Repertoire

Nothing in life falls precisely into neat boxes, but the following groupings will perhaps enable you to make sense of the vast amount of music available for the recorder.

• Arrangements of music of all ages, particularly choral and orchestral music from the 1500s and 1600s. Choral music of this period often requires little arrangement, being manageable by flexible players (playing an octave up or down if necessary) straight from the choral score. This type of music usually sounds good on recorders, and is especially good for players who don’t sing, it gives an opportunity to participate in some wonderful music. Instrumental music of this same period would often have been played on the instruments available at the time (for instance, amateur musical evenings), the recorder proabably being one of them, though some arrangement may be necessary.
• Music written for recorders in their heyday, in the Baroque era, roughly 1660 – 1750. Groups of recorders, recorders with other instruments, solo parts for the treble recorder in such as Operas, Masques, Bach Cantatas, concerti.
• Many of the arrangements mentioned above have been made since about 1950, when there was a renaissance of interest in recorders. This had become increasingly a ‘cottage industry’, particularly with the development of computers making setting and printing easy. These are enthusiasts, often not generally known (though well known in the world of recorder playing), producing a vast number of arrangements, usually at very moderate prices, distributed by mail order, and more recently, the internet.
• Music composed in the 1900s specifically for recorders. Some by big-name composers (Vaughan Williams, Hindemith), but increasingly by some of the arrangers just mentioned. It is in varying styles, some aurally challenging, others more mellow or jazzy.
• In the latter part of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st Century, an increasing amount of music has been composed specifically for recorders, often by people who are not well-known for composing for other instruments. An increasing amount of this is for Recorder Orchestra.

Resources

This is only a very brief list – see our Suppliers and Links pages for more information.

Paul Clark – Arrangements of a range of music and some original music for recorders
John Hawkes – Challenging original music for recorders
Steve & Ann Marshall – A large range of music for recorder groups of all sizes (including one in 41 parts!),  some arrangements but mostly original music.
Dietrich Schnabel – Music for smaller recorder groups, and for recorder orchestra, the latter very much in the Romantic style.

Music by the above and many more are available from the following dealers:

Schott
Recorder Music Mail
Oriel Library
Dolmetsch
Hawthorns