Joyous Prelude

In the past few years, for the second issue, we have created a "symphonic" arrangement that lets you have a lot of options with your recorder players. This year we bring you a symphonic prelude based on J. S. Bach's striking "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring." Well, that's how most of us know the work in the English language. Actually, the basic tune comes from the 10th movement of Bach's cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" BMV 147.

This melody has been set in many ways, for many instrumentations. For our arrangement, we have three recorder parts: a soprano part that plays mainly the melody of the sustained section, using D, G, A, B, C, and D'; an optional soprano part that can be played with only G, A, and B; and an optional alto recorder part that needs just G, C, D, E, F#, and G'. With the carefully arranged orchestra tracks, you can use any or all of the recorder parts and still sound great! A free, downloadable copy of the piano/recorder score is available at our web site.

By the way, if you want more of our versatile, playable recorder songs for the holidays with symphonic recorders, have a look and a listen to our new collection A Symphonic Christmas For Recorders, available at our web site, MusicK8.com