Sacramento Recorder Society

SRS Hibernation Help

From Mark Schiffer:

Hello fellow SRS members!

As you’ve been informed, our regularly scheduled meeting for April 7 with Greta has had to be canceled. We’ve all been instructed to practice social distancing, and many of us are already sheltering in place. Unfortunately, that means no playing music with friends and no in-person music lessons. Fortunately there’s loads of music to listen to on the internet. For example, the Voices of Music channel on YouTube is loaded with wonderful videos of the best Early Music you’ll find anywhere.

For those of you who want to do more than practice on your own, I’ve uploaded quite a few play-along music files I’ve collected over the years to Dropbox. These are similar to the “Music minus one” LPs and CDs. Most can be played on alto, and some can be played on soprano or tenor. Some are fairly easy to play, and some are challenging.

• For many of them, all that’s necessary is to open the file and the music will be in front of you on your computer screen. Adjust the volume on the computer and play along from the screen. It’ll take a little getting used to but it’s worth it.

• For others, there’s a PDF of the solo part you can download and play from, while the computer, or your cell phone on external speakers, is playing the accompaniment.

• For others, there are two video files. One is complete: it plays the recorder part with the continuo. The second plays only the continuo, so you are the soloist. These also must be played while you’re sitting in front of your computer, or, if you’ve got the capability, stream it to your TV.

These are large video files, so I’d suggest downloading them separately. All together they take up about 442 Mb of space.

To get your music, click Here, or click on the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xoxfsfr6gvf0rzx/AAD1nzXySRZB0QkfsKFhH6Npa?dl=0

This will take you to a dropbox folder labeled 2020-04 Mark’s April play-along files.

There are too many pieces to list. You’ll have to take a look yourself.

Look for a button at the top of the page that either looks like this:

or says Download and click on it. A menu will drop down. Click on Download as .zip , and all of the music will download to your computer. Double-clicking on the zip folder should uncompress the files. If you don’t want to download all of the music at once, then click on just one of the titles. That single piece should automatically download to your computer. Depending on your download speed this should take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.

I hope this works for everyone. There’s plenty of music to keep you playing for a long time! If you have any difficulties downloading or using the files, please contact me and I’ll do my best to help. And . . . if they work well for you, please let me know!!

– – Mark

April Meeting Cancelled

Dear Early Music friends,

This is a first for the Sacramento Recorder Society, I believe. Due to the restrictions and concerns related to the coronavirus, we are cancelling, with regret, our April chapter meeting with Greta Haug-Hryciw. We anticipate that we may have to cancel our May chapter meeting as well, but we will keep you posted since events are unfolding in an unpredictable way.

There are a lot of lovely classical and early music posts online. I especially enjoyed Piffaro’s rousing version of Alla Guera! Here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjSkCHfxDYE

After watching it, I feel ready to do what needs to be done!

Stay safe,
Patty Johnson, SRS secretary and newsletter editor

San Francisco Recorder Society Workshop

Dear Recorder fans –

We are pleased to let you know that enrollment is now open for the annual San Francisco Recorder Society workshop. The fantastic team of Rotem Gilbert and Hanneke van Proosdij will once again provide a marvelous day of satisfying music and instruction for all in attendance.

This year’s SFRS workshop, A Hike through Germany, will be presented on Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 17, 2020. This national holiday is an unusual day of the week for most music workshop events, but last year’s Love is in the Air workshop was so enthusiastically received (with a record attendance!) that we are trying it again on President’s Day this year. We hope it will allow for full participation from our regular participants as well as players who are new to the workshop experience.

Come along with us as Hanneke and Rotem guide this musical hike through Germany to show us spectacular views through the music of great German composers from various periods in history. J.S. Bach and Heinrich Isaac are among the star composers we’ll meet along the way.

For the Teachers among you: We invite you to share this workshop invitation with your students. Some scholarships are available and we are happy to consider requests on the basis of need.

Monday February 17, 2020

(Presidents’ Day)

10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

(check-in and setup begins at 9:30 a.m.)

Christ Church Lutheran

1090 Quintara Street (at 20th Avenue)

San Francisco, CA 94116

Tuition: $50 for the whole day, $30 for half day

(10:00 to 1:00 or 1:30 to 4:30)

Tune-in to the Recorder XV registration Fill-In

http://www.arssanfrancisco.org/welcomedropdownmenuv/newsevents.html

Early Music Classes with Tish Berlin

Greetings!

I will be offering three new classes in January and February 2020. The classes take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from January 8 through February 26, at my home in Albany.

Class #1: Sightreading Smorgasbord II for the Intermediate Recorder Player (Tuesday afternoons)
Improve your ability to sight read by doing it! We’ll play through a variety of pieces, from easy to moderately difficult, geared toward the people who attend each class. You’ll get lots of tips and tricks to keep going when you lose your place, and have fun in the process. This class is for intermediate recorder players. The class runs from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m., Tuesdays, January 14 (not 7!) to February 25, and requires a minimum enrollment of 4 to a maximum of 8 participants. This class continues the work begun in late 2019, but new students are welcome.

Class #2: Music in the Spanish Courts from the late 15th to the 16th Century for voices and instruments (Wednesday afternoons)
This class features villancicos, motets, and mass movements by late 15th- and 16th-century Spanish and Franco-Flemish composers. This period in Spanish history produced an abundance of ravishingly beautiful music by composers including Juan del Encina, Francisco Peñalosa, Pedro de Escobar, Josquin des Prez, Pierre de La Rue, and Cristobal de Morales, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and more. The class runs from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m., Wednesdays, January 8 to February 26, (no class on February 19) and also requires a minimum enrollment of 4 to a maximum of 8.

Class #3: Sightreading Smorgasbord II for the Upper Intermediate to Advanced Recorder Player (Wednesday evenings)
This class covers the same topics as the Tuesday class but is geared to more advanced players. The class runs from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., Wednesdays, January 8 to February 26, (no class February 19) and also requires a minimum enrollment of 4 to a maximum of 8. This class continues the work begun in late 2019, but new students are welcome.

Where: These classes will take place at my home in Albany. Students must be able to navigate an uneven path on a hill.

Pitch: Pitch for all classes is A=440.

Cost: The cost for each class is $175 for the full session of 7 meetings or $30 per class if paying weekly.

For more information or to register, please email Tish at tishberlin, or leave a message at 510-882-1169.

Letitia Berlin
Tibia Recorder Duo
www.tibiaduo.com
510-882-1169