Recorder Class Descriptions

Please give your class preferences below. * indicates intermediate, **upper intermediate to advanced level

First Class Period Saturday, April 2, 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. & Sunday, April 3, 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
William Byrd’s Instrumental Music: Fantasias, Pavanes and more with Rainer Beckmann **
William Byrd played a conclusive role in bringing Elizabethan music to heights of perfection. It is no wonder that contemporaries referred to him as "a Father of Musick." This class explores Byrd's instrumental consort music in three to six parts. (Re-)Discover his contrapuntal genius in long-beloved pavans and galliards, intricate cantus firmus compositions, and especially in "the most principal and chiefest kind of music which is made without a dittie," the fantasia. This class is also open to Renaissance recorders.

“Music Creates Joyful Hearts”: Chorale settings from the 16th Century to Johann Sebastian Bach with Tish Berlin *
Martin Luther loved music, calling it “a gift from God”. These sublime polyphonic settings of chorale tunes - ranging from dance-like 16th-century works by le Maistre to harmonically-complex works by Bach - speak to all who play or sing them, creating joyful hearts! Works by Hermann Finck, Mattheus le Maistre, Johann Walter, Johann Sebastian Bach, and more.

Second Class Period Saturday, 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. & Sunday, 2:45 – 4:00 p.m.

The Musical World of Leonora Duarte: Works by Duarte, John Bull, Sweelinck, Lambert, and Nicholas Layner with Rainer Beckmann *
Belonging to a prominent Antwerp family of merchants and art collectors of Portuguese-Jewish origin, Leonora Duarte received a superb musical education including instruction on viol, harpsichord, and lute, as well as lessons in composition. This class reimagines Leonora's musical world in the early and mid-17th century and includes compositions possibly performed by Leonora and her siblings at the Duarte family's famed musical soirees. Join and explore several of Leonora Duarte's stunning five-part sinfonias; instrumental music by John Bull (very likely one of her early mentors); fashionable airs by Michel Lambert and Nicholas Lanier; as well as a highly captivating set of variations on an Italian ballo by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.

Purcell Fantasies with Tish Berlin **
Henry Purcell, known most for his vocal music and theater music, wrote a set of 10 fantasias for four viols in the summer of 1680. These works, like Bach’s Art of Fugue, form a monument to counterpoint. Purcell carries the old art of counterpoint to the far reaches of possibility, all while creating music that is beautiful, haunting, and full of fire. This class will dig deeply into three of these remarkable works in transcription for recorders.

Third Class Period Saturday, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. & Sunday, 4:30 – 5:45 p.m.

J. S. Bach: Fugues in all Moods with Rainer Beckmann **
Johann Sebastian Bach's fugues feature not only a wealth of contrapuntal techniques and procedures, they are also rich explorations of diverse affects, moods, and characters. Engage with this sparkling polyphonic universe by working on fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, The Art of the Fugue, as well as select organ fugues -- all adapted for recorder quartet.

Susanna Fair: Settings of Lupier’s 16th-century Hit by Lassus, Byrd, and More with Tish Berlin *
Susanne un jour, one of the greatest tunes of all time, uses a poem by Guillaume Guéroult to tell the story of Susannah from the Book of Daniel. The story of the persecuted Susannah struck a chord with composers and painters alike, even into the present day. We will explore the original polyphonic composition by Didier Lupi Second, and subsequent settings by Orlande de Lassus, Claude Le Jeune, William Byrd, and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.