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<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 22pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">WHAT
IS A RECORDER ORCHESTRA ?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The pivotal idea prompting
the venture to create the American Recorder Orchestra of the West (AROW), a
pan-recorder orchestra in northern California, is to enable intermediate &
advanced recorder players to practice and perform works that are more
challenging in one way or another and that also encompass a variety of musical
genre that goes quite beyond what is usually played in chapters of the American
Recorder Society.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Works that provide
<U>both</U> challenge and variety are the large-scale works that have been
especially composed for recorder orchestras and which require the entire
recorder family of instruments in their performance.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At the present time, such works are
being composed mostly in England and the
Netherlands.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The Hampshire Recorder
Sinfonia of Hants, England, established in 1995, directed by Christopher
Burgess, has recorded two CDs which presents major orchestral works with English
themes by English arrangers/composers who created them especially for recorder
orchestras.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>CD #1 is entitled
simply “The Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia”; CD #2 is given the title, “A Very
English Sound”.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The recorder player
who hears this all-recorder orchestra for the first time will be astounded by
its excellence of performance and also by the orchestral nature of its
repertoire.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The program contents of
both CDs are available upon request.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>You may also inquire about two other recorder orchestras whose CDs I have
ordered to sell to American recorder players:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Blokfluitensemble Praetorius in The
Netherlands; Ensemble Flutes a Bec de Lyon in France.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Much of the “early
music” that is typically the fare for ARS chapters is usually choral or
instrumental music that has been transcribed or arranged for 4-8 recorders.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The music that is composed or arranged
for a recorder orchestra (as opposed to a large recorder ensemble with many
players on a part) has many more parts for its players,….. up to 15.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Compositions of this sort, by their very
nature, are not likely to fall into the category of “Early Music”, or if they
do, they will be full scale orchestral treatments of
it.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Examples of multi-part
works as performed by the Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia
are:<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"><FONT size=3>
</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><U><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Gopak</SPAN></U><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">, arr. for SiSAATTBGb by Paul Clark,
former director of the Heart of England <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Recorder <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Orchestra (HERO).
from the Russian folk dance by Modest Mussorgsky<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><U>Midsummer Meadow
Suite</U>, composed for SiSAATTBGbCb by Lyndon
Hilling.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>This 12 minute work consists of 3 contrasting movements based upon
English<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>history:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>1) “The Battle of
Northampton”; 2) “Becket’s Well”; 3) “Northampton<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Carnival”.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The work is
programmatic and impressionistic in nature.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><U>Suite of Early
English Keyboard Music</U>, arr. for SiSSAATTBBGbCb by Denis
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Bloodworth, director of the London Recorder Orchestra.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The suite consists of
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>arrangements of keyboard music by Jeremiah Clarke, Samuel Arnold, Henry
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Purcell & Charles Dibdin.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3> <o:p></o:p></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
size=3><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I have received a
supply CDs from the Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The 75 minutes of music on each of the
HRS CDs include many different genres & eras (Impressionistic, Programmatic,
Folk, Romantic, Marches, Variations, Nocturnals, Part Songs). The CDs may be
purchased for $16 ea. + post ( & Calif. tax if applicable).<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If you are interested in purchasing one
or both the HRS CDs, or if you would like more information about the English,
Dutch and</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">French orchestras
mentioned here, please write or email <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Richard Geisler: 15181 Ballantree Ln.,
Grass Valley, CA 95949<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3>Richard
Geisler, Dir.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT size=3>The
American Recorder Orchestra of the West<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href="mailto:richgeis@jps.net"><FONT
size=3>richgeis@jps.net</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>