Shifting Sands (DTrTrTB)
MHE 20224 £7.50
The title ‘Shifting Sands’ may give the impression of something stormy on a wild coastline. Although my piece does suggest the sea, I have written something less dramatic. I had in mind a quiet beach in the late afternoon, with a rather mysterious beginning, becoming more unsettled, finally returning to the mood at the start. Total playing time is about six minutes.
 |
Pavan (DTrTTB)
MHE 31123 £8.00
Gabriel Fauré wrote his ‘Pavan’ in 1887. It was originally for piano, but the piece immediately found favour, and he composed a version for orchestra and choir. It is that latter version that is still played today. Ann's arrangement for five recorder parts looks fairly easy, but it has its difficulties, despite the change of key from the original F# minor to A minor. But whatever the difficulties, it is well worth persevering with this beautiful music. Playing time is about five minutes.
|
|
Weston Wind (DTrTTB)
MHE 60221 £9.50
I
II
III
‘Toot Suite’, the Weston-super-Mare recorder group was able, in that ‘interesting’ year 2020, to meet up at various times. I was delighted and flattered that several members of the group seemed to be fans of my music, and so I wrote this set of three pieces for them.
|
|
Three Fantasies (DTrTTB)
MHE 70221 £10.00
Fantasy No 1
Fantasy No 2
Fantasy No 3
I am kept pretty busy, writing music for specific musical events or groups. But I wanted to write something solely for the pleasure of composing, and these fantasies were the result. The three pieces are by no means virtuosic, but are a little more difficult than some of my usual output.
|
|
Ann's Choice: Volume 6 (DTrTrTB Quintets) (DTrTrTB)
MHE 10412 £6.50
Pavan
Angelus Autem
To Hear Men Sing
Canzon
There is not much music for adults that is both interesting and easy. All too often music that is easy is also a bit childish. I hope that the series 'Ann's Choice' will help to fill the gap. Volume 6, comprising DTrTrTB quintets, offers four pieces of music from the Renaissance. The composers are reasonably well-known, with the exception of the Spanish composer Alonso de Tejeda. What all of the pieces have in common is that it is not necessary to have an advanced technique to play them, and play them well. Whatever the original forces, I have arranged all of the music for DTrTrTB recorders, with the added bonus that the second treble parts also fit nicely on the tenor. The keys are friendly and there are no notes higher than two fingers in the upper register for any instrument. Speeds are suggestions only; I have chosen music that I believe will still work well slightly slower than marked.
|
|
Ann's Choice: Volume 8 (DDTrTB Quintets) (DDTrTB)
MHE 60113 £8.50
The Blackbird
Tanzen und Springen
Alas, alas! Where is my love
Ach, weh des Leiden
In Midst of Woods
There is not much music for adults that is both interesting and easy. All too often music that is easy is also a bit childish. I hope that the series 'Ann's Choice' will help to fill the gap. Volume 8 comprises arrangements of five madrigals for DDTrTB; these may be of particular interest to groups who have several descant players.
|
|
Full Of Eastern Promise (DTrTBB)
MHE 10606 £6.50
March To The Oasis
Night-Time In The Scented Garden
The Street Market
A suite of three pieces which are full of Ann Marshall's trademark good-humoured and memorable tunes. Great fun. Not difficult, but Middle-Eastern-sounding augmented seconds abound, which may not fall under the fingers to begin with.
|
|
Two Motets by Thomas Tallis (DTrTTB)
MHE 80813 £7.50
Salvator Mundi
In Jejunio Et Fletu
These are two beautiful motets by Thomas Tallis, both now playable on DTrTTB recorders. I have notated them with crotchet beats, rather than the somewhat less-accessible minim beats. Total playing time is six and a half minutes.
|
|
Credidi (East) (TTBGtBCtB)
MHE 20220a £7.50
Michael East (1580–1648) was an English organist and composer. Credidi (I believed) is one of a superb collection of five-part fantasies for viols. I think that this piece is particularly gorgeous played at eight-foot. It can, of course, also be played at four-foot if the treble and tenor players are able to play from possibly unfamiliar clefs.
|
|
Two Canzons by Merulo (TTBGtBCtB)
MHE 30220a £8.00
Canzon Vigesimaterza
Canzon Decimaottava
I arranged these canzons for some ‘easier’ eight-foot playing sessions. In principle it is not too difficult to find suitable eight-foot pieces, by picking music at four-foot then playing it an octave lower. But that assumes that the music works well at eight-foot and that some of the players are able to read from unusual clefs. These arrangements avoid such problems. Total performance time is about four minutes.
|
|
Two Motets by Giaches de Wert (DTrTTB)
MHE 30117 £8.50
Vox In Rama Audite Est
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
De Wert (1535-1596) was born in Flanders, but lived and worked in Italy for most of his life. He was (as is) best-known for his madrigals and motets, and these influenced the compositions of many composers, not least Monteverdi. I have arranged two motets, both setting sombre biblical texts. The music should be slow-moving and beautiful, and therein lies the challenge for recorder ensembles. Total performance time is about eight minutes.
|
|
Two Canzons by Peuerl (TTBGtBCtB)
MHE 40220a £8.50
Canzon No 1
Canzon No 2
Paul Peuerl (1570–1625) was a German composer, organist and organ builder; his musical output appears to have been exclusively instrumental. I arranged these canzons for some ‘easier’ eight-foot playing sessions. I think they work well at eight-foot, and they avoid the problem of using music at four-foot, when some players have to then read from unusual clefs.
Total performance time is about five minutes.
|
|
Three English Madrigals (DDTrTB)
MHE 20415 £8.50
Flora Gave Me Fairest Flowers
All At Once Well Met
All Creatures Now
This set comprises madrigals by Wilbye, Weelkes and Bennet. What they have in common is that they were written by Englishmen in the early 1600’s - the ‘Golden Age’ when English madrigals were held in high esteem throughout the world.
I have chosen pieces that are all lively and vigorous, and include passages full of ‘come ye wantons, here to play’, ‘fa la la la la’ and ‘merry, merry, merry, merry, merry’, words which strongly suggest a brisk tempo!
|
|
Three Fantasias by Coprario (DDTrTB)
MHE 10817 £9.00
Fantasia No 1
Fantasia No 2
Fantasia No 3
Despite his Italian-looking name, Giovanni Coprario was an English composer, lutenist and viol player.
His real name was John Cooper, and he italianised his name when Italian music became more fashionable
in England. Coprario composed songs, as well as works for viols, such as these fantasias. Total playing time is
about ten minutes.
|
|
The Crassus Suite (DDTrTB)
MHE 10320 £9.00
Overture
Waltz
Finale
I wrote this straightforward three-minute suite for Linda Griffith and the Chipping Sodbury U3A Recorder Group. The unusual name of the piece refers to William Crassus who, in 1217 was granted a licence to hold fairs and markets in (what is now) Chipping Sodbury.
|
|
Six Praetorius Dances (DTrTTB)
MHE 10912 £9.00
Bransle Double
La Bourrée
Torch Bransle
La Volta
Bransle de Villages (I)
Bransle de Villages (II)
Michael Praetorius (1571–1621) was a prolific and versatile composer, and famous in his day. His only surviving secular music, however, is 'Terpsichore', a collection of over 300 dances. There is no shortage of arrangements for recorder of dances from Terpsichore, but there are not so many for the reasonably mellow combination of DTrTTB, and even fewer where time signatures stay as 3/4 or 4/4 (there is nothing in 6/2 in my collection!). As well as mastering the notes, please feel free to experiment with speeds. Remember these were all sprightly dances originally, so a bit of vigour (perhaps with some percussion) would not go amiss.
|
|
A Year of Quintets (DDTrTB)
MHE 90813 £11.50
July: A Day Out
August: Watching Tennis
September: A Chill In The Air
October: Stormy Weather
November: Dark Evenings
December: Christmas Bells
We wrote A Year of Trios (MHE 20313), contributing six trios each, for a recently-formed U3A recorder group. At the time this group was descant-rich, with a few people learning treble and tenor, so those trios were for DDTr and DTrT, using just the five 'common' left-hand notes (GABCD on a descant). Each of the twelve easy trios is a small sketch of something typical of that particular month. A Year of Quintets is an arrangement for DDTrTB of those trios. The DDTr parts again use only those five notes, but the tenor and bass parts (though still easy) range across an octave each. Possibly a group who have played the trios could 'graduate' to the quintets, if they can find tenor and bass players. Total playing time is about thirteen minutes. The sound files for the first six months of the year are with 'A Year of Trios'.
|
|
Four Walks (DTrTTB)
MHE 40208 £9.50
Around Town
Exploring The Formal Gardens
Striding Out
A Stroll Through The Glen
More tuneful and descriptive music from the pen of Ann Marshall. Ten minutes of varied and interesting music, which is easy but satisfying.
|
|
Four Madrigals from The Triumphs of Oriana (DDTrTB)
MHE 50117 £10.50
Hence stars, too dim of light (East)
All Creatures Now (Bennet)
Lightly she whipped o'er the Dales (Mundy)
With angel's face and brightness (Norcombe)
The Triumphs of Oriana was a collection of twenty-five madrigals, published by Thomas Morley in 1601, and composed by some of the finest English madrigalists of the age. Ann has arranged four from the set, by East, Norcombe, Mundy and Bennet. These pieces work well at various speeds, as demonstrated by the available recordings, but a typical total playing time is about nine minutes.
|
|
Islands In The Sun (DTrTrTB)
MHE 21208 £10.50
Bequia Island
Beach Party on Mayreau
Sunset Over Mustique
Hot Sun...and Golden Rum
Ann Marshall's Islands In The Sun comprises four musical postcards from the Grenadines – a collection of small islands in the West Indies. Unsurprisingly, tourism is important for the islands - beaches, sunshine, parties, and even modest amounts of rum feature heavily in holidays in the Grenadines, and these are reflected in the cheerful music, which is laden with calypso rhythms and occasional hints of reggae. Total playing time is about 10 minutes.
|
|