Repertoire explorations through the ages

With this playbook, the author has created a real journey through time, in which new music also finds its place and early music is not simply limited to Telemann and his contemporaries. There are no dubious arrangements of classical hits. Beginning with instrumental music from the Middle Ages and continuing with Renaissance pieces by John Dowland, for example, and early Baroque music from Italy, this booklet for soprano recorder contains Baroque music from all the countries that set the tone at the time. There are also short original works in blues, jazz, Latin or avant-garde style by the British composer Alan Davis and two improvisations. Johann Melchior Gletle, a Swiss Baroque composer, is even represented.

The Czech flautist Jan Kvapil selected the almost 70 pieces; they are of medium difficulty, for which the players must know all the accidentals and be rhythmically confident. For some works there is an unfigured bass part or chord symbols; almost a third of the works are duos with a second part on the soprano, alto or tenor flute.

The big plus is the various free download options on the publisher's website. In addition to exposed accompaniment parts for harpsichord/piano or guitar to print out, audio files of 32 pieces are available for download, both as full versions and as play-alongs in various tempi and with different accompanying instruments (harpsichord, piano, lute, viola da gamba, percussion). The audio examples provide a first impression of the works or offer performers accompanying support, even if they are sometimes not entirely convincing in terms of sound and phrasing.

This comprehensive collection gives a good overview of the recorder literature and invites you to familiarize yourself with one or the other epoch.

A journey through time from the Middle Ages to the present, playbook for soprano recorder, edited by Jan Kvapil, BA 11544, € 15.50, Bärenreiter, Prague