flauto’ (flute), while the instrument we today call the flute bore the specific name ‘flauto traverso’ (transverse flute), a confusion in terminology that has often led to compositions addressed to the recorder (flauto) being performed on modern flute. Der Fluyten Lust-Hof by Jacob Van Eyck is the most extensive collection of music for a solo wind instrument by a single composer, and a large portion of this set is devoted to a selection of highlights from this monumental work. Although written for amateur players, the compositions attest to the high standard of musicianship in Utrecht, with technical demands that are challenging even by modern standards. The recorder’s tonal purity and exceptional blend in ensemble makes it marvelously suited for adaptations of music originally written for other instrumental combinations. Examples from the early Italian repertoire include the Palestrina ricercar, capriccios by Frescobaldi and canzonas by Gabrieli, Merula and Trabaci. The Elizabethan period was a golden era for English composers. Among the most popular are Byrd, Dowland, Gibbons and Tallis, but there are many magnificent compositions by less familiar names such as Johnson, Tye and Ward. These composers often used popular songs such as ‘Browning’, and favored melodies from sacred music such as the ubiquitous Taverner Mass ‘In Nomine’, as the basis for consort pieces, typically intended for a chest of viols, but again, very successful performed by a choir of recorders. After Van Eyck, A. Scarlatti is among the Baroque composers contributing substantially to this set, along with Telemann, Vivaldi, J.S. and C.P.E Bach, Quantz, Handel, Fiorenza, Giuseppe Sammartini, the prolific Mancini, and even a Vivaldi imposter! Il Pastor fido, previously attributed to Vivaldi, is now known to have been composed by Chédeville, who conspired to publish his composition under Vivaldi’s name in an attempt to gain a wider audience. The set closes with a final album containing a microcosm of the five centuries spanned by the collection as a whole, featuring arrangements for recorder consort of a great variety of music from Renaissance composers through to those living and writing today.