consort

Advice from beyond the recorder world

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Every so often friends send me pieces of writing they think I might appreciate. Two of these struck a particular chord, and I thought I’d share sections of them with you. Chick Corea and Richard Strauss come from very different musical genres, neither of them with any connection to the recorder, but I think their words still have something to teach us.

Cheap but good advice for playing music in a group

This is the title of a list shared with me by Steve Marshall, himself a composer who most recorder players will have encountered at some point. Steve has spent a lot of his life playing jazz, so naturally he would have a greater knowledge of the work of Chick Corea (1941-2021), an American jazz musician, composer and band leader, than I do. Of course, not all of Corea’s advice is applicable to playing the recorder, but these items which particularly jumped out at me as being pertinent to our own music making…

  • Play only what you hear.

  • If you don’t hear anything, don’t play anything.

  • Don’t let your fingers and limbs just wander – place them intentionally.

  • Leave space – create space – intentionally create places where you don’t play.

  • Make your sound blend. Listen to your sound and adjust it to the rest of the band and the room.

  • Don’t make any of your music mechanically or just through patterns of habit. Create each sound, phrase, and piece with choice – deliberately.

  • Guide your choice of what to play by what you like – not by what someone else will think.

  • Use contrast and balance the elements: high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, tense/relaxed, dense/sparse.

  • Play to make the other musicians sound good. Play things that will make the overall music sound good.

  • Play with a relaxed body. Always release whatever tension you create.

  • Create space – begin, develop, and in for phrases with intention.

  • Never beat or pound your instrument – play it easily and gracefully.

Advice from the conductor’s rostrum

Richard Strauss, painted by Max Liebermann, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Richard Strauss (1864-1949), whose life overlapped with Chick Corea by just eight years, occupies a very different musical style, but like Corea, he was a prolific composer and a musician whose words are still pertinent to the rest of us. This collection of musical advice was sent to me by another composer of recorder music, Michael Graham. Like myself, Michael spends a lot of his time conducting ensembles and orchestras, and he thought I might appreciate Strauss’s Ten Golden Rules for Young Conductors. While some of these comments may not be applicable to you as a recorder player, the humour is undeniable, and yet his words have a lot to teach about making music sympathetically with others.

 

  • Remember that you are making music not to amuse yourself, but to delight your audience.

  • You should not perspire when conducting. Only the audience should get warm.

  • Conduct Salome and Elektra (two of Strauss’s most challenging operas) as if they were by Mendelssohn: Fairy music.

  • Never look encouragingly at the brass, except with a brief glance to give an important cue.

  • But never let the horns and woodwinds out of your sight. If you can hear them at all, they are still too strong.

  • If you think that the brass is now blowing hard enough, tone it down another shade or two.

  • It is not enough that you yourself should hear every word the soloist sings. You should know by heart anyway. The audience must be able to follow without effort. If they do not understand the words, they will go to sleep.

  • Always accompany the singer in such a way that he can sing without effort.

  • When you think you have reached the limits of prestissimo, double the pace.

  • If you follow these rules carefully, you will, with your fine gifts and your great accomplishments, always be the darling of your listeners.

If you’d like to see Strauss’s conducting for yourself, this film from his 1944 recording of his own tone poem, Till Eulenspiegel, makes fascinating viewing. He’s a model of minimalism and economy of movement - something I know I could sometimes learn from!

With that I’ll leave you to ponder the advice of these masters, I’m off to figure out which section of a recorder orchestra is the equivalent of the brass, with whom Strauss evidently had something of a love/hate relationship! Many thanks to Steve and Michael for sharing these gems with me - if you’ve come across useful musical advice from an unlikely place which might help others why not leave a comment below so we can all enjoy it?

Arranging and composing for recorder consort

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The recorder has a wider range of native repertoire than many instruments thanks to its long history. We have Renaissance consorts (many of which were composed for unspecified instruments so they’re definitely fair game for recorders), a plethora of Baroque sonatas and concertos (even a smattering of consort pieces from the period) and a vast array of works composed since the recorder’s 20th century revival. But still we have a perpetual desire to broaden the range of music we play. This invariably leads us to raid other sources for music we can borrow, including vocal and instrumental repertoire.

If, like me, you want to explore beyond the recorder’s native repertoire you have three choices - transcriptions of pre-existing music, making more creative arrangements or composing something from scratch. Let’s consider each of these in turn…

Transcription

I would class this as a piece where you can take a work and transfer it quite simply to recorders. You might need to change the key of the music (more about that later) or play a little with the parts to make them fit, but otherwise it’s generally a fairly simple process. This approach often works well with vocal music and many Renaissance instrumental works will translate easily to recorders too.

Creative arrangement

In this category you might choose to create a new piece from a tune you already know - for instance combining folk tunes and adding your own twist of creativity. I think this could also include arrangements of music which isn’t immediately obviously suitable for recorders. Perhaps a piece for piano where you have to create individual lines from a more homogenous texture.

Composing

Handel’s manuscript

Here the only limit is your own imagination!

You have complete control over the choice of instruments, style of music, level of difficulty and much more. Whether you feel comfortable composing may depend on your musical knowledge and level of experience, but I would argue there’s nothing to stop you having a go. As with writing a novel, I would suggest you begin by drawing on your own experiences. Perhaps start with your recorder, noodling around with the sort of musical shapes you enjoy playing and if something great comes to you try writing it down. You could begin with a single line and work on from there. Even if you never share the music with anyone else you’ll learn from the experience and it’ll give you a greater understanding of what composers do. You don’t need fancy music typesetting software for this - all that’s required is some manuscript paper, a pencil and eraser. You can even download and print manuscript paper from the internet these days. Blanksheetmusic.net will even insert the clef for you before you print.

I’m going to focus mostly today on arranging as that’s my main area of expertise - I’ve never been much of a  composer. But many of my tips will apply just as much to composing, so if that’s what tickles your fancy do read on…

Let’s say you fancy trying your hand at arranging or transcribing - where’s a good place to start?

Again, personal experience of music can lead you in a particular direction. Is there a piece of music you’ve heard that you’d like to try on recorders? Or maybe you have a favourite composer who neglected to write for your favourite instrument? These ideas may be enough to get you started, but I have some other ideas about the type of music you could mine.

Vocal music

Don’t be overambitious to begin with - pick something simple for your first arrangement. Vocal music often works really well because the range of the human voice is very similar to that of the recorder. Maybe begin with a hymn tune or a simple piece of Renaissance choral music? If you have a work for soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices, the chances are it’ll fit perfectly on descant, treble, tenor and bass recorders.

Renaissance instrumental music

Many pieces from this period don’t specify the instrumentation and may work well on recorders. If the music was originally for viols you might have to change the music from alto or tenor clef to something more familiar. You may find the notes need a little adjustment (shifting occasional low notes up an octave for instance) to fit the recorder. Unless you’re arranging the music for low recorders (tenor downwards) you’ll almost certainly need to shift all the notes an octave higher to make them fit, but we’ll talk about recorder pitch later.

Later music

Music intended for modern orchestral instruments may have lines which are too long for a single recorder to play, but we’ll look at how to cope with this in a while. It’s often tempting to try and fill the classical and romantic gap in the recorder’s repertoire, but sometimes pieces just don’t translate to recorders well. Many years ago I heard Wagner’s Procession to the Minster from Lohengrin played by a brass band and wondered if it might work on recorders. A brass band is a monochromatic ensemble (all the instruments basically make the same type of sound), just like recorders, so it seemed logical. Of course, a brass band has a much wider dynamic range and sadly I discovered a recorder orchestra (even if it’s made up of 130 people) just doesn’t have the same impact as a brass band at full power. It was a useful learning experience though, even if the music has only been used once!

If you’re considering arranging music originally intended for a symphony orchestra it’s worth bearing in mind the effect the transition to recorders may have on the impact of the music. Orchestral music derives a lot of its colour from the use of different instruments - for instance a melody played by a solo oboe against a string accompaniment. With a monochromatic recorder ensemble we lose this variety of colour so you may need to find ways around this. For instance, you could double a line an octave higher (say, a treble line doubled by sopranino) to bring a little sparkle. Some orchestral music will work this way, while other pieces just seem to lose their magic. That said, don’t be afraid to try - if nothing else you’ll learn something in the process!

The example below comes from my arrangement of The Shepherds’ Farewell by Berlioz. You can see that at bar 45 I’ve chosen to give all the music to the lower instruments to create a contrast of tone colour.

Keyboard music

A recorder transcription of keyboard music which contains clear musical lines (a fugue for instance) can be very effective. On the other hand, keyboard music (whether for piano, harpsichord or organ) can take many forms - single lines for each hand, chords or arpeggio patterns. These can require some imagination and creativity to make them work on recorders, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend keyboard music as the ideal starting point if you’re new to arranging.

The examples below come from Bach’s Little Fugue in C major. The original (on the left) is composed for keyboard, but the different voices are clear within the music so it transfers very easily to four recorder parts (on the right).

Listen to music for inspiration

As you listen to music ask yourself if you can imagine it being played on recorders. This is where my arrangements often start - sometimes I’ll hear a piece which immediately strikes me as being ‘recorder-like’ in some way. For instance, the Palestrina Sicut cervus I shared as a consort last year was something I discovered via YouTube. Its beauty and simple lines immediately struck me as being recorder-friendly so I went in search of the music.

Where to search for music?

Actually tracking down sheet music has become immeasurably easier over the last twenty years. Once upon a time you had to buy a physical book of sheet music or hope to find it in your local library. Now a search online can be all that’s needed. My first port of call is always the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) which is a vast repository for music that’s out of copyright. If you’re looking for something by a composer who died more than 70 years ago there’s a good chance you’ll find it here.

Other useful sources are the ChoralWiki (previously known as the Choral Public Domain Library or CPDL), 8Notes and the Mutopia Project. All of these sites offer free access to public domain music, but many have a paid tier to remove adverts or allow you unlimited downloads.

Getting started

Whether you’re arranging or composing for the recorder here are some basic pieces of practical advice which will help you get started.

Notation

Recorder notation can be confusing at first and sometimes trips up the unwary. You’ll often hear people talk about recorders in F and recorders in C. This suggests they’re transposing instruments, like the clarinet (which comes in B flat, A and E flat varieties). In reality all the letter describes is the pitch of the recorder’s lowest note. Therefore a recorder in F (treble, bass or sopranino) plays an F if all the finger holes are covered. Unlike real transposing instruments, any note on a recorder is written at its sounding pitch.

This brings us onto clefs….

Recorder clefs

All recorders either play from the treble or bass clef - which clef largely depends on the pitch of the instrument. Generally, any recorder down to the tenor plays from treble clef, while bass and lower use the bass clef. Having said that, some bass and great bass players prefer to play from treble clef so they don’t have to learn to read bass clef.

One small complication is the use of a little 8 above some clefs. This indicates that the instrument in question either sounds an octave (eight notes) higher or lower than the written pitch. This is a purely practical thing, so no one has to read too many leger lines. If descant recorder music was really notated at playing pitch, the lowest note would be in the third space of the stave and the high C would have five leger lines, making it very hard to read! As a result it can look as though treble music is higher in pitch than descant music because it tends to have more leger lines - something often confuses people.

Here’s a chart showing the clefs and sounding ranges of each type of recorder - you can see how using the octave clefs results in far fewer leger lines for some of the instruments:

Recorder ranges

While we’re thinking about notation, let’s also consider the range of notes you might use for each recorder. For most recorders, the easily useable range is two octaves and a note. Yes, higher notes are possible, but not very user friendly. It’s a good idea to think about the type of players you’re arranging the music for. Professionals should be able to play the entire compass, but if your intended audience is made up of middle of the road amateurs I would go for a more modest range. Fluent players will probably be comfortable with two octaves, but if you’re aiming your arrangement at those who are less confident I would restrict yourself to around an octave and six notes from each instrument’s lowest note.

Here’s another chart showing the written ranges for each instrument. Each instrument shows the range you could expect from advanced players, followed by an easier playing range for those who are less experienced.

Choose your instruments

Before you start arranging you need to decide which recorders you’re planning to write for. If you have a particular group in mind, do they have the full range of instruments? It’s no good writing a piece for the classic descant/treble/tenor/bass (SATB) quartet format, only to find that no one plays the bass! If you have access to more players, doubling up the inner parts (say, two treble and/or two tenor parts) can add richness to the sound because it allows you to write more layers into the music.

The following example comes from A Thousand Christmas Candles and you can see how the arranger has chosen to have two treble and tenor parts to increase the richness. He also uses octave doubling of the melody (shown by the circled bars) to create greater depth.

What sort of sound world are you aiming to create? An SATB quartet can be quite high pitched, while a low consort of tenor, bass, great bass and contrabass creates a much mellower effect. If you have enough players at your disposal, doubling lines at the octave can also be an effective way to enrich the sound. This works especially well in Renaissance music where the texture and harmony is often quite simple to start with.

In my arrangement of Bach’s By the Rivers of Babylon I chose to double the tenor melody line on great bass to enhance and enrich the sound.

Key signatures

Here I would encourage you to be kind! I’m sure you know from experience that playing in keys with many sharps or flats can be difficult on the recorder. This is largely because the accidentals often require forked or cross fingers (think of E flat on the treble, or B flat on the descant). These notes not only have a slightly different tone colour (sometimes weaker) but because such fingerings are more complex they can be difficult to play at speed and tuning can also be more of a challenge.

Many years ago a tutor on a course I attended arranged the Hebrides Overture by Felix Mendelssohn for a massed playing session in its original key of B minor. Two sharps isn’t so bad, but by the time we got to the point in the overture where the music shifts into F sharp minor only a small handful of us were actually able to play the fast moving semiquaver scales in three or four sharps!

Sometimes such difficulties can be overcome by transposing the music into another key entirely. For instance, I’ve recently arranged a part song by Sir Arthur Sullivan, originally composed in A flat - a key signature of four flats. I knew most recorder players would find this very difficult, so instead I shifted every note down a semitone into G major (just one sharp in the key signature) and every group I’ve tried it with has thanked me for my kindness because it’s much more playable!

Beware of troublesome notes

There are a handful of notes which can be particularly awkward, regardless of the playing ability of the musicians and it’s sensible to avoid these if you can.

For example, top F sharp on the treble can only be played in tune by using the top G fingering and then stopping the bottom of the recorder with your knee. (The same applies to top C sharp on the descant). This requires a degree of gymnastics more easily achieved while sitting down, but even then there’s a small risk of clouting one’s teeth with the recorder if you’re not careful! Professional players will be practiced at this technique but less advanced players often hesitate when faced with a top F sharp and the resulting sounds can be very variable. One way around this is to place the line requiring a top F sharp into a descant line, where it will be placed in a more comfortable part of the instrument’s range.

There’s other note which requires less dental jeopardy, but nonetheless is also probably best avoided - top C sharp for the bass recorder. This fingering works well on smaller instruments, but for some odd reason it’s reluctant to speak on many basses - in particular plastic models. If you really need this note to be played by a bass there is an alternative fingering (shown below) which produces a sweet tone, but it can be tricky to find if you haven’t practised using it. Alternatively, slurring to the C sharp from the previous note will sometimes overcome the problem.

A fingering for top C sharp which works on all bass recorders.

Think about the voicing of your musical lines

As I’m sure you’re aware, not every note in a recorder’s range is dynamically equal. The lowest notes are quiet and fragile, while the tones in the upper register are stronger. You can use this to your advantage when arranging. If you need a melody line to sing out from the middle of the ensemble you might be better to place it higher in the range of a tenor recorder rather than low on a treble. This way you can influence the way any one musical line will either pop out of the ensemble or recede into the background.

Dynamics and range

This topic relates to the previous one because you can also use the natural characteristics of the recorder to create dynamic contrasts.

If you want your piece to end with a quiet chord, place the notes low in the instruments’ range. In contrast, if you’re after a triumphant fanfare to finish you’ll be better placing the notes higher in the range for added strength. Equally, if you include dynamics in the music, don’t be surprised if a top C on a descant isn’t played pianissimo - it just isn’t the nature of such high notes!

It’s worth noting that the recorder is capable of playing genuine dynamics, but how successful they are will depend on the ability of your players. Varying the speed of breath creates some dynamic contrast, but the pitch will often slide up or down a little with high or low breath pressures. Advanced players will frequently employ alternative fingerings to combat this issue - for instance playing a slightly sharp fingering for a quiet note so they can blow more gently and remain in tune. For many players this may be beyond their technical comfort zone, so be realistic about your expectations.

Ensure everyone has some musical interest

There’s nothing worse than playing in a consort and realising the descant line is the only one to contain a melody. Yes, accompanying is an important and enjoyable part of ensemble playing, but the joy can wear off if all you have is oom-pah-pahs! When arranging music, do try to ensure everyone has at least a small slice of the action. It might be you’ve chosen a piece to arrange which has a cracking bass melody in the middle section, or perhaps you could decide to give the tenors the tune while the descants and trebles play a light accompaniment above them. Your players will thank you if you give everyone some interest rather than just an accompaniment of long notes.

Get creative with accompanying patterns

If you’re creating accompaniments from scratch rather than just transcribing another composer’s lines, don’t be afraid to play and explore different textures. There is a place for sustained long notes, but sometimes you can add rhythm to create more variety. For instance, an ostinato rhythm (one that repeats) can add a sense of excitement and drive. In this extract from my own Polish Folk Song Suite, I’ve used arpeggio patterns to create a more interesting texture around the melody.

Articulation and slurs

While the recorder may not have a huge dynamic range, it does excel in its variety of articulation. Using staccato, accents and slurs can add so much character to a performance so don’t forget to employ these in your arrangements.

Recorder players often have a love/hate relationship with slurs - largely because the more complex nature of our instrument’s fingering makes some of them challenging. Most players are happy to play short slurs of two or three notes, but if you choose to use long, melismatic slurs it can be hit and miss whether they’ll be played. If you really want them played as slurs (rather than just indicating the length of a phrase) it’s worth noting this in the score, although that still doesn’t guarantee the players won’t inadvertently cut them down into smaller slurs anyway!

While we’re on the topic of slurs, it’s worth noting that some are harder to play than others. For example a slur across the transition from low register (covered thumb hole) to upper register (pinched thumbhole) can be a little ‘clicky’ because of the number fingers that have to be moved. It’s always good practice to take the time to play through all the parts yourself to see if they work comfortably. Doing this gives you a chance to make any tweaks before releasing your carefully honed work into the wild.

Coping with long melody lines

If you venture into less obvious musical realms (for instance music for orchestral instruments) you’ll sometimes come across melodies which are too wide ranging to be played by a single recorder. This problem can be solved by sharing the melody across two instruments, with a note or two to link up between them. Below you’ll see two examples of places where I’ve done exactly this. The first is from my arrangement of Bach’s Esurientes, where the alto vocal line was a too long to be played comfortably by just the tenor recorder. Here I’ve shared it out between tenor and bass (the red lines show the path of the melody), so the breath demands are easier and the melody is always played in a strong part of the recorder.

My second example comes from an arrangement of Eric Coates’ London Bridge March. He writes a wonderful swooping melody which fits beautifully on the violin, but has too great a range for one recorder. Instead I’ve shared it between treble and tenor recorders and each voice switches back to accompanying figures when it doesn’t have the tune.

Exploring extended techniques

This may be a new term to you, but it describes the way composers sometimes use less traditional methods of playing a recorder. Our instrument is capable of so much more than just blown notes, such tapping the recorder with your fingers, blowing across the labium, using the just the head joint - the possibilities are endless! These effects are often used in contemporary music and can be a great way to create pictorial effects in your music. This example comes from Judith Bush’s Midwinter Miniatures. Holding one’s fingers across the labium creates a whistling tone which enhances the impression of a frozen winter wind whistling through the house and is so effective in performance.

Extended techniques is a subject large enough for an entire blog, but if this concept intrigues you I encourage you to watch Sarah Jeffery’s video about the topic.

Learn from other arrangers and composers

As you begin your journey as an arranger or composer, one of the best things you can do is to learn from others. Find every opportunity to play in consorts, using the score to see how the composer or arranger has constructed the music. Take note of where the melody lines occur within the ensemble and how the composer/arranger voices the other instruments so as not to obscure the tune. Look at the way he or she uses dynamics and articulation markings to bring light and shade to the music. Exploring music from the inside can be so inspiring.

Listening to music will teach you a lot too. Listening to recorder consorts can open your ears to the way different instruments have an impact on the sound of the music, while exploring repertoire played by other instruments may give you ideas for pieces to arrange.

Always be curious and don’t be afraid to explore unfamiliar types of music - you never know where inspiration will strike.

Talk to other composers and arrangers

The recorder world is a very friendly one and if you meet a composer or arranger at a workshop or playing day the chances are they’ll be only too happy to chat with you. One of the best ways to pick up advice is to ask questions of those who already have experience, so don’t be afraid to speak to people you already know or meet at recorder events.

Over to you…

Is there anything I’ve missed out? Do you still have questions? If so, do leave a comment below and I’ll endeavour to fill any gaps. Or perhaps you’ve already had a go and you have tips of your own. Please feel free to share you thoughts and ideas with us in the comments so we can all learn more about composing and arranging.

Maybe you’ve already made some arrangements or compositions and you want to share them with others? Over the years several of my Score Lines subscribers have contacted me with their own arrangement and compositions and some have appeared in my consorts library, becoming popular downloads. If you have a piece you’re proud of why not get in touch and perhaps we can bring your creations to a wider audience - don’t be shy!

Recorder playing as a team sport

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One of the greatest joys of playing any instrument is coming together with others to make music in an ensemble. Recorder players do this in many ways - teaming up with a duet partner, playing consorts in a small ensemble, becoming a member of a recorder orchestra, joining in the fun with your local branch of the Society of Recorder Players or revelling in the sound of massed recorders at a large-scale event. We’re lucky to have so many options open to us and I know many people who play in several ensembles of different types. 

One request I’ve received several times is for a blog about this topic, specifically aimed at those who play in or run recorder groups organised by individuals rather than large scale orchestras. Here in the UK, this often takes the form of a u3a group or a small ensemble which meets regularly in someone’s home. There are probably as many different types of ensemble as there are composers, so catering for every scenario is all but impossible. However, I have lots of practical advice to share, and I hope you’ll read through and make use of whichever points are helpful for your situation. 

While researching this topic I sought out the thoughts of several recorder playing friends who run amateur groups in their own homes and local village halls. I see a huge array of ensembles as I travel around the country, but a single person can’t foresee every possible challenge. As I anticipated, my friends had lots of advice to offer in the light of their own experiences. Much of it I already had on my ‘must include’ list, but their thoughtful emails contained points I hadn’t considered too. This just goes to show that five heads are better than one, so I’d like to say a huge thank you to the folks I contacted - you know who you are!

Starting an ensemble

If you’re still at the planning stage, there are some things to consider before you even hold your first rehearsal. I don’t think there’s any need to cover each of these points at length - it’s more a checklist of things to consider.

  • Who are you intending to play with? Do you need to recruit players or perhaps you already have group of recorder buddies who are itching to get started? Word of mouth can be great way to find people, but your local music shop may know of other like-minded players too. If you’re a member of an SRP branch (or the equivalent in your country) don’t be afraid to ask if others would like to join you for some additional playing.

  • Where will you play? For a small group, someone’s living room may be sufficient, but if you’re planning a larger ensemble you may need to consider booking a room in a local hall or community centre. You’ll need good lighting, adequate ventilation (and heating for the winter months) and suitable seating for playing. If you’re hiring somewhere, do remember to check the chairs don’t have arms as these get in the way when playing the recorder!

  • How often do you intend to meet? You may prefer weekly, monthly or on a more spontaneous basis. Do discuss this with your members and agree whether everyone is expected to attend every session. You may prefer an informal arrangement where folk come along as and when they can. But this could be restrictive, especially if you wish to work on the same music for a period of time.

  • What are your aspirations for the group? Are you after fun or education? Maybe your aim is to simply explore unfamiliar music, or perhaps you want to really work at pieces to improve your musical and technical skills? It might be you even want to work towards a performance. I’ll talk about this possibility again later. The most important thing is to talk to the other musicians and make sure you have the same aspirations.

  • Do you have a good range of instruments? If you want to play a variety of music it’s helpful to have a mix of different sizes of recorder at your disposal. One of the pleasures of ensemble playing is being able to use different sizes of recorder, so it can be frustrating if one person gets stuck on the bass all the time. If your ensemble has lots of members who only play descant or treble this might present a good opportunity to convert some or all of them larger sizes of recorder. There are tutor books aimed at those who want to learn a new fingering but I’ve also written a blog about this topic which may be a useful starting point.

Sourcing music

One very important factor when running a recorder group of any kind is choosing the music you’ll play. Historically, printed sheet music was required - often bought from your local music shop. These days most small music shops are unlikely to stock a vast array of recorder consort music, but fortunately there are lots of other sources for music. Let’s look at the various options…

Printed music providers

The most comprehensive source of printed recorder music here in the UK is Recorder MusicMail. They stock a huge array of repertoire for any number of recorders, and if they don’t have what you’re after they can usually get hold of it. They stock publications from the big mainstream publishers (Schott, Universal Edition, Moeck, Faber etc) as well as pieces from the myriad of smaller publishing houses such as Hawthorns, May Hill Music and Willobie Press.

Recorder MusicMail offers an excellent mail order service, but this doesn’t allow you to browse the music and see what it actually looks like. For this it’s worth attending one of the large-scale recorder events (such as the SRP National Festival and some of the larger recorder courses) which take place annually where they often have a presence. Taking an hour to leaf through the boxes of music allows you to see the score and judge how hard the parts are. 

I’ve focused on the supplier I use most often here in the UK, but I’m sure there are similar shops in many other countries. Please do share your recommendations in the comments below.

Free online editions

There are many websites offering free or low-cost digital editions of music – especially repertoire which is now out of copyright. These are some of the ones I use most. Do leave a comment below to share other sites you use to source music. Click on the titles in red to visit these music providers.

  • International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) - a huge outlet for music which is out of copyright for every possible instrument. You can search by composer, instrument, ensemble, title, musical period and more. There are masses of original and arranged pieces for recorders, and a huge array of other music (instrumental and choral) which is ripe for arrangement. You have to be prepared to dig around to find things if you don’t know the exact title you’re searching for, but I’ve discovered a multitude of gems here. If you have a particular number of parts you’re looking for (quartets for instance) a good starting point is to type 4 recorders into the search box. This will bring up a choice of original pieces or arrangements and you can browse from there. The website is free to use, albeit with a delay of a few seconds in loading some of the pieces for free users. For a small annual subscription (currently $32 a year or $3.49 per month) this delay is removed and you’ll have the warm feeling that you’re helping keep this amazing site going.

  • Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) - a vast repository of vocal music, much of which will work very well on recorders as the human voice has a similar range to the recorder. There is a degree of overlap with IMSLP, but it’s worth exploring both sites. 

  • Gardane.info - another large online library of music for recorders (some original and some arranged) run by Andrea Bornstein. To access this you need to register for a free account and you’re welcome to make a financial contribution to Andrea to help support the site if you wish.

  • My own website - (apologies for the shameless plug!) I’m sure the vast majority of people reading this will already have rooted through my consort downloads page, but if you’re new here and haven’t yet discovered it, do take a look. I share a new piece every two weeks (many of them my own arrangements, made specially for you). All are available to use free of charge, but I’m grateful to anyone who makes contribution towards my professional time and helps me keep the site running.

Arranging your own music.

If you’re up for creating your own arrangements there are endless pieces on the sites I’ve listed above which could be purloined for recorders. Many choral and viol consort pieces work with just a simple transcription - transferring each voice straight to the appropriate clef for recorders. More complex arrangements are possible too, but this may require a greater knowledge of music writing than you’re comfortable with.

If you want to make your own arrangements there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use a pen/pencil and manuscript paper - there are even lots of websites where you can download manuscript paper to print at home. If you prefer properly typeset music you can spend a lot of money on software such as the full versions of Sibelius and Dorico, but there are free options available too, such as Musescore, Sibelius First and Dorico SE. There’s a bit of a learning curve when you first begin typesetting music, but it’s a skill worth acquiring if you find yourself making lots of arrangements.

Selecting the right music for your group

Armed with knowledge about where you can source music, the next step is to find the right sort of music for your group - one size doesn’t fit all. If you have a well-matched ensemble, where everyone is pretty much at the same standard, this may be fairly straightforward. You might even be able to club together and ask the members to bring along their own music to share.

If you have a mix of abilities it can be trickier to keep everyone happy though…

When I find myself working with a mixed level group I aim for a standard that allows everyone to at least have a go at the music. I try to ensure less confident players have someone who’s more advanced alongside them to offer a helping hand and reassure them that perfection isn’t an absolute requirement.

With a larger group you may be able to work on repertoire which is slightly harder because the weaker players will be buoyed up by the stronger players around them. There’s a lot of satisfaction to be had from playing with musicians who are slightly more advanced than you as it helps you lift your own game. On the other hand, don’t be over-ambitious. Sometimes it pays to select something simple which you can play really well. This allows everyone more brain space to think about technique, good tone and tuning - not just survival!

 How many parts?

Some of your members will no doubt be confident holding a line on their own, while others may need support. Try to be sensitive to this and offer help where it’s needed. If all your members are confident readers you may be able to have the same number of parts as players, but it’s always wise to have some smaller scale pieces handy in case a piece doesn’t work. Whenever I work with an unfamiliar ensemble I take along far more music than I expect to use. That way I always have some back up music in case the group romps through things quicker than expected, or need something a little less challenging.

What style of music?

Many recorder players feel most at home with repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque periods – after all, it’s the music we play most often. Don’t overlook pieces from the last 100 years or arrangements of repertoire from the Classical and Romantic periods though. It’s always good to expand your musical horizons. Exploring different styles will stretch you musically and technically and will no doubt help you play everything better.

Why not theme your sessions?

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy a variety of different music at your playing sessions – just as with food, a varied musical diet is no bad thing! However, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t theme your rehearsals too. You could do this by period (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, jazz), musical form (dances, madrigals, fantasias) or by composer. This can help bring a focus to your sessions, allowing you to see the commonalities and differences between related pieces of music.



Ten more practical tips…

Get to know the music from the inside.

If you’re responsible for directing the group it pays to at least be able to play through the parts, so you know from personal experience where the danger spots occur. No one expects you to spend hours learning every part perfectly, but some practical experience will help you understand where the musicians are most likely to encounter difficulties.

Prepare the score

Click on the image to see it enlarged

Half the challenge of leading an ensemble is knowing what should be happening in the music beforehand. Before I lead a group (be it conducting or just as a coach) I will look through the score and get to know it. I’ll take a pencil and mark in places where parts come in so I can give a gesture if it’s needed. I’ll look for melodic themes which pop up in different parts and mark them so I can easily see the structure of the music. Very often I’ll do this initial preparation in silence – simply seeing what jumps off the page at me. Then I’ll take the next step…

Listen to recordings of the music

Years of experience and practice mean I can often get a sense of what a score will sound like in my head. However, there’s no shame in listening to recordings of the music if you can find them. I use two music streaming services (Apple Music Classical and Idagio) to listen to recordings. With arrangements of music composed for other instruments or voice I’ll often listen to the original version if I can’t find one played on recorders.

If you don’t already pay for a streaming service a huge number of recordings can be found on YouTube free of charge (as long as you don’t mind putting up with some adverts). Listening to different performances can help you decide on your preferred speed and guide you about the right musical style. This is especially helpful for early music, where the composer provides just the notes and rhythms. Listening carefully to good performances can help you judge where the articulation needs to be more legato or staccato, and will encourage you to listen more critically to your own playing too.

With a conductor or without?

Whether you or someone else conducts the ensemble may depend on the size of the group and how experienced the players are.

Don’t be afraid to have a go at conducting – it can be so rewarding and you’ll learn a lot, even if you never do it in front of an audience. I’ve written a blog about conducting which contains lots of information to get you started. Most players aren’t expecting you to be the recorder equivalent of Simon Rattle – a simple, clear beat and the occasional lead at difficult entries is enough to be helpful. Spend some time learning and practising the basic beat patterns in front of a mirror to start with. Doing this against a metronome beat will help you maintain a consistent pulse and you can always try conducting along to recordings for some variety.

Would you like to see a blog post about taking your first steps in conducting? If you would, do leave a comment below and I’ll add it to my list of topics!

Warming up

It pays to spend some time warming up before you launch into any challenging music. This could be as simple of playing through a hymn or simple folk song. The important thing is to pick something that’s well within everyone’s technical comfort zone so they can play the notes without worrying about difficult rhythms or complex key signatures. I have some lovely (and modestly priced!) hymn tunes and Bach chorales in my online shop which I often use with ensembles, but there are plenty of other such offerings available elsewhere online.

Allow the group to just play for a while before you leap in and offer any criticism. If the players have had a long journey they’ll need some time to wind down from their travel and they may be feeling nervous at first.

Stopping and starting

If someone is conducting, giving a bar in will probably be enough to get everyone started, but there’s no harm in warning the players of the likely speed first.

But if you play without a conductor you need to consider other ways to get going. You could verbally count a bar in but how often do you see this happening in concert? Being able to lead a group with your breath and body language is a really important skill and one that all players should at least try.

Before you do anything, look through the first few bars of the music and feel your chosen tempo. When you’re ready to lead off, move the end of your recorder at that speed – imagine you’re conducting with it instead of a baton or your hand. As you give the upbeat, breathe in at the speed of the pulse and the other players will hear and feel the beat with you. Don’t be afraid to move clearly – body language can be a very powerful tool, so throw off your inhibitions and talk eloquently with your movement! Eye contact is helpful too, so don’t bury yourself in the music and do encourage others to look up at you. Try to encourage everyone to have a go at this. Leading an ensemble in via your body language will bring you greater musical understand and confidence as you get it right.

In this video of the Woodpeckers playing a Vivaldi Concerto you’ll see how they use breath and movement to start and end the music cleanly. They also have lots of eye contact and body language throughout the performance, although you might find the choreography is a step further than you’re able to master in your ensembles!

When you come to the end of a piece, body language and eye contact are just as important. Nominate someone to bring the group off, using a small movement with the end of their recorder as they stop their final note. Share the task between you and then everyone learns this useful skill. Talking of body language - don’t be afraid to move a little as you play. I’m not suggesting everyone should nod incessantly like donkeys, but subtle visual cues can help you maintain better ensemble. Of course, if moving causes you to make more mistakes, playing the notes needs to take precedence!

Playing in tune

Unless you’re accompanied by a keyboard instrument, playing precisely at A440 concert pitch isn’t crucial, but you do need to listen to each other and play in tune with each other. I often hear musicians whose tuning doesn’t match, but they have difficulty knowing who is flat and who is sharp. To agree on a unison note, the best way to do this is by playing musical ping pong. Ask each musician to play a short note in turn, bouncing the note back and forth between them. You’ll find it much easier to hear which note is sharper or flatter than the others and often a small adjustment to the speed of breath will fix this. Do remind your players that tuning should always be done with the same breath pressure they’ll be using in the music. It’s no good going through this exercise, only to find that everyone tunes up with a gentle piano dynamic, and then plays the music at mezzo forte as the intonation will be completely different!

It’s also important to remember that recorders are manufactured and tuned with a particular breath pressure in mind. Uncertainty about tuning often leads to tentative playing, an undernourished tone and flat intonation. Under-blowing cause some notes to be flatter than others and distinctly sour chords are likely to be the end result. Instead, aim to play with a positive, confident breath pressure at all times and a lot of your tuning woes will ease immediately.

Setting and maintaining the tempo

Anyone who’s been to a playing session conducted by me will know that I usually make the players sight read the music at full speed, no matter how scrappy it may be initially. This might be counterintuitive, especially if this means lots of notes get dropped on the floor at first. It may seem more sensible to start slowly and build up the tempo, but I know from painful experience that this rarely works. The first tempo you play tends to be the one that sticks in your memory. No matter how hard you work to wind the tempo up, the players will often drift back down to the slower speed. It’s better to have a stab at full speed, even if it’s very rough round the edges at first. Having lodged the correct tempo in your players’ brains, you can then go back and work on sections more slowly before working back up to full speed.

If your music requires a rallentando or accelerando somewhere someone will need to lead this change. If you have conductor it’s part of their job, but if you play without one you need to decide who will use body language and recorder movement to indicate the increase or decrease in speed. Obviously, the rest of the group need to be watching them or it’s a waste of energy and effort!

Find a balance between criticism and encouragement.

My final tip is to enjoy yourselves and don’t overlook the fact that you’re there to have fun!

It’s important to remember amateur musicians are (by definition) playing for the love of it – as you may well be too. Yes, criticism is important if we want to improve our skills, but don’t forget that encouragement is just as crucial. The satisfaction gained from creating a good sense of ensemble and successfully playing music together can be immense, but sometimes it’s just as enjoyable to romp through some new music, warts and all. Aim to include constructive criticism, fun and positive encouragement into every session and everyone will be happy!

Going public – performing to an audience

Many smaller amateur recorder groups would run screaming from the thought of performing in public. They’re there to play for enjoyment and simply don’t want the pressure of preparing for a public performance. But don’t discount the idea out of hand, as performing can be an immensely rewarding experience. I conduct several concerts each year with my recorder orchestras, and I love seeing the buzz they get when it goes well and the audience applaud enthusiastically. Yes, mistakes happen (as they do in professional performances too!) but audiences rarely dwell on these (if they even notice them in the first place) and they’re always willing the performers on to play well.

Now I’m not suggesting you hire a concert hall and put on a full evening’s recital, although some amateur groups do exactly that. But performances come in many shapes and forms. Simply preparing for a performance focuses the mind more clearly and makes you think about how your music making sounds to others. Perhaps the village fete, coffee morning or bring and buy sale would like some informal background music? Or maybe you could play a piece in the local music festival, where you’ll receive a gentle critique and encouragement from the judge? Or perhaps there’s a local showcase you could join in where you’re one of a number of groups performing a short piece of music. You could even have an informal get together at the end of the term/year where you invite partners, spouses and friends along to listen to the music you’ve been working at. Offer some coffee and cake too and you’re bound to have a sympathetic and appreciative audience!

Are there other questions you have about running an ensemble? Or maybe you have your own tips? Either way, do leave a comment below – we can all share our ideas to make our music making even more enjoyable.

A Bounty of Byrd

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I don’t know about you, but the idea of commemorating the year a composer died has always seemed an odd one to me - surely the year of their birth would be a greater reason for celebration? That said, I guess noting both dates gives us two excuses to mark the existence of the greatest composers so maybe I shouldn’t quibble!

William Byrd

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of two noteworthy Renaissance composers - William Byrd and Thomas Weelkes. The two composers may have died in the same year, but they hailed from different generations and lived very disparate lives. Byrd (born around 1540) remained a devout Catholic throughout his life (despite working for a Protestant monarch who banned catholicism) and lived for more than eighty years. Weelkes, on the other hand was a notorious drinker, named as the most disorderly member of staff at Chichester Cathedral. This came to a head in 1617 when he was dismissed as organist and choirmaster for ‘drunkenness and outrageous blaspheming’. No doubt his baudy lifestyle took its toll and he died in November 1623 at the tender age of 47. I recently shared a beautiful choral work by Weelkes which was performed at the Coronation of King Charles III and his music is absolutely worthy of further exploration.

Of course today William Byrd is undoubtedly the more highly admired composer and it’s his music we’ll explore in this edition of the Score Lines blog. Byrd composed a vast array of both sacred and secular music for voices, but it’s his music for viol consort which is perhaps most often borrowed by recorder players. Compared to his choral output, the viol consorts are few in number, but exquisite in quality. When you begin studying the Fantasias you quickly realise there’s barely a superfluous note among them and he’s a master at developing simple themes into glorious polyphonic writing.

I’ve selected my favourite pieces from Byrd’s consort output to share with you and have found some beautiful recordings for you to explore - some played on recorders, others performed as Byrd intended on viols.

Fantasia I à 4

The first of Byrd’s four part Fantasias is an exquisite example of how to weave something magical from simple ingredients. Starting with a rising scale he explores its possibilities, combining the voices together in different ways before inverting the idea and falling again. Don’t be misled by this apparent simplicity though - after lulling the players into a sense of calm he introduces some wonderfully funky syncopated rhythms which will give any musician pause for thought! The Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet create a wonderfully sonorous effect with their low consort of recorders, making the whole thing sound effortless.

If you’d like to try playing this for yourself I shared it as one of my Consort Videos back in January 2021 and you can find both the music and video here.

Fantasia II à 6

This was the piece which really won me over to Byrd’s music - until we played it with the Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia I’d always found his music rather dry. Playing it with an orchestra of larger recorders (treble down to contrabass) the sound was enticing and I quickly realised this was far from being starchy consort music. In reality this Fantasia is packed with dance rhythms and even squeezes a snippet of Greensleeves in for good measure.

The bFIVE Recorder Consort capture the many characters of Byrd in their performance and you really get an understanding of the complex nature of his rhythms.

https://youtu.be/63KfutdJA3c INSERT VIDEO BLOCK

Fantasia III a 6

Compared to the previous piece, Byrd’s third six voice Fantasia is initially darker and more mellifluous. This time he begins with a simple falling arpeggio pattern and in the passage that follows you’ll hear a smattering of false relations. These are places where minor scales rise and fall simultaneously, creating direct clashes between sharp and natural versions of the same note. It’s a particular feature of English music from this period (you’ll find them in the music of Tallis and later in Purcell too) and adds a piquancy to the harmonies. Eventually the sonorous sound world gives way to a series of rustic dances and this wonderful recording by the Phantasm viol consort brings a real sense of joy and energy to them.

Phantasm - viols https://youtu.be/o-dbgl8ZZ8U

Fantasia II à 3

Byrd’s three part Fantasias may not share the lush texture of their larger scale counterparts, but they’re just as skilfully crafted. In the space of just two minutes Byrd whittles out no fewer than five musical ideas, playing endlessly with the rhythms. At a one point Byrd has one voice playing triple time rhythms while the others remain doggedly in duple time, yet it still feels like a coherent whole. In the extract below you can see the triple rhythms marked with red brackets, while the blue brackets show the duple rhythms which run in parallel.

Piffaro

https://youtu.be/Dw4flKaVmgk

The three part Fantasias are a great place to start if you’re new to Byrd’s consort music, with a more minimalist style and fewer rhythmic complexities. Subscribers to my Score Lines newsletter will find all three in your Members Area. If you’re not a subscriber and would like access to these and lots of other exclusive resources you can join, free of charge, here.

Pavan and Galliard à 6

Byrd composed many Pavans and Galliards for keyboard, but there’s one lone pairing for viol sextet. In typical Byrd fashion, this is anything but a straightforward example of these dance forms. He shoehorns triple rhythms against the duple meter of the Pavan, while the Galliard is an endless conversation between the two highest voices.

Fretwork

https://youtu.be/3C4D7HqXCFk


Browning - The Leaves be Green

Perhaps the ultimate example of Byrd’s consort writing is his set of variations on Browning, a song popular during his lifetime. I’ve written a whole blog post about the different ways composers have used this theme in their writing, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share it again. The music may be based on an eight bar melody, but Byrd creatively weaves his magic, leading the musicians in ever decreasing circles and increasingly complex cross rhythms.

If you fancy playing Browning in the comfort of your own home you’ll find the music and a Consort Video of it here. You’re welcome to use it with friends, but if you prefer you can always dip your toes into these syncopated waters with my video, safe in the knowledge I won’t hear any mistakes you may make!

To complete my exploration of Byrd’s consort music we have a fabulous live performance by The Royal Wind Music, played on a double consort of four and eight foot pitch recorders.

https://youtu.be/oMzyMu20uRY

Have I whetted your appetite to explore more of Byrd’s consort music? Or maybe you’re already a fan? I’d love to know which of his works are on your desert island list - perhaps your favourite is one I haven’t shared here? Do leave a comment below to share your favourite music and recordings.

A host of Holborne

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Anthony Holborne (c.1545-1602) is a shadowy figure as far as music history is concerned, yet he’s almost certainly a composer whose music you’ve encountered from time to time. This is largely down to a collection of music we’re going to explore together today.

Our knowledge of Holborne’s life is a patchwork of ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybes’. The University of Cambridge alumni database shows an Anthony Holborne enrolled at Christ’s College in 1562 and speculates that it may well be our composer. Three years later, a man of the same name was admitted to the Inner Temple Court, but again the details are sketchy. However, we do know he had a (probably younger) brother, William, as Anthony included several of his sibling’s madrigals in his first publication - the Cittharn Schoole in 1597. We also know that on 14th June 1584 Anthony married Elisabeth Marten at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster - now the parish church of the House of Commons. A posthumous publication describes him as a ‘Gentleman usher’ to Queen Elizabeth I, but once again, it’s not clear quite what the job entailed - he certainly doesn’t appear in any records relating to musical life at the Chapel Royal.

During his latter years he worked in the service of Sir Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and also enjoyed the patronage of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke. We’ll encounter her again later, as we explore Holborne’s music. He was evidently well respected by his peers and the first song from John Dowland’s Second Booke, I saw my lady weepe, is dedicated to Holborne.

Pavans, Galliards, Almains and other short Aeirs, both grave and light, in five parts, for Viols, Violins, or other Musicall Winde Instruments

This is the collection for which Anthony Holborne is best known today. Published in 1599, it contains no fewer than 65 dances and is the the largest published collection of English music to survive from this period.

It’s not clear when Holborne composed these dances, but it’s likely to have happened over a period of several years. Some of the music appears in his Cittharn Schoole, published two years earlier, and several dances also exist in lute tablature. Which version came first is something we can only guess at.

The collection is dedicated to Sir Richard Champernowne (c.1558-1622), who was Member of Parliament for West Looe in Cornwall. Judging by the dedication found in the part books, Holborne was evidently appreciative of his patronage, opening with the following words:

“In a continued observation of your virtuous constancy in the love of Music, I have long and with great increase of reason honoured you most gentle Sir: for, even but part of my poor labours speaking in their kindly voice, from the experience of many years can feelingly witness and sing with what graceful favours they have been nourished at your hands. With this regard, I have distinctively bundled them up into a catalogue volume, accompanied with a more liberal and enlarged choice than hath at any time as yet come to your refined ears: and withal, have now made bold to present them as things not altogether unnecessary to do you pleasing service, but also to live and dwell with you under the protection of your good allowance, and the testimony of my ever-bounden thankfulness.”

Three different types of dance

Holborne’s 1599 collection contains three different types of dance - pavans, galliards and almains. Rather than simply naming the movements by dance type, he gives over half of them more creative names, although it’s clear enough which is which from their time signature. The pavans and galliards tend to appear in pairs, while the almains are grouped together towards the end of the volume, along with some other independent pieces in three-time which may be corantos.

Some of the dances are fairly straightforward examples, suitable for dancing, while others enjoy much more complex rhythms. The galliards can be particularly unpredictable, with never-ending shifts between duple and triple time, sometimes without even any consistency between individual parts. Ask anyone who’s wrestled with the complexities of The Fairie-round and they’ll almost certainly have come adrift at one time or another when rehearsing or performing this music!

Which instruments to choose?

Title page of this collection describes them for ‘viols, violins or other musical wind instruments’, which offers up a huge range of possibilities. Publishers of this period often suggested multiple instruments on title pages as an easy way to make the music appeal to a greater range of buyers. You may wish to play these dances with a recorder consort, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t also join together with friends who play the viol to create a ‘broken’ consort, mixing different instrument families.

While researching this subject I’ve discovered a myriad of recordings. There are performances which stick to one type of instrument, as well as those who mix wind and strings. Some combine bowed string instruments (viols and/or violins) with plucked instruments such as the lute or theorbo. But I’ve also encountered performances on recorders, sackbuts and cornetts, modern brass quintet and even tuba ensemble! If you really want to explore the rhythmic possibilities of this music there’s no reason why you couldn’t add a little percussion too, as you’ll hear in one of two of the recordings below. One thing’s for sure - you can play Holborne’s dances with a recorder consort with a clear conscience!

When it comes to selecting your recorders, the usual instrumentation for these dances is SATTB. However, if you’re short of tenor players, the Quintus line (the middle line of the score) will often fit the treble recorder too, albeit lying rather low in its range. The majority of the Bassus part fits perfectly on a bass recorder, and when the odd note disappears off the bottom of the instrument you can easily hop up to the octave above.

Holborne’s score writing

Partbooks published during Holborne’s life throw up one or two curiosities which are worth noting. The most significant is the way the Altus and Quintus parts of the first eight dances are inverted. As the higher voice, the Altus is the second line for the remainder of the collection, while Quintus occupies line three. All three modern editions I’ve mentioned below rectify this error so the Altus part book is always the second highest and the Quintus the line below. Quite why this quirk exists is unknown. Was it an intentional decision by Holborne, or an error by the typesetter? I doubt we’ll ever know!

Another oddity which always tickles me is Holborne’s selective use of a key signature in No.7 - a Pavan. Curiously, the B flat is only applied to the Quintus and Bassus lines in the 1599 partbooks. Looking through the Pavan, B flats only appear in these parts, so maybe this was the typesetter’s way of conserving time and ink? Once again, we have to fill in the blanks for ourselves in this story as there’s no recorded reason for this particular quirk!

Choosing an edition to play from

There are plenty of editions to be found of individual dances but I’m going to concentrate here on complete editions. There are two complete printed editions I think are worth seeking out, one more recent than the other.

Bernard Thomas’s London Pro Musica edition, LPM AH1

For a long while this was the go-to edition for Holborne, published by Bernard Thomas in 1980. I invested in this hefty box set when I was at music college and we often used it in consort rehearsals. Bernard added time signatures and bar lines, but interestingly chose to keep many of the Galliards in 6/2 rather than writing them in a more familiar 3/2 time signature. This makes hemiolas easier to spot as one voice often has three semibreves together, avoiding the need for tied notes across barlines - as you can see in the example below. It’s a clear edition with lots of detailed background notes.

Using a 6/2 time signature (in No.38 - Galliard) helps make it clearer where the hemiolas occur, as you can see from the three semibreves in the cantus and bassus parts.

Peacock Press Edition, edited by George Simmons and Virginia VanPoole, 2011. Peacock Press PEMS014

A more recent addition to the available modern editions is this one from Peacock Press. You can buy it as a box set, but if you need extra parts in different clefs they’re available individually too. Like the previous edition, this is beautifully clear and well laid out and this is the version I use most often.

These two printed editions aren’t cheap, but there’s a pleasure to be had playing from a well thought out and clear bound copy. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure my set of the Bernard Thomas edition cost me about £30 when I bought it thirty years ago, so the current £40 price tag of either edition makes them look like inflation beaters in today’s financial climate!

Free editions:

If you’re still getting to know Holborne’s music and haven’t decided whether to splash out on a printed edition yet there are also some free download editions you can try.

New unbarred edition: I recently discovered this newish edition, edited by Ben Maloney as part of his degree at the University of York in 2019. Ben went back to the set of partbooks held at Christ Church, Oxford, which have some interesting annotations from the original publisher, to start from scratch. He’s chosen to retain Holborne’s mensuration signs (the predecessor to modern time signatures) and has left the music unbarred. This results in clearer rhythmic patterns, removing the need for ties across barlines. If you’re someone who really finds barlines helpful, Ben has added small dashes to show the start of each ‘bar’ - a handy halfway house to going fully unbarred. You’ll find the score for Ben’s edition here and the parts here.

IMSLP: If you’ve never tried any of Holborne’s music a good place to begin is IMSLP, where both Ulrich Alpers and Daniel Van Gilst have generously made all the dances available in score format. These are a good way to explore and see which ones you like - you can find them here.

Holborne’s 1599 Edition: If you want to go right back to source material, scans of the 1599 partbooks are even available. Reading from original notation isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy the challenge, or perhaps you’re just curious, I’ve collected the five part books together in one PDF file here.

My Holborne highlights

To complete my look at Holborne’s dances I’ve spent lots of time listening to the many recordings on YouTube. I’ve picked out a selection of my favourite Holborne dances for you to explore, along with a wide variety of different recordings. These include performances on recorders, but you’ll discover some less predictable instrumentation along the way too.

The Marie-golde - No.8

I’m going to begin my selection with one of Holborne’s simplest galliards, The Marie-Golde. He takes a very chordal approach with this one, avoiding too many complex syncopations, and you can imagine this being danced to. Among the more traditional performances I found this very sonorous recording by the Chromos Tuba Quartet - a combination of instruments even Holborne wouldn’t have expected when he gave such a generously broad range of options on the front cover!

Infernum - No.21

This beautiful Pavan is a fascinating mix of styles. The first two sections feature plenty of counterpoint between the parts, while the final section returns to a more chordal approach, with all five voices moving in parallel. I’ve chosen two contrasting performances, the first of which features Hesperion XXI directed by Jordi Savall. In keeping with the rather dour title, he goes for sombre viols and lute, with the addition of bass drum at key moments.

In contrast, Capella de la Torre go for a largely wind based consort featuring shawms and sackbuts, with lute and drums. The result is fabulously sonorous and I can’t wait to explore more from this ensmeble.

My Selfe - No.36

Here we have another Galliard and, one presumes, a self portrait of the composer. This is another number where you feel you could actually dance along. The tone of The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble is gentler than modern brass, but you’d still be able to hear them clearly over the sound of dancing shoes on a wooden floor.

The Image of Melancholy - No.27

If ever you need something mellow and harmonious to relax to after a busy day I can’t recommend this Pavan enough. The music begins with a steady, contemplative feel, gradually becoming more conversational as the piece draws on.

With this performance by Consort Brouillamini you get four Holborne dances for the price of one, recorded at a concert in 2019. Played on wide bore Renaissance recorders, their tone is glorious and it’s great to see this wonderful music being played before an audience.

I also discovered another performance on recorders, this time by The Royal Wind Music, directed by Paul Leenhouts. This uses a broader palette of tones, with each line doubled at the octave.

The Night Watch - No.55

Now we come to an almain, a somewhat livelier dance than the preceding pavan. This is one of Holborne’s best known dances and is sure to get your feet tapping. The Academy of Ancient Music take a relatively leisurely approach, so perhaps the watchman in question was reaching the end of his night on duty…

Wanton - No.61

Holborne doesn’t specify the type of dance here, but it’s generally assumed the triple time movements towards the end of the collection are Corantos. I love the perpetually shifting rhythmic patterns and it can be tricky to grasp where the beat is moving to next.

Bjarte Eike’s recording with the Barokksolistene takes a relaxed approach which I really enjoy.

In contrast Les Sacquboutiers chose a livelier tempo, playing cornetts and sackbuts, with some delicate percussion to emphasise the perpetually shifting meter.

The Funerals - No.31

This beautiful Pavan was inspired by a heartbreaking story, which just makes it even more moving. Holborne’s patron, the Countess of Pembroke, tragically lost her father, mother and brother in the same year, 1586, and he wrote this as a lament for their loss. The opening is section is gorgeously sonorous, with a very static bass line. Gradually the music encompasses more movement and in the final section the Bassus line takes centre stage. Les Voix Baroques and Matthew White create a heart rending sense of melancholy with a broken consort. They use a combination of instruments I would never have considered but it’s so effective and beautifully played.

Muy Linda - No.34) Galliard

Whoever Linda was, she evidently had a sense of humour if Holborne’s music is anything to go by! The music bops along, switching endlessly between simple and compound time and Holborne really has some fun in the final section. Here the Cantus, Quintus, Tenor and Bassus lines play quite happily together in 3/2, while the Altus part stubbornly sticks with a 6/4 meter. I’ve had some fun working on this with several groups recently and there’s always a degree of mirth as we wrestle with Holborne’s cross-rhythms!

The first of my chosen recordings features Les Sacqboutiers once again, with their wonderfully delicate sackbut and cornett combination, accompanied by a sparkling tambourine.

In contrast L'Achéron go for a string based approach, combining viols, cittern, bandora and ottavino, creating masses of energy but occupying a totally different tonal world.

The Fruit of Love - No.58

The Fruit of Love is another Almain, and a good place to begin if you’re new to Holborne. I featured the B-Five Recorder Consort in one of my Sounding Pipes playlists a while ago and was delighted to find more of their mellow recorder tones here.

We’ve met L'Achéron already, but here we have another video, featuring The Fruit of Love, in the trailer for their album of Holborne, as well as an introduction by their director, François Joubert-Caillet, explaining more about their approach to this music. You also get a second helping of Muy Linda at the end!

The Fairie-Round - No.63

I couldn’t complete my list of Holborne hits without including The Fairie-Round - a truly interstellar piece! As well as being littered with brain jingling cross-rhythms, this is one of the pieces NASA chose to include on the golden records they sent into space on the Voyager 1 and 2 probes in 1977. These discs were designed as a representation of human culture and achievement, should the probes ever be intercepted by extra-terrestrial life. They’re currently heading out of our panetary system, beyond Pluto, but given the vastness of space it may be some time before any aliens get to hear David Munrow’s take on this particular dance!

If that performance wasn’t energetic enough for you, do take a listen to this interpretation by Consort Brouillamini from their album The Woods so Wild. It’s played at a lower pitch than the Early Music Consort of London, but that doesn’t stop it sparkling like the sun!

Heigh Ho Holiday - No.65

My final selection just had to be Holborne’s final dance, Heigh Ho Holiday, which is full of joy. The Royal Wind Music bring buckets of energy to their performance. They begin with a sparkling four foot consort, before adding the deepest tones of the recorder world without diminishing the sense of drive by one iota.

Which is your favourite Holborne?

Perhaps you’re already a Holborne convert, playing them regularly with a consort. Or maybe you’ve made some new discoveries today and are raring to give them a try? Either way, I’d love to hear which of his dances you love the most. I’m sure you’ll agree there’s something in the collection to be enjoyed whatever mood you’re in, be it melancholic or bursting with energy. Please do drop a comment below to share your favourites and I’d love to know if anyone has played all of them!