Scandinavian Tunes for Two Soprano Recorders

“This collection of Scandinavian tunes for soprano duet contains 40 songs, 10 each from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. They are presented in score format in a spiral- bound paperback -- I especially like that it always lies flat. Though the cover is not exciting, it does have the positive feature of listing all of the pieces in the volume, so potential online buyers can see exactly what is included. The songs are short and uncomplicated. Many are dance tunes. The top line carries the melody and the lower part the harmony. They are set in keys of no more than two sharps or flats. Rhythms are straightforward and mostly homophonic. Looking the book over and playing through one part at a time, I feared that the rhythmic similarity would be a negative -- but when I played through the selections with another experienced player, the songs turned out to be quite delightful. The melodies are lovely; when played to tempo, they are extremely engaging. The playing level is experienced beginner/intermediate. The most difficult elements would be the inclusion of some high notes, 16th-note passages, and dotted eighth-16th note figures. But as both parts generally play the same rhythms, a student or less experienced player would have support during the more challenging segments. These duets are ideally suited to teaching. They would also make a great addition to a concert repertoire, and they are especially well suited to more elaborate orchestration to add variety and to make for more playing fun.”