The Art of the Flute

Bach’s Art of the Fugue! I love this music no matter what instruments are involved. Check out Lynx, a quartet of Japanese flute players, traveling to a church in Germany to record Bach’s The Art Of The Fugue (BWV 1080)! What a delightful discovery this is! The album is called Fuga Lynx. I was totally enchanted by this familiar music, and how well it worked with the flute ensemble. The church recording provides a wonderful acoustic as well.

From Lynx to Syrinx! Syrinx is flute and harp duo, Laurel Wyckoff and Anne Sullivan playing works by Faure, Satie, Debussy, Gounod, and others. The music is beautifully played and marvelously captured. This set will paint pictures of hillside flocks, and glasses of vin ordinaire out of the barrel.

From the flute to the recorder. Technically the recorder is a type of flute (of the internal duct variety) (and that’s too technical). It’s been part of Western Music for hundreds of years. Recorders come in various sizes and tonal ranges. Michala Petri plays the recorder on three albums, making a point to focus on music from the 20th and even the 21st Centuries.

English Recorder Concertos features works by Malcolm Arnold, Richard Harvey, and Gordon Jacob. They are instantly British, somewhat pastoral, but full of musical interest. This is lovely stuff. Backing Michala Petri is the City Chamber of Hong Kong conducted by Jean Thorel, who sound quite at home with the music.

Danish and Faroese Recorder Concertos features works by Danish Composers Thomas Koppel, and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, along with Sunlief Rasmussen who is from the Faroe Islands. I should break in here to tell you that the Faroe Islands are about halfway between Scotland and Iceland. They are self-governing, but are pretty much related to Denmark. Got that? Well, no matter. This music is a bit more modern, not what you’d call pastoral, but still extremely accessible. The Allborg Symphony Orchestra of Denmark is conducted by Henrick Vagn Chistensen.

And finally UK DK, an album with Michala Petri, recorder, and Mahan Mesfahani, harpsichord, featuring works composed in the second half of the 20th Century or later– by both British and Danish Composers. The combination of harpsichord and recorder is surprisingly non-baroque here.

All of these are absolutely delightful albums. I really hope you will investigate them– they are musically involving, beautifully played, and excellently recorded.

Cover Photo by Kristin Wilson on Unsplash