Early Music For Recorder De-Smet Review

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(More customer reviews)The back cover description of this booklet, an "outstanding collection of recorder solos" really gets it right. It is an outstanding collection of early music for the soprano recorder, by far the best I've seen in fact.

It is excellent value for your money. It consists of 47 clearly printed tunes, one of which is arranged as a duet (Edi Beo) and one as a 4-part round (Sumer is icumen in). It also includes guitar chords for about 40 of these. The selections range from the 10th to the 17th century, by such composers as Machaut, Dowland, Byrd, Susato, Schop, Campion, Cornish, Gervaise, Neithart von Reuenthal and Holborne, to name a few, plus lots of anon.

The complete list of pieces included is: All in the Garden Green, Belle Qui Tiens Ma Vie, Bergamasca, Blame Not my Lute, Blow Thy Horn Hunter, Branle de l'official, Branle No.1, Branle No. 2, Branle de Bourgogne, The Carman's Whistle, Courante, Douce Dame Jolie, Danse Royale, The Earl of Salisbury's Pavan, Edi Beo, Fortune my Foe, Greensleeves, Green Groweth the Holly, How Should I your true love know?, The Honie-Suckle, If My Complaints, The King of Denmark Galliard, Matona mia cara, Minuet (x3), Move Now with Measured Sound, Never Weather-Beaten Sail, Now is the Month of Maying, Now, oh now my needs must part, Narrenaufzug, O Admirabile Veneris Ydolum, The Oil of Barley, Pastime with Good Company, Parson's Farewell, Quant je suis mis, Ronde, Saltarello, The Sick Tune, The Silver Swan, Sumer is icumen in, Tourdion, Tristan's Lament, When Phoebus first did Daphne Love, When That I was and a Little Tiny Boy, The Willow Song, Winder Wie Ist.

The back cover describes them as "easy to play" and certainly they all seem to be in the range of diligent advanced beginners, once they've mastered most of the notes on a descant/soprano recorder. For me, several of the pieces only came alive once I heard them played by some professional musicians. I think it is possible a beginner might overlook the potential of some of the pieces in this book if he were working through this book on his own. And "easy to play" should be qualified by "provided you are patient, ready to deal with some unusual time signatures (3/2) and prepared to practice lots, particularly some pretty hairy-looking 16th note runs in such songs as "Tristan's Lament"".

The book lacks an introduction and contains virtually nothing about the songs, and no words to them either.
The book is somewhat progressive in form, starting with 3 and 4 liners of mostly quarter and eighth notes, but progressing to full pagers and more of 16th notes by the end. It doesn't waste space, but doesn't crowd either.

There is not much overlap between this book and other recorder collections. Perhaps about a half dozen or so of its songs (for example Greensleeves, Pastime with Good company, Sumer is icumen in) can be found in other widely available recorder collections.

I've had this book for about 10 years and it continues to surprise and impress. There are several great Dowland pieces, several early music classics (Greensleeves, Sumer is icumen in, Pastime with Good Company, Now is the Month of Maying, The Parson's Farewell and a rocking duet version of Edi Beo), and many less well-known but beautiful pieces such as Blow Thy Horn Hunter, Fortune my Foe, How Should I Your True Love Know, Never Weather-Beaten Sail, The Sick Tune, When That I was and a Little Tiny Boy, The Willow Song, Winder Wie ist, The Oil of Barley, Tristan's Lament, and Narrenaufzug). It is clearly the product of a lot of careful selection by someone with a vast knowledge of the early music repertoire, a great ear for great tunes, and a real gift for arranging them in a beginner-friendly form.

The only hazard to this book is that some of the pieces sound so nice an advanced beginner might start thinking he's better than he really is.And if you ever get a chance to play these pieces with some professional or semi-professional musicians, go for it, as in the right hands a couple of guitars, a cello, and a couple of violins can do incredible things with this book.

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Product Description:
This outstanding collection of recorder solos spans the years from the 10th to the 16th century. Contains 47 famous airs and dances including The King Of Denmark Galliard and The Willow Song. They are easy to play and are suitable for class use as well as home enjoyment.

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