Recorder players do have some issues with Bach…all thi smagnificent musi – and where are the recorder sonatas? suites?

So, before I go into listing which transcribed pieces sound good on the recorder – I searched Bac’s repertoire to find where he actually ask for recorders:

In the Magnificat, in it’s first version from 1723, there are 2 alto recorders in the movement called: ESURIENTES IMPLEVIT BONIS – accompanyng an alto singer together, above a continuo in organ.

Amsterdam Baroque orchestra – 2:17 starts the Esurientes

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Bach often associates the recorder with death and the un ncatural…as in cantata 106 :

Here by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra directed by Ton Koopman:

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In cantata 161 in the aria “Komm Du Susse Todesstunde” (Come thou sweet death’s hour)
We can hear the singer accompanied by the 2 recorders to his death:
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Simon Crouch wrote the following:
The theme of death being a welcome release from the travails of this earth is a common one in the cantatas and this solo work for alto is a lovely example of Bach illustrating this with style and with beauty.

The gentle theme of the opening aria is introduced by a pair of recorders

(which will feature frequently later on) and is soon taken up by the alto. A notable feature of this movement is that from time to time the organ enters playing the melody of the Passion Chorale (Herzlich tut mich verlangen, by Hassler) in the treble, almost as a decoration of the main theme. What’s it doing here? Well, the words of that hymn are a prayer of peaceful departure that complement the words of this aria perfectly. The congregation of Bach’s time would have known that hymn well and would have immediately realised the significance of the tune. Following a heartfelt recitative, the next aria is possibly more notable for its grief stricken accompaniment (on the strings) than for the alto melody, it maintains the affekt effectively.

Only occasionally do I comment much on Bach’s recitatives. They are almost invariably skilful, perhaps routine once in a while, but next we have a fine example, where the music so wonderfully complements the message. For example, the soul sinking to rest to a descending scale, the ticking of clock to the words strike the hour when I may rest in peace. It may sound corny described in words, but it’s done so skilfully and tastefully! The following chorus is a lovely, delicate filigree of a thing with the recorders providing the final twist of decoration. Please, never let sopranos with wobbly voices near this one. Please. The tune of Hassler’s hymn returns for the final chorale. The recorders perform their final dance up in the clouds. Are they the soul, perhaps?

There are few better examples of Bach’s craft and inspiration working hand in hand. Although this cantata doesn’t leap out and grab you immediately, if you listen carefully to it and study it, you will have a thing of beauty for ever.

Copyright © Simon Crouch, 1996, 1997

Then there are scenes like in cantata 208, maybe one of the most famous arias which include recorders, in which the sheep may safely graze…

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The Brandenburg concertos are without a doubt some of the grandest concertos in their genere (concerto grosso).

Out of the 6 concertos, recorder is featured in 2:

the second concerto groups in the ‘concertino’ group 4 instruments: recorder, oboe, trumpet and violin.

Listen to the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

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Title on autograph score: Concerto 2^do à 1 Tromba, 1 Fiauto, 1 Hautbois, 1 Violino concertati, è 2 Violini, 1 Viola è Violone in Ripieno col Violoncello è Basso per il Cembalo.^[1]

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Allegro assai

Concertino: trumpet in F, recorder, oboe, violin

Ripieno: two violins, viola, violone, and basso continuo (including harpsichord).

This piece was almost certainly written with the court trumpeter in Cöthen, Johann Ludwig Schreiber, in mind.^[6] The trumpet part is still considered one of the most difficult in the entire repertoire, played on either the natural or the modern valved trumpet.

The trumpet does not play in the second movement, as is common practice in baroque era concerti due to the construction of the natural trumpet, which allows it to play only in one key. Because concerti often move to a different key in the second movement, concerti that include a trumpet in their first movement and are from the period before the valved trumpet was commonly used, exclude the trumpet from the second movement.

This piece was also chosen as the first to be played on the “golden record”, a phonograph record containing a broad sample of Earth’s common sounds, languages, and music sent into outer space with the two Voyager probes.

In the 4th Brandenburg the main soloist is the violin, accompanied by 2 alto recorders in the concertino group and the entire orchestra.

Here listen to the Freiburg orchestra:

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Title on autograph score: Concerto 4^ta à Violino Principale, due Fiauti d’Echo, due Violini, una Viola è Violone in Ripieno, Violoncello è Continuo.^[1]

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Presto

Concertino: violin and two recorders

Ripieno: two violins, viola, cello, violone and basso continuo

The violin part in this concerto is extremely virtuosic in the first and third movements. In the second movement, the violin provides a bass when the concertino group plays unaccompanied.

Bach adapted the 4th Brandenburg concerto as the last of his set of 6 harpsichord concertos, the concerto for harpsichord, two recorders and strings in F major, BWV 1057. As well as taking on most of the solo violin’s role, the harpsichord also takes over some of the recorders’ parts in the andante, plays a basso continuo role at times and occasionally adds a fourth contrapuntal part to an originally three-part texture (something which Bach occasionally did while improvising). The harpsichord concerto is thus more than a mere transcription.

Here is it’s first movement performed by the English concert, conducted by Trevor Pinnock. Recorder players are not specified, but I am quite sure one of them is Philip Pickett:

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