What do you listen to most when you’re travelling? When I’m on the road I’m an avid listener of podcasts, but when I begin to flag music becomes my preferred choice. There’s nothing quite like singing along loudly to a piece of music to wake you up and make the miles pass more quickly!
On recent journeys I’ve taken to putting the choice of music in the hands of Apple Music (other music providers are available!), telling the app on my phone to pick the music for me. I’ve always enjoyed a very varied listening diet – one day it’ll be Bach, followed maybe by a Brahms Symphony, some Byrd polyphony or popular music by the Beatles or Robbie Williams. The app on my phone has been learning from this and when I put it in charge it offers me an equally eclectic mix. This has proved to be a wonderful ground for discovering fresh music.
I’ve made some amazing discoveries during these listening sessions and it struck me you might be interested in some of the gems I’ve come across. The result is a new series of occasional blog posts called Sounding Pipes, where I’ll share some of the (mostly) recorder related recordings I’ve encountered and enjoyed. Of course, those long journeys in the car are only the beginning. Sometimes I’ll seek out a piece of music again once I’m home, taking me down unforeseen paths to other fascinating repertoire, or reminding me of works I’d forgotten about.
I hope you enjoy these listening suggestions and that perhaps they lead you to new discoveries of your own. All of this week’s pieces are available on YouTube to watch or listen to, but wherever possible I’ll also include details of the albums they come from so you can explore further if you wish.
Happy listening!
J.S.Bach – Ebarme dich, mein Gott from the St. Matthew Passion
Lucie Horsch – Baroque Journey (Decca 2019)
This is where the inspiration for this series originated, as this piece popped up on my playlist, performed by Dutch recorder player Lucie Horsch. I first encountered this heart breakingly beautiful aria when I performed in a St. Matthew Passion on the Isle of Wight many years ago. I clearly recall the exquisite combination of solo violin and countertenor voice and it remains my absolute favourite from the most famous of Bach’s Passions. Purists may not approve of the way Lucie Horsch swaps the vocal line for a recorder, but it’s hard not to forgive this change when she plays it so beautifully.
Following the breadcrumbs laid by Lucie, I returned to Bach’s original scoring and made a second, even more amazing discovery. Searching on YouTube, I happened upon the Netherlands Baroque Society’s project, All of Bach. This project aims to perform and record the entirety of Bach’s compositional output, making it all available to watch free of charge – an astonishing prospect in every way! Among the pieces already recorded is a performance of the St. Matthew Passion from 2015. The whole Passion is available online, but the performance of Ebarme dich, mein Gott, featuring violinist Shunske Sato and singer Tim Mead is, to my mind, even more glorious than Lucie’s one. While there are no recorders in the original, I decided to share this with you too as I hope you’ll love it as much as I do!
Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger – Pavan No.2 on Seven Notes
B-Five Recorder Consort & Sofie Vanden Eynde (lute) – The Soule of Heaven (Coviello Classics COV92108)
I have to credit my Dad for pointing me in the direction of this particular recording. He heard this Pavan by Ferrabosco on the radio recently and asked if I knew it. While I was certainly familiar with Ferrabosco I didn’t know this particular Pavan and what a find it is! The B-Five Recorder Consort play it on a wonderful set of low Renaissance recorders and the lush tones are so enchanting. The addition of lute (played by Sofie Vanden Eynde) enhances the texture, balancing the richness of the recorder tone. Needless to say I’ve downloaded the whole album and it’ll be a welcome soothing influence after a busy day!
Sour Cream performing a selection of music for three recorders
Frans Brüggen, Kees Boeke & Walter van Hauwe
I discovered this video while rummaging on YouTube for recorder trio music. My eye was caught by the inclusion of Upon Ut Re Mi Fa by John Baldwine, but this 36 minute programme contains an eclectic mix. When this was recorded in 1981 at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich, the centre had been open for just three years, designed by the then largely unknown architect Norman Foster. The building is home to an enormous art collection, spanning some 5000 years of human activity, and the music reflects this variety.
Sour Cream was formed by Frans Brüggen, Kees Boeke & Walter van Hauwe with the intention of commissioning and performing avant garde music recorder music, but their repertoire expanded way beyond that. Rather than being a straight performance to camera, the trio’s music is accompanied by an eclectic cinematic approach, using green screen techniques and even a surreal Monty Pythonesque section where they interact with the works of art and then fall asleep. I can’t but feel they had great fun making this! The music may not all be to your taste, but there’s bound to be something you’ll love. The final Bach Allegro (the Preludio from his Violin Partita in E minor) is an absolute tour de force of technique and precision.
If this quirky compilation intrigues you I suggest you explore Sour Cream’s iconic album The Passion of Reason (recorded in 1993/4 & rereleased by Glossa records 2013) which includes an equally varied repertoire from five centuries.
Incidentally, if you’re interested in hearing the original violin version of the Bach Preludio which ends this selection, I can recommend this performance by Viktoria Mullova. If you fancy the ultimate workout, Frans Brüggen also made his own transcription of the Preludio for solo recorder which is published by Moeck, along with a selection of other movements from the Violin Partitas. If you choose to try it for yourself be prepared to do lots of scale and breathing practice!
Telemann Concerto in E minor for recorder and flute
Frans Brüggen (recorder), Frans Vester (flute) & Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
When I was at music college I regularly used to visit Leadenhall Market in the city of London to browse the CDs at Farringdon Records (a wonderful shop which sadly no longer exists). It was on one such visit that I discovered this recording and it became a firm favourite. The playing style may not be as ‘authentic’ as some (played on modern instruments rather than Baroque copies) but I was blown away by the sheer energy of the performance. To this day the vivacity of the final movement of the concerto is simply irresistible
If this recording appeals to you as much as it did to my youthful self I recommend exploring the whole album which features four other concertos and overtures by Telemann.
New Zealand Traditional - Wellerman
Ralf Bienioschek - recorders, guitar, percussion, melodica
And now, as they say, for something completely different! Early in 2021 a new craze emerged on TikTok and other social media sites, spurred by Scottish singer Nathan Evans’ performances of sea shanties. Perhaps the best known of these is Soon May the Wellerman Come, and it wasn’t long before the recorder world had its own version. One of my subscribers, pointed me to this performance by Ralf Bienioschek and it’s absolutely infectious in its drive and energy. He’s recorded several other multitrack videos of equally unlikely repertoire for recorder (Billy Eilish’s Bad Guy for instance) and there are links to these on Ralf’s website. A big thank you to Jean for leading me here and many apologies if this results in a persistent earworm!
If this whets your appetite to play Wellerman for yourself Ralf has published the sheet music for his arrangement here.
So there you have my first Sounding Pipes playlist - I hope you found something new and enjoyable within. If you have favourite recordings you’d like to share with us all please do leave a comment below - I hope this may offer an opportunity for us all to explore and listen further!