The remarkable musical partnership of Carl Dolmetsch and Joseph Saxby (lasting some 60 years) was the catalyst for a significant series of works, seminal in the recorder's twentieth-century repertoire, to which many eminent composers contributed. About ninety works in all resulted, many of them receiving their premieres at the now legendary series of Wigmore Hall recitals given between 1939 and 1989. A number of these works have become well known in their published editions and frequently played. However, others remain in manuscript in the Dolmetsch archives at "Jesses" in Haslemere and hence virtually unknown.

"The Carl Dolmetsch 20th Century Archive" is the title of this new series of publications intended to make some of these previously unpublished works available to the recorder world. They have been carefully prepared from manuscripts in the Dolmetsch archives, often with the additional knowledge provided by attendance at rehearsals and performances involving Carl Dolmetsch himself.

The establishment of a contemporary repertoire was as important in the twentieth-century renaissance of the recorder as was its firm place in the early music revival. It is a repertoire that continues to provide musical enjoyment and challenges to recorder players who it is hoped will welcome these earlier contributions to it.

Thanks to Jeanne Dolmetsch and Andrew Mayes for making this series available.

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PD 01 Carl Dolmetsch: Theme and Variations for descant recorder and harpsichord £7.75

Performed on 1st February 1939 by Carl Dolmetsch at his first solo recorder recital - probably the first full-length recorder recital in history! Inspired by Daniel Purcell's Divisions in A minor and Paganini's Caprices.

PD 02 Anthony Bernard: Prelude and Scherzo for treble recorder and harpsichord £8.75

First performed during Warship Week and first broadcast from BBC Bristol during an air raid, this piece is composed around the initials of three generations of Dolmetsches (A D, C D and F E C D).

PD 03 Christopher Edmunds: Pastorale and Bouree for descant recorder and piano £7.95

Composed as a New Year gift for Carl Dolmetsch in January 1968.

PD 04 Donald Swann (1923-1994): Rhapsody from Within for treble recorder or flute and piano £9.75

First performed 2nd April 1982 and recently recorded by Piers Adams, who remarks that it carries "the flag of English eccentricity", with its wide musical references and sense of playfulness; a recurring motif plays homage to Poulenc's Flute Sonata. Donald Swann was famous as one half of the comic duo Flanders & Swann, but he wrote extensively for voice and piano.

PD 05 Gordon Jacob: Suite for treble recorder and strings £9.75

PD 06 Herbert Murrill: Sonata for treble recorder or flute and harpsichord or piano £7.50

PD 07 Alan Ridout (1934-1996): Sequence for treble recorder and lute or harpsichord £9.75

Seven thematically movements in the following modes: Locrian, Myxolydian, Phrygian, Ionian, Aeolian, Lydian and Dorian. Based on a manuscript autograph score held in the Dolmetsch archives and premiered in 1975 at the Wigmore Hall by Carl Dolmetsch and Robert Spencer.

PD 08 Alan Ridout: Variants on a Tune of H(erbert) H(owells) for descant recorder and harpsichord, £6.25

PD 09 Stephen Dodgson: Warbeck Dances for treble & sopranino recorder and harpsichord. £10.50

Derived from incidental music composed for the 1969 BBC production of Perkin Warbeck by John Ford. 1. Processional (The Uneasy Crown); 2. The Earl of Huntly; 3. Edinburgh Revels

PD 10 Christopher N. Wood: Sonata di Camera for treble recorder and piano, £9.75

Written for Carl Dolmetsch and Joseph Saxby and now in print for the first time.

PD 11 Arthur Milner: Suite for treble recorder & piano, £9.00

Possibly inspired by the 1958 Newcastle performance of Jacob's Suite following its premiere by Carl Dolmetsch and the Martin String Quartet in London - Milner sent the Suite to Dolmetsch with a dedication four months later. Novello published the final movement, the "Jig", in 1960 but this is the first time the work has been published inits entirety.

PD 12 Alan Ridout - Chamber Concerto for treble recorder & piano, £9.00

Based on a photocopy of the autograph manuscript score for recorder and string quartet. Ridout originally hoped to convert the piece for String Orchestra and/or Recorder & Harpsichord; this did not happen but here a keyboard reduction is supplied by the editors.

PD 13 Alan Ridout - Chamber Concerto for treble recorder & string quartet, £14.00

PD 14 Ivor Walsworth - Sonata for treble recorder & harpsichord, £8.75

Composed in 1950 and first performed publicly in April 1961 by Carl Dolmetsch and Joseph Saxby. The programme note said, "This short work ... is mainly lyrical in character, with moments of repose. It is designed to afford the opportunity of displaying that limpid beauty of tone so characteristic of the recorder, and also the almost bird-like agility of which the instrument is capable."

 

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Last updated 18/1/2010