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Four Winter Pieces (DTrTB)
MHE 40903a £3.00
These short but attractive pieces are suitable for groups of modest ability, involving no high notes and very few accidentals. They are also available as a trio (MHE 40903), for either SnoDD or TrTT.
Redland Blues (DTrTB optional CtB)
MHE 60603 £3.00
A light and easy blues which leaves space for improvised solos. Useful for beginner improvisers, and also useful for groups looking for something a bit different.
Send Three-and-Fourpence (SnoTrBCtB)
MHE 20807 £3.00
This short (3 minute) piece consists of echoes of short musical phrases. It involves some improvisation, and a lot of listening to one another. It may sound unpromising, but it's fun to play and interesting for the audience. The first performance was given in the course concert at the Recorder Summer School in August 2007, by Andrew Meville, Fiona Sneyd, Berenice Styles and myself. The title comes from the instruction 'send reinforcements, we're going to advance', which was allegedly misheard as 'send three-and-fourpence, we're going to a dance'. Because of the improvisation content, there is no sound file for this piece.
Prelude & Fugue in C (DTrTB)
MHE 20703 £3.50
Prelude
Fugue
A gentle prelude and spiky fugue, peppered with dissonances. If you've always wanted to play recorder in the style of Shostakovich, this is for you!
The Pied Piper (Tr solo, DTrTB)
MHE 80608 £4.00
I have taken the latter part of Robert Browning's famous poem of The Pied Piper (starting with the mayor's refusal to pay the Piper) and provided fairly straightforward music to go with it. A performance (which takes about 5 minutes) is hence rather in the manner of a story told with incidental music on the radio. It makes an unusual, but successful item at recorder playing sessions, as apart from anything else people enjoy the rarely-used discipline of coordinating their playing to the telling of a story. The storytelling can conveniently be done by the conductor.
Flying (D/Tr/T T/GtB GtB CtB)
MHE 30404 £4.00
A very unusual item - originally conceived as music to accompany a shadow theatre piece by Franzeska G Ewart. The quartet also works as a stand-alone tone poem which moves through several contrasting moods and instrumentations. This is a rather difficult piece, but quartets with the required instruments will find it an interesting addition to a programme.
Three Times Four (DTrTB optionalGtBCtB)
MHE 20708 £4.00
A piece in a minimalist style reminiscent of Arvo Pärt. The opening bars were written on the 2007 Northern Recorder Course at John Hawkes’ composition class, comprising Andrew Melville, Monique Pollet, Judith Railton and Berenice Styles. I subsequently extended it in the same vein, and added (entirely optional) big bass parts. The notes are very easy to play, and when they are well-controlled and nicely in tune this becomes a beautiful and atmospheric 4 minutes of music, particularly well suited to a resonant acoustic.
Three Fugues by Johann Pachelbel (DTrTB)
MHE 10710 £5.00
I
II
III
Although best known today for his omnipresent 'Canon', Pachelbel was a prolific composer of all types of music and for all instrumental (and vocal) combinations. Among other achievements he wrote the largest collection of fugues of anyone of the generation just before J S Bach. These three fugues, originally for organ, are short and technically straightforward, but are interesting and stirring.
Four Easy Pieces by J S Bach (DTrTB)
MHE 10810 £5.00
O God, We Praise Thee And Adore Thee (BWV 322)
Wherefore Art Thou So Sad (BWV 516)
How Blest I Am (BWV 517)
By The Rivers Of Babylon (BWV 267)
These are arrangements of rarities - easy pieces by Bach! There are two chorales (in other words hymns) and two songs from Anna Magdalena's notebook, originally for voice and keyboard. A very easy descant 2 part is provided, which should be omitted if all descants are able to play the descant 1 part (which is itself quite straightforward). Total playing time is about six minutes.
Four Scenes From Hansel & Gretel (DTrTB)
MHE 50303 £5.00
The Edge of the Forest
Moonlight Through the Trees
The Gingerbread House
Pathways Through The Forest
Each piece 'features' a different size of recorder. Yes! - even the basses get the tune. Tuneful and easy. The only possible difficulty is for the trebles, who have some nimble tonguing in Pathways Through the Forest.
Three French Nursery Rhymes (DTrTB)
MHE 30205a £5.00
Mon Âne, Mon Âne (My Donkey)
Au Claire De La Lune (In The Moonlight)
Mon Père M'a Donné Un Mari (My Father Gave Me A Husband)
Cheerful, fun and easy arrangements of nursery rhymes which are very well-known in France. A version including a voice is the next piece (MHE 30205).
Three French Nursery Rhymes (DTrTB + voice)
MHE 30205 £5.50
See the previous piece (MHE 30205a). The voice part in this version has a large range (from an F to the G over two octaves higher), but two people could share the line with a little ingenuity. The words are in French, but a translation is included.
Spirituals You Might Not Know (DTrTB)
MHE 10903 £5.00
Great Day
The Hammer Song
Hebrew Children
Most people know Deep River and Down By The Riverside (and very good they are too), but this set contains three less-known but excellent spirituals, which may be new to you - Great Day, The Hammer Song and Hebrew Children. All bursting with rhythmic vitality (there are no soulful ballads in this set!). Not difficult to play. This set is also available with an added voice part; see the next piece (MHE 10903a).
Spirituals You Might Not Know (DTrTB + voice)
MHE 10903a £5.50
See the previous piece (MHE 10903). The vocal version includes a voice part the range of which is middle C to the G above the stave.
More Spirituals You Might Not Know (DTrTB)
MHE 20107 £6.00
I Want To Be Ready
What Month Was Jesus Born In?
I've Been In The Storm So Long
Roll, Jordan Roll
A follow-on set to Spirituals You Might Not Know (MHE 10903), consisting of arrangements of four spirituals which are (mystifyingly) rarely performed.
Made In Wales (DTrTB optionalGtBCtB)
MHE 20408 £5.50
A Gentle Maiden In Secret Sighed
Suo Gân
Owain Glyndŵr's War Song
Made In Wales comprises straightforward arrangements of three traditional songs from Wales. Total playing time is about 7 minutes.
Not Too Hard Really (DTrTB)
MHE 20804 £6.00
Fast & Light
In 7/4
Funky
Chromatic
Silly
Fairly easy pieces in musical idioms where the available music is often much more difficult. This is enjoyable music for players and audiences alike.
Four Pieces from the Cancionero de Upsala (DTrTB)
MHE 20509 £6.00
Estas Noches Atán Largas
Vi Los Barcos, Madre
Con Qué La Lavaré?
Teresica Hermana
The Cancionero de Upsala is the single surviving copy of a book of Spanish music, which was printed in Venice in 1556. The book is now housed in the Uppsala (modern spelling) University Library in Sweden, possibly arriving there from Prague in the seventeenth century. Ann and Steve Marshall have chosen four pieces which alternate between plaintive and beautiful and vigorous and energetic.
Mr Allerton's Booke of Musick (DTrTB)
MHE 21008 £6.50
His Pavan and Galliard, the First
His Pavan and Galliard, the Second
His Pavan and Galliard, the Third
These three Pavan and Galliard pairs are dedicated to Ashley Allerton, who has given enormous help to May Hill Edition over the years, not least in making our website very user-friendly. In some ways the pieces suggest music of yesteryear (complete with the odd hemiola), but in other ways they are quite modern.
The Thrill Of The Chase (DTrTB)
MHE 10908 £6.50
Canon 1
Canon 2
Canon 3
Canon 4
Canon 5
Canon 6
The Thrill Of The Chase comprises six canons for recorder quartet. Canons are interesting to play, as you chase the melody which has just been heard in other parts. They are also good for gaining confidence in holding your own part while others seem to be going their own way. Finally, strict canons like these (i.e. where all melodies are absolutely identical) are easily rehearsed because everyone can play their part at the same time, which produces a unison. Total playing time is about 10 minutes.
Recorder Quartet No 1 (Pastoral) (DTTGtB)
MHE 10503 £7.00
I
II
III
Pieces with "pastoral" in the title are very often slow, gentle and pretty. But this three movement quartet paints some little pictures of a more bustling countryside, including a working farm and a fast-flowing stream. So it's not slow, it's not gentle, and you'll have to decide for yourselves whether it's pretty! This quartet is moderately difficult. Also available for SnoTrTrB; see the next piece (MHE 10503a).
Recorder Quartet No 1 (Pastoral) (SnoTrTrB)
MHE 10503a £7.00
See the previous piece (MHE 10503). The higher version may seem rather squeaky, but I have heard good reports from groups who have played it in this form!
Recorder Quartet No 2 (DTrTB)
MHE 11205 £6.50
Presto
Passacaglia
Finale
Fast, rhythmic and jazzy - almost rocky - in the outer movements with insistent ostinati. The middle movement is a Passacaglia which is slower, but still quite a tempestuous affair. Not particularly difficult notes, but will probably need quite some work to get into the idiom.
Seven Miniatures for solo instrument and recorders (solo DTrTB)
MHE 20207 £7.50
A Short Drive In The Rain
Reverie
Spiritual
Costa del Reggae
Custard Pie Fight
Lament
Dance with Big Sticks
These varied short pieces can be played successfully by quite a number of solo instruments. The two main requirements are an ability to play the range of C3 (that's the one below middle C) to Bb4, and to be loud enough to be heard against a group of recorders - in other words fairly low and fairly loud. Possibilities are hence a tenor saxophone, French horn, Eb horn, and that eternal standby the synthesiser. Parts for these instruments are included, but if you would like to use something else, and need a suitable part, please contact me. The music is of moderate difficulty only.
Five Tudor Anthems (DTrTBoptGtBoptCtB)
MHE 81109 £8.00
If Ye Love Me (Tallis)
O Praise The Lord (Batten)
Almighty and Everlasting God (Gibbons)
Gloria Patri (Tallis)
Let Thy Merciful Ears (Mudd)
These anthems are by giants of the day (Tallis and Gibbons) and also by lesser-known figures (Batten and Mudd). Irrespective of the original forces, these pieces have been rearranged for a six-part recorder orchestra. They are not straight transcriptions, but arrangements which take advantage of the colours possible with such an orchestra group. The great and contra parts may, however, be omitted if these instruments are not available. Beautiful music which is easy to play.
Out Of The Wood Of Thoughts (DTrTB + narrator)
MHE 10404a £8.00
This 15 minute piece comprises a sequence of eight poems by Edward Thomas, in and around which is woven music for recorder quartet. The music is often quite slow, and the notes are not difficult, but the piece is nevertheless a challenge in terms of obtaining excellent tuning and a beautiful sound.
Concertino No 2 for Horn and Recorders (horn solo, DTrTB)
MHE 20406 £8.00
Introduction & Allegro
Nocturnal
Blue Rondo
Knowing that I was going to be conducting a group which included the horn player Shirley Brown, I wrote this concertino so that we could explore the way that these very different instruments can work together. The 'orchestral' parts are quite straightforward, while the horn part is no more than moderately difficult. The solo part would work well on a tenor horn, and probably slightly less well on a tenor saxophone; please contact me if you would like a suitably transposed part.
Music That Counts (DTrTB)
MHE 10806 £8.50
Theme for Bodies and Recorders
Cool Stomp
Folk Dance
Snap Barcarolle
Counter-Intelligence
Fingers & Feet Blues
One Step Beyond
Music That Counts puts the emphasis firmly on rhythm. The players are called on to clap, snap fingers, stamp their feet and count aloud, as well as play the recorder. In the easier pieces the non-recorder activities are often separate from the recorder playing, but in the harder pieces they are more closely integrated. The objective is to improve rhythmic confidence and skill. The pieces are not dry exercises - the melodic content makes them interesting and enjoyable as pieces of music.
A Crock Of Jazz-Rock (DTrTB)
MHE 20805 £9.50
Here's To Freddie
Are We Lost Yet?
Evening Story
Just Testing
Fly-By-Night
The Hundredweight Swing
A set of pieces in the Jazz-Rock idiom, a fusion of the improvisations of jazz with the strong rhythms (and often straight quavers) of rock. The music is no more than moderately difficult, although accurate rhythms and precise articulation are very important.
Eight Minimalist Studies (DTrTB)
MHE 10607 £10.50
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
These pieces are in the Minimalist style which was developed in the 1970s. They are completely tonal, with static harmony and much repetition of ideas. They are, however, rather easier, rather shorter, rather less repetitive and rather more tuneful than 'normal' minimalist pieces, and so I hope they will find favour with groups of recorder players!