Although the recorder reached the height of its popularity in the
Renaissance and Baroque eras, there are still wonderful professionals
making beautiful music all over the world.
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Danish recorder player Michala Petri has an extensive
repertoire list including works from the 1600’s through modern day
world premieres. She has performed and recorded with orchestras all
over the world.
www.michalapetri.com
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Soloist, chamber musician, and conductor
Maurice Steger has become one of the most popular
recorder players today, due in part his featured video in Open
Culture’s article, “The Recorder Played Like You’ve Never Heard it
Before”. You can see more videos of his performances at his website:
www.maurice-steger.com
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The Flanders Recorder Quartet was one of the leading
small ensembles from 1987 until their final engagements in 2018. Tenor
and bass recorder enthusiasts will especially enjoy their extensive
“Instruments” page, featuring recordings of several different
recorders.
www.flanders-recorder-quartet.be
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There is no better way to experience music of the Baroque than
sampling the repertoire of Johann Sebastian Bach.
All of Bach is an ambitious project by the
Netherlands Bach Society to provide video recordings of Bach’s entire
repertoire, using period instruments. While there currently aren’t any
recorder-specific pieces, it’s cousin the traverso is featured in
several Sonatas, as well as the Brandenburg Concertos. The project
continues to this day, and new recordings are being added regularly.
www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allofbach
Sheet Music for Learning and Performance
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Medieval and Renaissance Music for Recorder provides
the early-intermediate soprano recorder player with a sampling of
short pieces from the recorder’s heyday. While this collection does
not have written piano accompaniment, it does provides chords, which
can be used with piano, guitar, or other chordal instruments. More at
www.sheetmusicplus.com
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The Baroque Recorder Anthology is a series of music
books, each containing works for recorder and piano (or guitar). They
also come with a play-along CD. Be sure to check which recorder the
volume is written for, and that the difficulty level is suitable for
your own playing. The Renaissance Recorder Anthology follows the same
format, featuring music written before 1600. More at
www.halleonard.com
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The advancing recorder player will likely want to grow their
repertoire, and there is no better place to search for new music than
the
International Music Score Library Project. Better
known simply as IMSLP, this database is the most comprehensive digital
music library to date. Scores are in the public domain, and therefore
are provided for free. This link below shows their “scores featuring
the recorder” category, but be sure to use your own keywords or
favorite composers to find sheet music that you’ll love. See "scores
featuring the recorder at
www.imslp.org
Recorder History
The recorder is one of the oldest instruments in recorded history. You
can learn about its history, development, and influence on classical
music here:
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Yamaha takes an in-depth look at the recorder’s
history. It also includes a fascinating section on how the recorder
works, and how it’s made. This is a great resource if you’re
interested in other instruments, too.
Yamaha Musical Instrument Guide – Recorder
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For many people, their first experiences with music is playing the
recorder in elementary school.
Moore Piano Service provides this article that
explains the role that the recorder has had in music education. Read
more here:
A Short History of the Recorder and its Role in Music Education
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One of the most comprehensive books on recorder technique and recorder
history is The Recorder Book by Kenneth Wollitz. This
book is available on many new and used book retailers, and is also
available in many local libraries. This link does not suggest a source
for purchasing/borrowing this book, but rather links to its GoodReads
page.
The Recorder Book by Kenneth Wollitz
Benefits of Learning Music
