Ann – Six Recorders

Three Fantasias in 6 parts by Coprario (DDTrTTB) MHE 10424 £12.50
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. He was a teacher of William Lawes. The total playing time is about eight minutes.

Water in Motion (TTBG^tBG^tBC^tB) MHE 10622 £12.50
Water in Motion is a single-movement piece for an ensemble of bigger recorders. It is tricky stuff, but without requiring virtuosity. The piece suggests water changing quickly and unpredictably, which is achieved by varying speeds and (especially) time signatures. The latter may cause the most difficulty, with constantly shifting bars of 5 and 3. A clear and precise conductor is a real asset! Water in Motion is not, however, a soulless technical exercise. Once the players are on top of things, it is six minutes of music containing both lyricism and excitement.

Arcalia (TrTrTTBB) MHE 20521 £12.50
I 
II 
III 
I wrote Arcalia for a recorder course – the Autumn Recorder Course, or ARC to its friends. The title of the suite springs from that abbreviation (it was only later that I found out about the village in Romania!) The suite is in three contrasting movements, and is of moderate difficulty. Total playing time is about seven minutes.

Mini Metro Suite (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 21123 £16.00
Lento 
Allegro 
Andante 
Allegro 
I originally wrote Mini Metro Suite for Helen Hooker’s eight-foot orchestra – METRO. I later re-wrote the piece as a small (DTrTBGtCt) orchestra. There are four movements and they are not too difficult. I even tried hard (with success I think) to make the third movement playable, despite being in 5/4. The total duration is about nine minutes.

The Highnam Suite (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 30222 £11.00
Intrada 
Lullaby 
Blues 
Finale 
I wrote this suite for the Orchestra on the Hill. The six minutes of music, none of which is difficult, is a pleasing mixture of cheerful, bluesy and languid.

Longhope Suite (TrTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 30324 £12.00
I wrote this set of pieces to use at the Rural Recorder Course. That course was of moderate difficulty only, but the Longhope Suite is a little more advanced than that. The four movements are varied, not least because each movement is in a different time signature. Total playing time is about six minutes.

Traditional Tunes from Gloucestershire (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 40822 £12.50
It is often possible to find evidence that a particular folk tune was being used at a particular time and in a particular place. That has been done for well over a hundred years by going around a part of the country, hearing people make music and writing down the tunes (collecting). Some well-known people have collected music in this way, for example Cecil Sharp, Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. The tunes in this six-minute medley are a mixture of vigorous dances and gentler music, and they were all collected by Cecil Sharp in various parts of Gloucestershire between 1907 and 1913.

The Chichester Miniatures (DTrTrTTB) MHE 50620 £10.50
March to the Roman Palace 
A quick walk along the South Downs 
A stroll by the Lavant 
Chichester Cathedral 
Sunset over Bosham 
A busy day at The Market Cross 
I wrote this set of six pieces for Jean Campbell and her Chichester U3A Recorder Group. The pieces are inspired by events or places in and around the city. The music is generally straightforward, but there are also some moments of difficulty (mainly rhythmic difficulty)

Three Chansons by Josquin (DTrTrTTB) MHE 90324 £10.50
Josquin des Prez (1450–1521) was a highly regarded Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. To give you some idea of the serious nature of these pieces, some of the words are (approximately): (1) You will not have it if I can help it, that which you demand from me, (2) My only wish is for health and a long life, and (3) I have good reason to lament and to abandon all hope and joy. Total playing time is about five minutes.

Blues On The Hill (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 20110 £5.00
Ann Marshall wrote this easy-going blues for a local 'easy' recorder orchestra - the Orchestra on the Hill. With its relaxed tempo and straight quavers, the piece shouldn't pose too many technical challenges, despite a bit of chromatic movement here and there. Playing time is about three minutes.

Kyrie (A Gabrieli) (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 41109 £5.00
Andrea Gabrieli (1532-1585) was the uncle of Giovanni Gabrieli and a major musical figure in his own right. This Kyrie is a stand-alone mass part, perhaps one of several such mass parts written when Japanese princes visited Venice. Ann Marshall's arrangement takes full advantage of the 'small recorder orchestra' instrumentation.

The Monmouth Rag (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 10518a £5.75
This is a bright and breezy bit of ragtime, which I wrote for the centre spread of the Recorder Magazine. The piece is not particularly easy to play, because the quavers are swung, and the rhythms may be unfamiliar to some recorder players. But persevere – the Monmouth Rag always goes down well with audiences! A version for DTrTB only is available as MHE 10518.

Two Madrigals for Small Recorder Orchestra (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 20815 £6.00
Away, Thou Shalt Not Love Me 
How Great Delight 
These madrigals, one by John Wilbye and the other by Thomas Tomkins, were originally in just three parts. I have converted the pieces into six parts in what is sometimes called a ‘small orchestra’ instrumentation – DTrTBGtBCtB. This instrumentation works equally well one-to-a-part or several-to-a-part. The madrigals are quite brisk and lively, so there are different challenges depending on the number of players per part. Total playing time is about four minutes.

As Vesta Was From Latmos Hill Descending (Weelkes) (DDTrTTB optG^tBoptC^tB) MHE 30113 £7.50
This madrigal by Thomas Weelkes is an elaborate compliment to Elizabeth I. Vesta, goddess of the hearth and home is descending the hill, Latmos, while Elizabeth is climbing up; the vestal virgins all desert their goddess in order to join the queen instead The madrigal is a masterpiece of clever word-painting, but is still complex and exciting as a purely instrumental piece. The great bass and contrabass parts are optional, but enhance the piece considerably.

Chepstow Celebration (DDTrTBB) MHE 21210 £5.50
I was asked to write a piece as part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Chepstow U3A group in 1986. I hope that you will find it a cheerful and straightforward couple of minutes! The percussion part (two players) is optional.

Toblerdrone (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 10411 £5.50
Ann and Steve wrote this piece for Monique Pollet. We enjoy writing pieces together, especially because so many people ask us how such a thing is possible. This time we have taken our inspiration from the famous Swiss chocolate bar. With a subtle change in the name we thought that our piece would be underpinned by drones, and then we decided to use the three-ness suggested by the shape of the chocolate bar. Toblerdrone is exactly three minutes long, falls into three sections, includes a large number of three-bar phrases and has a three-part fugue towards the end. It is of no more than moderate difficulty.

Flow My Tears (John Dowland) (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 31110 £5.50
Flow My Tears was originally the purely instrumental Lachrimae Pavan, which Dowland later converted into a song. In his day it was extremely popular, and it continues to be so. Ann has arranged the piece for this beautiful and increasingly common 'small orchestra' instrumentation, but it works equally well with one-to-a-part or with larger forces. Playing time of this marvellous piece is about four minutes.

Serenade to The Holy Family (Berlioz) (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 10909 £5.50
Ann Marshall's arrangement of an orchestral interlude from 'The Childhood of Christ' by Berlioz. Composed in the early 1850s, this is hardly core recorder repertoire, but the beautiful tune and harmonies make it irresistible. Total playing time is about 3 minutes.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Tchaikovsky) (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 80812 £7.50
More proof, if proof were needed, that recorders can succeed in the unlikeliest of music settings! Tchaikovsky's original music is charming and delicate but, rather than trying to compete with that, my arrangement uses big basses to give an effect a bit like the dancing hippos in Disney's Fantasia! I only did this arrangement for a bit of fun, but groups seemed to enjoy it so much (and the bigger the group the more so), that I thought I should publish it. Despite the fun to be had, this is not very easy music to get exactly right, so more serious-minded players will get something out of it as well.

Rowney Warren Suite (DTrTrTTB) MHE 20315 £8.50
Canon 
Andante 
Chaconne 
Rowney Warren is the name of a woodland in Bedfordshire that I visit quite often. It might be because the scenery in woodland has a certain repetition, but on one walk I thought it would be nice to write a suite where repetition played a large part. Hence Rowney Warren Suite comprises a canon, a chaconne, and a slow movement that constantly interweaves two short tunes. Total playing time is about six minutes.

Two Settings of Da Pacem Domine (Lassus) (DDTrTrTB) MHE 10416a £8.50
This is a higher setting of arrangements I made for the first season of the Mellow Tones Recorder Orchestra – the eight-foot orchestra set up and conducted by Helen Hooker. The total playing time of these settings is four minutes at the marked speeds. but the pieces also work extremely well when played more slowly. The low setting is available as MHE10416, and that is where the sound files can be found.

Bundles of Riffs (DTrTrTTB) MHE 11009 £9.00
Bundle One 
Bundle Two 
Bundle Three 
For the uninitiated, riffs are short musical ideas which are repeated often. Each piece in this set combines two or three (mildly bluesy) riffs in very rhythmic music. Because of the emphasis on rhythm, these pieces are not as easy as others by Ann Marshall.

Dance Suite for Recorder Sextet (DTrTrTTB) MHE 30509 £9.50
Folk Dance 
Waltz 
Jig 
Country Waltz 
Ann Marshall wrote this suite for groups looking for tuneful music on the easier side of moderate. There are no crotchet triplets, the keys are easy, and there is precisely one note higher than three-fingers-and-pinched (a D in treble 1). Total playing time is about eight minutes.

Three Pinwood Miniatures (DTrTrTBG^tB) MHE 40117 £10.00
In Stoke Woods 
By Pin Brook 
Dancing at the Arena 
This suite is dedicated to Ashley Allerton, who has been a constant supporter of my compositions for many years. Ashley is a great bass specialist, hence the rather unusual instrumentation of these pieces, and I ensured that the great bass plays a very important role in proceedings. The titles of these short pieces refer to three places just to the north of Exeter. Total playing time is about six minutes.

Autumnal Suite (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 20912 £10.50
A Chill In The Air 
In The Woods 
Autumn Dance 
It seems to me that fewer pieces of music are inspired by autumn than by the other seasons, and I wanted to go a little way to redressing the balance. This eight-minute suite may be played either by a recorder orchestra or by a solo sextet.

Four Metrophonics (TTBG^tBC^tBC^tB) MHE 20417 £10.50
Caribbean Phonic 
Thoughtful Phonic 
Fairground Phonic 
Chirpy Phonic 
I wrote these four miniatures for METRO - Helen Hooker’s eight-foot recorder orchestra, in which the smallest instrument is a tenor and the largest is a contrabass. In fact there are so many contras in the orchestra that I was able to write for two contra parts, the bottom of which involves the mighty subcontrabass. Despite the low-pitch, my pieces include some light and cheerful moments! The total playing time is about seven minutes.

Four Intradas by Melchior Franck (DDTrTTB) MHE 20715 £10.50
Intrada I 
Intrada II 
Intrada III 
Intrada IV 
The German composer Melchior Franck (1579–1639) was a prolific composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. Amongst many other works, he wrote no less than 600 motets. Franck’s Intradas may have been intended as instrumental flourishes to accompany the entry of important guests into a formal gathering. They are certainly rousing pieces! Total playing time is about eight minutes.

Three Scenes of Dean (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 60715 £11.00
The Family Cycle Trail 
Relaxing at Cannop Ponds 
Off-Roading at Whitecliffe Quarry 
These pieces were inspired by places in the Forest of Dean, not far from home. I am writing more and more for the instrumentation of DTrTBGtBCtB, which works well with large ensembles, but still has a richness and depth when played one-to-a-part. Total playing time is about six minutes.

Three Sacred Pieces (DDTrTrTB) MHE 11214 £12.50
This set comprises a piece each by Palestrina, Lassus and Hassler – three giants of the second half of the sixteenth century. Total performance time is about eight minutes. The piece below this one (MHE11214a) is the version for TTBBGtBCtB.

Three Sacred Pieces (TTBBG^tBC^tB) MHE 11214a £12.50
Tu Es Petrus (Palestrina) 
Da Pacem Domine (Lassus) 
Verbum Caro Factum Est (Hassler) 
This is the version for TTBBGtBCt of the piece above.

The Canberra Suite (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 10714 £12.50
I 
II 
III 
IV 
I wrote this suite for Margaret Wright, who lives in Canberra, Australia. Margaret is an inspirational and dynamic leader of recorder groups in Australia, and she specialises in working with ‘seniors’ in all sorts of groups in terms of both their size and their playing standard. I wrote the Canberra Suite with her larger groups in mind (including, as it does, parts for great bass and contrabass), but I think that it would also work well with a one-to-a-part sextet. Whoever plays this suite – in Australia or elsewhere – I hope you enjoy it!

Six Water Pieces (DTrTBG^tBC^tB) MHE 11215 £14.50
Calypso Cove 
The Waterfall 
Caught In The Rain 
The Camargue 
Lazing On The Riverbank 
Kingston Harbour 
These pieces are designed to appeal to ‘easy intermediate’ players. They are published as two sets of three DTrTB quartets (MHE 31206a and MHE 10307), but this publication gathers them together in a ‘small orchestra’ arrangement, by adding parts for great bass and contrabass. Total playing time is about fourteen minutes.