May 2021
Gotta Have It:
Collections Every Recorder Player Should Know, Part I

by Eric Haas
There is an enormous body of literature written for recorder (or that recorder players steal), but over forty years as a teacher, player, and a purveyor of sheet music, I’ve found myself returning again and again to a handful of collections. Some, like van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lust-hof, are historically significant. Others are handy compilations of important works (The Baroque Solo Book) or anthologies with selections from a larger repertory (the Schott Recorder Library with sonatas from ten different duet collections). More recently there are wide-ranging collections with centuries of music written or arranged for recorder that introduce players to hitherto unfamiliar music. In this article I list my “must-have” collections for one and two recorders without accompaniment. A subsequent article will address anthologies of trios, quartets and larger ensembles.
All Alone: Music for One Recorder Without Accompaniment
Jacob van Eyck’s Der Fluyten Lust-hof (The Flute Player’s Garden of Delights) is the core repertoire for soprano recorder. Van Eyck, blind from birth, an expert on the acoustics of bells, and carillonneur of Utrecht, received a salary of 100 guilders in 1649 (about $6,000) from the Sint Janskerk “provided that he occasionally in the evening entertain the people strolling in the churchyard with the sound of his little flute.” It’s the largest collection ever written for a single wind instrument by one composer – 143 pieces, mostly variations on songs, chorales, psalm tunes, etc. popular in 17th-century Holland, ranging from quite easy to virtuosic. The music was actually written for soprano recorder, is tuneful and fun to play, and a great introduction to the art of improvisation and ornamentation.
Alto recorder players absolutely must own Bernard Thomas’s Baroque Solo Book: the Essential 18th-Century Unaccompanied Repertoire for Alto Recorder. The editor has collected in one volume all of the important solo collections for recorder – Select Preludes and Voluntarys (1705), solo pieces from The Division Flute (1706), Preludes and Traits for recorder from Hotteterre’s L’Art de Preluder (1719) – as well as the solo flute pieces we claim as our own – Telemann’s Fantasias, Jean-Daniel Braun’s Pièces sans basse, solos by Quantz from the Giedde Collection, the J.S. Bach Partita (BWV 1013) and C.P.E. Bach Sonata (Wq 112). It’s a thick volume (128 pages), spiral bound to lay flat on the stand and will keep you busy for years.
The Altblockfloeten-Solobuch compiled by Barbara Hintermeier & Birgit Baude is a different sort of anthology, with 175 pieces spanning eight centuries, from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. The volume includes the complete Bird Fancyer’s Delight, the solo part from Bach’s Second Brandenburg concerto, selections from 18th-century English ‘flute’ (recorder) tutors, Viennese csakan pieces, and contemporary solos by Staeps, Genzmer, Linde, Steenhoven, Tarasov, and others. About half of the pieces are marked L for leicht (easier).
During the pandemic, the von Huene Workshop published three solo anthologies, the Soprano, Alto, and Bass Recorder Solo Books which have proven very popular. Like the Hintermeier & Baude Solobuch, these include music from the 13th–21st centuries, but a wider range of repertoire from relatively easy to quite challenging: medieval dances, ricercate, van Eyck variations, music from 17th- and 18th-century tutors, French baroque preludes and solos, transcriptions of Bach and Telemann solos for violin, ‘cello, and viol, Playford dances and Scottish tunes, Viennese csakan music, 19th-century flute etudes, early 20th-century pieces by Carl Nielsen, Igor Stravinsky, and others, and some wonderful new 21st-century works written especially for these collections. Each book includes 135+ pages of music and is spiral bound to lie flat ($35). Full disclosure: the editor of these collections is also the author of this article.
Tea for Two: Duets for Two Recorders
Much of the recorder duet literature is 18th-century music for two altos, but there were many didactic duo collections printed in the 16th century that work well on recorders and generally include a wider variety of voicings. Two of the most important Renaissance duo collections are Thomas Morley’s First Book of Canzonets to Two Voyces with twelve texted pieces (SS, SA, and ST) plus nine instrumental fantasias for various combinations, and Orlando di Lasso’s Motetti e Ricercari a due voci with twelve relatively easy texted works (six for SA and six for TB) plus twelve more technically challenging instrumental ricercari (six SA, six TB). In both collections the texted pieces are rhythmically simpler and move mostly by step, but the text underlay provides a useful model for articulation. The instrumental works are more varied and wide-ranging, with complex interplay between the voices.
There are so many fantastic duet collections from the 18th century that it’s almost impossible to narrow the choices. Many of the French publications were intended for musettes (chamber bagpipes with drones on C), so keys never stray far from C major/minor and parts rarely go higher than C6. Every player should know the Joseph Bodin de Boismortier Six Sonates, Op. 17, Esprit-Philippe Chédeville’s 6 Duos galantes, Op. 5, and Jacques-Christophe Naudot’s Babioles, Op. 10. These are readily accessible to less technically advanced players, yet charming, tuneful, inventive, and a great introduction to French baroque style. For German duets, there’s no contest: Georg Philipp Telemann’s Six Sonatas, op. 2. Telemann cannily engraved his duet collections with three clef/key signature combinations: treble (for flutes), French violin (recorders) and alto (bass viol). While the Op. 2 duos are by far the best known, the XVII Canons Melodieux (or “Canonic Sonatas”, Op. 5), the 1752 duos, and a set of nine Sonatas discovered in manuscript in 2002 all fall into my “must have” category.
Let’s Mix It Up a Little: Multi-Composer Anthologies
London Pro Musica’s Duo Collection, edited and arranged by Larry Bernstein is a wide-ranging anthology of thirty-five pieces from the late 13th to early 19th centuries arranged for two alto recorders. Hintermeier & Baude’s Altblockfloeten Duettbuch contains 120 pieces from the 13th to 21st centuries, though the bulk of the repertoire is baroque. There are duets by Mattheson, Telemann, and Boismortier to be sure, but much of the rest of the collection will be delightfully unfamiliar. A similar, but more focused anthology is the Schott Recorder Library (duets – there is also a collection of solos with basso continuo), which is a sort of tasting menu of suites and sonatas chosen from the many baroque recorder duet publications in the Schott catalog: Paisible, Finger, Purcell, Croft, Valentine, Telemann, Loeillet de Gant, Delavigne, Boismortier, and Naudot. This is a great option for players who want to get a sense of the variety of 18th-century recorder duos and perhaps find a composer whose music they’d like to explore further.

These are just my top picks (and I had a hard time narrowing it down!). Each player will have their own favorites. There are so many repertories I haven’t even touched upon: medieval monophonic songs and dances, Playford (and later English country) dance tunes, English recorder duets (and those by ex-patriates Paisible, Finger, Couteville and others), all well worth exploring. Stay-tuned for Part II with my favorite anthologies for three, four, and more recorders.
Where Can I Find This Treasure Trove of Recorder Music?
The editions described in this article may be ordered from Honeysuckle Music, the von Huene Workshop, Inc., Boulder Early Music Shop, Courtly Music Unlimited, and other sheet music retailers. London Pro Music editions are also available directly from the publisher’s new web site edition-zefiro.com.
Publisher Information for Editions Referenced in this article
  • Van Eyck: Der Fluyten Lust-hof, multiple editions available – Amadeus BP 704/705/706 ($30/volume), XYZ 1013/1021/1023 ($19/volume), London Pro Musica DOL 125 ($50 complete).
  • Thomas, ed.: Baroque Solo Book, LPM DOL 111 ($35).
  • Hintermeier & Baude, ed.: Altblockfloeten-Solobuch, Schott ED 21796 ($29).
  • Haas, ed.: Soprano Recorder Solo Book, von Huene VHWSRSB ($35), Alto Recorder Solo Book, VHWARSB ($35), Bass Recorder Solo Book, VHWBRSB ($35).
  •  Morley: First Booke of Canzonets to two Voyces, LPM RM8 ($18), Peters EP7726 ($22).
  • Lassus: Motetti e Ricercari, LPM RM6 ($16).
  • Boismortier: Six Sonatas, op 17, BP 2042/2043 ($23/volume) , OFB 5 ($20) & OFB 6 ($19).
  • Chedeville: Six Duos galantes, op. 5, BP 770 ($21), HM 199 ($23).
  • Naudot: Babioles, op. 10, BP 2013 ($23), OFB 66 ($19) & OFB 67 ($23).
  • Telemann: Six Sonatas, op. 2, BP 2426/2427 ($20/volume), OFB 142/143/144 ($22/volume).
  • Bernstein: Duo Collection, DOL 109 ($18).
  • Schott Recorder Library, ED 21787 ($30).
Eric Haas is an ARS Board member who manages the Early Music Shop of New England in Brookline, MA. His many arrangements and transcriptions for recorders are played worldwide. He has recently published the “Bass Recorder Solo Book.”


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