While the mainstay of the recorder` repertoire sits within the medieval-Baroque periods, recent years have seen a growing body of new music composed for that instrument, recognizing and celebrating its distinct timbre and ready agility. These 3 well- recorded discs, all af Scandinavian origin, mark the recorder`s continuing appeal, offering complex and challenging new compositions alongside more broadly accessible works.
Thomas Koppel (brother of Anders and also a founder member of savage Rose) heads up the diverse Danish and Faroese Recorder Concertos (once more performed with aplomb by Petri). Koppel`s recorder concerto Moonchilds Dream (1991-1992) was commissioned for a film recounting the hopes and dreams of a penurious young girl in Copenhagen, and while Koppel`s rich, cinematic score may have been a fine match for the film`s emotive theme, as a concert piece the work borders on the saccharine. Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen`s fiercely inventive recorder concertos Chacun Son Son (2014) offers a welcome astringence. Comprised of a “long-breathed canon” scored between soloist and orchestra sections, the concerto snarls, sings and whispers, making for a powerful addition to the repertoire. Sunleif Rasmussen`s Territorial Songs (2008-09) explores the mingling sounds of birdsongs with notable originality, capturing distinct and magical soundworlds (including an arresting passage where Petri hums through the recorder) across the work`s fine short movements. Kate Wakeling, August 2015 Performance 4 stars. Recording 4 stars