ABSTRACT
This chapter covers matters of history, technique, practice, performance, and organization connected with recorder ensembles, large and small. 1241. Bamforth, Dennis A. “The Recorder Orchestra.” Recorder Magazine 13, no. 2
(September 1993): 50-51; 14, no. 2 (June 1994): 41-42. Part 1, “The History,” offers brief notes on the various recorder orchestras that have
existed in England since the 1960s. Part 2, “The Music,” describes the optimum distribution of parts in a recorder orchestra, then surveys the original works written for the orchestra by British composers from the 1970s to the present. 1242. Barthel, Rudolf. “Consigli per un complesso di flauto dolce” [Advice for a recorder
ensemble]. Il flauto dolce, no. 1 (January/June 1971): 3-8. Said to be a revised translation of “Aus der Arbeit eines Blockflötenchores” [From the
work of a recorder orchestra] (1956). Discusses large recorder ensembles. Practical advice on instrumentation, tuning, intonation, articulation, seating, rehearsing, orchestration (including instrumental characteristics), and dynamics. * Bergmann, Walter. “Golden Rules for Ensemble Playing.” Cited above as item 273. 1243. Braun, Gerhard. “Das Blockflötenensemble: Einige historische und unhistorische
Betrachtungen” [The recorder ensemble: some historical and unhistorical considerations]. In 3. Internationales Blockflöten Symposium Karlsruhe, ERTA Kongress 1995, Vorträge und Dokumentation [6 p.]. Draws historical information from item 1251, then “arrives at somewhat different
conclusions.” Arrangements for modern recorder orchestra can easily become the “ghetto of bad taste.” Some recent compositions for recorder ensemble (Serocki, Heider) require matched virtuosity (“the recorder ensemble can therefore not serve as a beginning stop for bad individual players”). The repertory of Renaissance, early Baroque, and modern works for recorder ensemble is interesting and stylistically varied, and new works could be even more so if they incorporate the advances in dynamics and tone color already made in solo compositions. 1244. Clark, Paul. “Consorting with Teenagers.” Recorder & Music Magazine 3, no. 6
(June 1970): 199-200. This un-PC title by PC hides suggestions of three-to six-part compositions suitable for
recorder ensembles. 1245. Eastman, Richard. “The Neutral Tune.” American Recorder 32, no. 4 (December
1991): 11-14. Describes an exercise developed by Eastman to help consorts recognize and reinforce
the musical style of a piece of music. 1246. Hopkins, Bernard J. “Polychoralism, Anyone?” American Recorder 18, no. 2
(August 1977): 40-43. Advocates adapting antiphonal music, both choral and instrumental, for recorder
ensemble. The bibliography lists nine publications that include suitable music, mostly dating from the sixteenth century (composed by Handl, Gabrieli, and Palestrina, among others). 1247. Lasocki, David. “A Short History of the Recorder Ensemble.” In The Finishing
Touch of Ensemble Playing, by Bart Spanhove, 53-62. (A Flanders Recorder Quartet Guide for Recorder Players and Teachers.) Peer, Belgium: Alamire, 2000. ISBN 9068531441. In German as: “Zur Geschichte des Blockflöten-Ensembles: Ein historischer Abriss.” In Das Einmaleins des Ensemblespiels: Ein Leitfaden des Flanders Recorder Quartet für Blockflötenspieler und -lehrer, mit einem historischen Kapitel von David Lasocki, 53-62. Celle: Moeck Music, 2002. “Before the 20th century, the history of the recorder ensemble has to be pieced together
from several kinds of evidence: paintings that seem to depict realistic ensembles, treatises on instruments, documents about professional musicians, inventories of instrument collections, stage directions in plays, and a relatively small number of compositions. The evidence that has survived is surely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Nevertheless, it strongly suggests that recorders were played in ensembles practically from the invention of the instrument in the 14th century right through to the end of the 18th century, continuing in the 19th century with at least duets of that keyed recorder known as the csakan. The 20th-century revival of the earlier types of recorder has seen an unprecedented flourishing of recorder ensembles, largely among amateurs, with the foundation of some significant professional groups towards the end of the century, and a vast enrichment of the recorder ensemble literature” (introduction). See also Spanhove’s summary article, “‘The Finishing Touch of Ensemble Playing’: Ein Buch von Bart Spanhove,” Tibia 26, no. 3 (2001): 575-78. 1248. Maarbjerg, Mary. “The Care and Feeding of a Recorder Consort.” American
Recorder 31, no. 3 (September 1990): 7-10. Describes the formation of her own amateur consort and offers ten rules to help insure
successful collaboration among a diverse group of players. 1249. Mett, Silke. “Intonation im Ensemblespiel-Theorie und Praxis” [Intonation in
ensemble playing: theory and practice]. Tibia 14, no. 4 (1989): 573-80. A useful overview of the important but neglected subject of tuning and recorders.
