Does anyone perform the Telemann suite for solo recitals? How do you generally end the piece? I am considering entering for the Trinity Advanced certificate thingie which is a grade 8 but without all the technical stuff, just a recital. I've performed the Telemann before so I may as well brush it up and go for a certificate while I am on with doing exams. Do you just end it on the end of the solo part at the end of the Polonaise? It should end on the CD al fine but there is no recorder line so I can't present that bit in an exam. If you happen to have the timings without tuttis and major repeats that would also be fantastic! As far as I can work out you don't have any marks to do with presenting balance, and since I specialised in baroque orchestra on recorder I want to play a Telemann and 2 Vivaldi concerti (if I can fit them in the time limit!) - does that seem reasonable?

I've only ever either busked through it all at home, or performed the overture (for grade 8) and the Air Italien (for a music festival competition) - but the whole thing is fairly long...timings would probably not help you that much, because you'd still need to know how fast you play it though. When playing the overture, my teacher did play the orchestra-only sections in full (giving me breathing space): there seem to be various interpretations on recordings as to how the overture goes, with some players repeating a great big chunk, and others leaving it pretty much as written, as it is already a sizeable part of the piece as a whole. The Italian air worked well as a presentation in its own right for the music festival (it was a thirty minute recital class) because it had the contrasting fast and slow sections, and allowed me to expose my ignorance of ornamentation show off what twiddles I could do. I would think that the best plan if you do want to do the whole thing, would be to see how it feels to finish up without the polonaise - and I'd advise against putting it last in the programme if there's any concern about it feeling unfinished. It's a lovely suite to play, isn't it?

Which Vivaldi concerti would you be planning to play?

It depends how long the Suite comes out to with the orchestral and long repeats taken out. There is a repertoire list for the certificate, and you have to play 20 minutes from the list and up to 10 minutes from own choice. Both the suite and Il Gardellino (RV428) are on the list so I could play those for my repertoire pieces without having to learn/buy anything new. Only problem is that Gardellino is almost always recorded and presented on sop, and I only have a basic Aulos sopranino - not sure how well I can get the thing to come over on that. I don't know if it would be acceptable to present 1st and second movements on treble and just the last one with all the chirpy bird stuff on the sop as that rather splits the work up. So the other would be either La Notte (RV439) or La Tempesta di mare (RV433). The Telemann is already a minor key work and Gardellino a major, so from that perspective it doesn't matter if I do Notte or Mare. I suppose Notte has rather more contrast built into it.

What do you reckon?

Edit to add: Perhaps it's a good idea to use the (plastic) sop for a bit to rest my Moeck, it does tend to get a bit waterlogged even if I keep it topped up with anti-condensant. How do you cope with long performances on a single instrument?

Just clarify that one, you do have to demonstrate balance of techniques, skills, communication, but there is nothing about balance of different eras. I think it could generally be very acceptable to go to a recital and hear only baroque music, certainly I often pick concerts on that basis, and there are simply hundreds of baroque orchestras about.

I must admit, I wouldn't tend to use a single instrument for a whole recital, and I can't think of any recorder recital I've been to where that's been done, even if the music has been drawn from a single period or even single compser.

My strategy for this exam has been to vary the instruments needed (and the genres and techniques displayed) by choosing a wider range of music.

So, for example, I'll be using a wide-bore descant for some van Eyck and a lovely olivewood treble with a really "edgy" sound for a wonderful modern work which should give me the chance to show some extended techniques and jazz-based harmonies in contrast to the Handel sonata that is the centrepiece of my programme, which will be played on my trusty old palisander Moeck.


By the way, regarding your query about the end of the Telemann, the regs say that you should play the works in full, and should observe all DCs. "Playing the rests" is as big a platform skill as playing the notes.

The regs also say, however, that "lengthy orchestral parts and tuttis should be appropriately curtailed" except where the syllabus indicates you to play in the tuttis. I would imagine that a whole part of the suite where the recorder doesn't play at all would be "sensibly curtailed" by just leaving it out, but then that unbalances the suite.