American Recorder

Recordings by English recorder virtuoso John Turner cover diverse aesthetic and idiomatic approaches – and here I refer primarily to his work with newer compositions. I think his most significant contributions are recordings in which compositions for the recorder reside in the context of a composer’s broader repertory. Turning Towards You, music by Robin Walker (born 1953), is a striking example of [this].

Walker’s name is not familiar to many American listeners. The works on this disc will resonate well for those who enjoy music of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and other English pastoralists like Gustav Holst (1874-1934), George Butterworth (1885-1916) and Edmund Rubbra (1901-86). Walker’s aesthetic draws on melodic contours and rhythmic gestures evocative of English folk song. While that applies to all of the pieces on this disc, those melodic and rhythmic features are exemplified in the two tracks (of eight total) on which Turner takes his turn.

A Prayer and a dance of Two Spirits (Concerto for recorder, violin and string orchestra, 2007), emerged from Walker’s grief at the death of his parents and from the comfort he found in a dream of them “…together in a small boat on a tranquil and glistening lake.” The music is tranquil and glistening indeed, and is a satisfying tour de force for recorder soloist playing both soprano and sopranino, as well as for the violin soloist (instrumentation suggested to walker by Turner). The unaccompanied soprano solo, A Rune for St. Mary’s (track 7), merits not only repeated listening, but study for technique development and performance.

—Tom Bickley