THE RECORDER
History in short * MIDI-files
History in short
(by: Paul Leenhouts, Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet)
In general when hearing the word recorder people tend to think of the role this musical instrument plays in (starting) musical education. The still growing interest for early music and at the same time the influence of contemporary music have given the recorder however a whole other dimension too.
In musical history the recorder has known a long period of prosperity. During the Renaissance the instrumnt was mainly used for doubling the human voice. Therefor there are a lot of different kinds of recorders, each corresponding with the different singing voices. During the second half of the sixteenth century we see that the instrument start to become separate from vocal music and that ensembles and consorts are formed. M. Praetorius in his Syntagma Musicum (1618) describes a complete recorder ensemble, consisting of 21 instruments in 8 different sizes; the 'Garklein Exilent' (circa 15 cm) to the Greatbass recorder (circa 2 meter), and between that sopranino-, soprano-, alto-, tenor-, bass- and C-bass recorder.
Considering the large amount of documents and archives of several churches and royal houses in Europe, the recorder must have been held in great esteem as a musical instrument. An example of this is the remarkable collection of recorders mentioned in the stocktaking lists of the property belonging to King Henry VIII.
The musical development that took place during the Baroque asked for a more solo oriented instrument. Therefor the recorder changes, not only the looks, but also the inside of the recorder. The baroque recorder is more flexible as for chromatics and range than its Renaissance predecessor. The rich repertoire varies from sonatas, suites, cantates to solo concerts, e.g. the ones by Vivaldi or the Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach.
After 1750 the recorder disappears for a long time from the stage; in the new character of the (symfonic) orchestra there was no longer a need for instruments like the lute, gamba, harpsichord and recorder. Due to the coincidence of the revival of early music, the discovery of the didactic possibilities of this instrument, extension of the contemporary repertoire and a great international attention, the recorder has made an undepreciated comeback in the twentieth century.
The twentieth century recorder
Where people in the course of the twentieth century saw themselves confronted with the limitations of the recorder, there was an innovative search for new possibilities. The manufacturer of recorders Paetzold for example developed a very special series of recorders. The unconventional looking recorders can be played by everyone, due to the special design, and therefor playing (contra)bass recorders became possible for a greater public.
Composers also started writing more and more again for recorder.
Explorers of this new kind of music tried to use the full range of sounds that hide in a recorder.
This has led to the development of techniques such as white noise, percussive keysounds, flatterzunge (flutter tonguing), microtones and multiphonics, and styles like minimal music.
Especially in Japan the twentieth century recorder music has met with a lot of response and has led to very virtuose works, in which the player in some cases even as to play more recorders at once. But also in the rest of the world the interest in the recorder increases.
De frontiers of the recorder are further explored by allying with electronics. Pioneers in this area ar for instance Michael Barker and Walter van Hauwe. The recorder player however does not use synthesizers, samplers and computers, but microphones, reverberation and DAT-recordings of sounds - mostly produced by the actual recorder - instead. The contacts with electronics have led to the so called midified blockflute.
In this case the electronics serve mainly to expand and amplify the sound.
Articles about this subject:
Het spelen van hedendaagse blokfluitmuziek
Hedendaagse Japanse blokfluitmuziek
MIDI-files (General MIDI, wavetable soundcard recommended)
part 1 (Moderato), 'Trio', Y. Kyose, for alto-, tenor-, and bass recorder
part 2 (Lento), 'Trio', Y. Kyose, for alto-, tenor-, and bass recorder
part 3 (Allegro moderato), 'Trio', Y. Kyose, for alto-, tenor-, and bass recorder
No. 5 (Moderato), 12 Grands Caprices (1864), Narcisse Bousquet, for alto recorder solo
No. 1 (Allegro), 5 studies for finger control (1957), Frans Brüggen, for alto recorder solo
Ermitage (Protus plagalis), anonymus 20th century, for 4 bass-, 2 alto- and 2 soprano recorders.
Sonata I (Allegro, Adagio, Allegro, Adagio, Allegro, Adagio), Giovanni Battista Fontana, for tenor recorder and basso continuo
Part from Concerto in C-Dur, J. Graun, alto- and tenor recorder solo
The compositions of Ortiz, are originally written for gamba, not for recorder ...
Recercada primera, Ortiz, for bass recorder
Recercada primera - Sobre o felici occhi miei, Ortiz, for bass recorder and basso continuo
Recercada primera, Ortiz, for bass recorder and basso continuo
Recercada prima - Sobre dovlce memoire, Ortiz, for bass recorder and basso continuo
Recercada ottava, Ortiz, for bass recorder and basso continuo
Quetzal, the conquest of Ancient America (1998), Wiep Klaas Smits, for soprano-, alto-, tenor- and bass recorder (merely an oriëntational MIDI-file)
The daffodils - Ode to William Wordsworth (1998), Wiep Klaas Smits, for tenor- and contrabass recorder (merely an oriëntational MIDI-file, contains actually spoken an sung text from the poem 'I wandered lonely as a cloud', by Wordsworth)
No.11 (Scherzando), Melodiespiel auf der Sopranblockflöte (15 kleine Stücke in progressiver Folge), Maigret Uies-Grützner, for soprano recorder
Deel 1 (Allegro decisivo), Virtuose Suite, Hans Ulrich Staeps (*1961), for alto recorder
Deel 2 (Allegretto), Virtuose Suite, Hans Ulrich Staeps (*1961), for alto recorder
Traumlandschaft (deuterus plagalis), 20th century, for 8 tenor recorders.
Originally written for organ, but very suited to be performed by recorder quartet:
Pari Intervallo (Moderato), Arvo Pärt, 20th century
