"The recorder-playing throughout the evening displayed musicianship and virtuosity of the highest order along with the adventurous and challenging programming we have learned to expect from this outstanding duo. I came away with a sense of privilege at having been present at the first performance of (Gavin Bryars') Two Lines"
Response to Bach
Commissioning new works for recorder duo
To celebrate their 20 year working partnership Kathryn and Peter embarked on a project to commission new works for recorder duet.
The Concept
To arrange the fifteen Two-part Inventions of J.S. Bach for soprano (descant) and bass recorders and to commission seven composers to write a "Response to Bach" — one new work for each of the seven pairs of inventions. Bach composed his Two-part Inventions as study pieces for his son Wilhelm Friedrich to provide "... a clear method not only of learning to play cleanly in two parts but also with further practice to proceed correctly and well to three obbligato parts and also to acquire at the same time not only good inventions but also the ability to develop them well and above all to cultivate a cantabile style of playing and to gain from the beginning a strong foretaste of composition."
New works for Recorder Duo by:
New works were commissioned with assistance from Canterbury Christ Church University and audience donations
An ongoing project begun in 1995 in which we have explored the microtonal potential of the recorder. The work has resulted in the publication of The Quarter-tone Recorder Manual (Moeck Ed 2084) and the CD A Journey Among Travellers
Kathryn und Peter durchqueren die Antarktis
(Kathryn and Peter Cross Antarctica)A radio play and stage production
by Michael Wolters and Marcus Dross
The music for recorder duo, composed by Michael Wolters, is based on a cross-section through Antarctica along the route taken by the explorer Robert Scott and his team. The rising and falling contours of the bed-rock and the ice sheet are transformed into a 35-minute duet composed entirely in eighth-tones for alto and tenor recorders.
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Flights of Fancy |
A Journey Amoung Travellers |
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A Journey Among Travellers is one of a number of pieces written by Donald Bousted in collaboration with Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman. Their project, which has involved the formulation of quarter-tone fingerings for the recorder has been published in the form of a manual, The Quarter-Tone Recorder Manual (Moeck Nr. 2084) which prepares the advanced player for the performance of structured quarter-tone music. |
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Click here to hear Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman play an excerpt from "Sonata" from A Journey Among Travellers by Donald Bousted |
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Click here to hear an excerpt from "In Manuas Tuas Domine" by John Baldwin from Flights of Fancy |
"The performances have a timeless quality... Wonders on so modest a scale tend to be in short supply these days."
"Bennetts and Bowman are a truly incredible pair on recorders - the sounds are uncanny, wild and a million miles from your expectations. Bousted's music has great elegance, wit and charm"
"Remarkable recorder music ... made such an impression ... really new and significant ... breathtaking, edge of seat atmosphere ... totally gripping and convincing"
"Their intonation is superb and their tone is well-matched. The recording is compelling and ought to hold a place in every contemporary recorder player's collection."
"Bereits beim ersten Hören wird deutlich, dass Bennetts und Bowman ein fest eingespieltes Interpretenpaar bilden. So findet man ein optimales Gleichgewicht zwischen den beiden Instrumenten, eine Selbstverständlichkeit in der Verwendung von Vierteltongriffen sowie eine Präzision im zeitlichen Verlauf. Durch die enge Zusammenarbeit zwischen Komponist und Interpreten ist eine überzeugende Fassung entstanden, bei der die Intentionen des Komponisten voll zum Ausdruck kommen."
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Time Pieces Four volumes for descant and treble recorder of arrangements from medieval to modern. Selected for the Associated Board by Kathryn Bennetts and Peter Bowman. |
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Quarter-tone Recorder Manual By Kathryn Bennetts, Donald Bousted and Peter Bowman Moeck Edition 2084 |
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Doctor Downing's Recorder Technique Doctors By Peter Bowman |
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Fun and Games with the Recorder Ensemble pieces which supplement the Fun and Games series of Tutor and Tune books for Soprano and Alto Recorder arranged by Peter Bowman. |
Australasia: Orpheus Music
PO Box 1363, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
Tel/Fax: (02) 6772 2205
UK: Fand Music
The Barony, 16 Sandringham Road, Petersfield, Hampshire, UK, GU32 2AA
Tel./Fax.: + 44 (0)1730 267341
The "Response to Bach" project was launched on 24th October 2006 at a concert held in St Gregory's, the performance centre of the music department at Canterbury Christ Church University. The programme included two world premieres and the first complete performance of our arrangements of Bach's Two-part Inventions.
First performances of new works commissioned for the "Response to Bach" project:
24th October 2006, St. Gregory's Church, Canterbury Christ Church University
On Reflection (2006) for tenor and bass recorders by Roderick Watkins
Intervention (2006) for alto and tenor recorders by Michael Wolters
19th May 2007, Tudeley Church, Tonbridge, Kent
One Voice in Two Parts (2006) for soprano and bass recorders by Nicola LeFanu
Two Lines (2007) for tenor and bass recorders by Gavin Bryars
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