Recorder choir

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A recorder choir is a body of sound made up of various recorders .

Corresponding to the historical choir term , these can be single, or, according to the modern choir term, several times. In the former case one speaks of a recorder ensemble, in the latter of a recorder orchestra.

Renaissance and early baroque

In line with the expansion of the choral movement into the treble and bass regions, the common musical instruments are developed in different sizes, including the recorder. Michael Praetorius and Marin Mersenne differentiate between a four-footed and an eight-footed ensemble. Praetorius advises replacing the flute bass with a trombone or a bassoon in multi-choir ensembles . He also suggests replacing the tenor position with the trombone or tenor violin. For playing motets and canzons with recorders, especially in rooms and apartments, he recommends the low flutes. The alto flute in G, two tenor flutes and a bass flute are named as four-legged instrumentation for the four-part set.

High and late baroque

In chamber and orchestral music, the use of recorders is reduced to the higher instruments. The alto, soprano and sopranino flutes dominate. In church music, basses are performed by organ and other bass instruments in works with recorders.

Recorder ensembles after 1890

The first rebirth of choral recorder playing came in 1890 by the Bogenhauser artists' band . After 1920 Wilibald Gurlitt experimented in Freiburg with recorders, which he had made by the organ builder Walcker. After 1930, the recorder and choral music-making spread under the influence of Peter Harlan among broader layers of amateur musicians. Today, in addition to numerous smaller ensembles, there are also increasingly larger recorder orchestras in large ensembles. The flutes of the popular amateur ensembles today are usually tuned in F and C and, depending on the work, include all available pitches in the recorder orchestra. Numerous scores for the SATB line-up were issued for the quartet play.

Important ensembles

Ensemble leader

literature

  • Michael Praetorius: Syntagma musicum . 3 volumes. 1614-1619.
  • Hermann Moeck : On the "post-history" and renaissance of the recorder . In: Tibia. Magazine for woodwinds , Vol. 3 (1978), pp. 13-20 ( online ; PDF; 12 MB) and Pp. 79-88 ( online ; PDF; 13 MB). Also special print: Edition Moeck, Celle 1980.
  • Hans-Martin Linde : Handbook of the recorder game. 8th ed. 2nd ext. Edition Schott, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-7957-2531-3 .