A slow, stately Sarabande from the Third Suite of Handel's Water Music, performed on virtual instruments: alto recorder, Baroque bassoon, two first violins, two second violins, 2 violas, cello, viola da gamba, 2 basses, and Baroque lute (instead of harpsichord, as scored).

Handel: Water Music, Suite III, HWV 350 - 1. Sarabande (2013.08.03)

Second movement of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, performed on virtual instruments (3 Baroque oboes, Baroque bassoon, strings, harpsichord), using a wind controller (Akai EWI USB). Double reeds by Wallander Instruments.

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, BWV 1046 - 2. Adagio (2013.10.05)

Third movement — Air à l'Italien — from Georg Philipp Telemann's Suite in A minor for Recorder & Strings. Performed by virtual ensemble of recorder, strings, and theorbo. The beautiful recorder is from Wallander Instruments. It is modelled, not sampled. Playing it on a wind controller (Akai EWI USB) is just like playing the real thing. Sloppy fingering can even cause squeaks just like on a real recorder. Amazing. (Those professional classical musicians I've talked to who don't know anything about virtual instruments really need to get their heads out of the sand, because the realism of these instruments is advancing rapidly. That's what I'm exploring here on SoundCloud.)

Telemann: Suite in A minor for Recorder & Strings, TWV 55:a2 - 3. Air à l'Italien (2013.12.01)

First movement of Telemann's delightful Concerto in E Minor for Recorder and Flute (TWV 52:e1). Performed on an Akai EWI USB wind controller using virtual instruments (sampled and modeled): alto recorder (Wallander Instruments), flute (Samplemodeling), strings (Garritan/EWI), and harpsichord (Mondartt).

Telemann: Concerto in E Minor for Recorder and Flute, TWV 52:e1 - 1. Largo (2014.07.12)

First movement of Albinoni's lovely concerto for oboe in D minor (opus 9, number 2). Note that the movement is titled "Allegro e non presto," that is, "Joyfully and not fast". Many contemporary orchestras play allegros much too fast for my taste. After all, "allegro" means happy or joyful, not fast. In this case, the composer evidently wanted to be sure that it was not played fast. And I didn't (because I can't play it much faster than I have done here, and wouldn't have even if I could). Performed on virtual instruments: Baroque oboe (Wallander Instruments), strings, and harpsichord.

Albinoni: Oboe Concerto in D minor, Op.9, No.2 - 1. Allegro e non presto (2015.12.19)

The Masters of the Roll – Claude Achille Debussy

From A Sketchbook

Handel's famous «Sarabande» performed on a virtual Spanish Baroque organ using simply the Flautado (Principal) stop. ("Spanish Organ" freely available from: jlmonsite.chez.com/MonSite/Spanish%20Organ.htm).

Handel: Sarabande from Keyboard Suite in D minor, HWV 437 - Organ version (2016.05.09)

Stratus Chamber Orchestra, David Rutherford, conducting
Live performance - January 30, 2016

William Walton - Two Pieces For Strings From Henry V; I. Passacaglia - Death Of Falstaff

A Trip to Prague

Czech Dance Vol. 1 Polka In F# Major

The delightful first movement to Telemann's Concerto for Recorder and Viola da gamba in A minor, performed on virtual instruments: violin, viola, recorder, gamba, cello and organ. Strings by Samplemodeling; alto recorder by Wallander Instruments. 
I first heard this while sitting in on a master class for lower Baroque strings (gamba, cello). Wonderful performance! But, considering that it is marked 'grave', I thought the students were taking it a bit fast (more 'allegro'). Anyway, I was glad that one of the faculty members (from American Bach Soloists) suggested the students take it at a more relaxed tempo. They then performed it again closer to the tempo I've used here, although my version is a bit slower still. Nonetheless, a friend commented: 'I listened to the piece before I read your notes and immediately thought this is the liveliest and most cheerful “grave” ever written!' In all fairness to the students, their original tempo was close to that of most recordings, which are a bit too fast, in my opinion (except for the recording by Collegium Pro Musicum, which is about the same tempo as my version).

Castle Consort plays Telemann

Telemann: Concerto for Recorder and Viola da Gamba in A minor, TWV 52:a1 - 1. Grave (2017.08.20)

Fourth movement from Jean-Marie Leclaire's Flute Sonata No. 6 in E minor (from Opus 1), performed on virtual flute, harpsichord and cello, using a wind controller (Akai EWI USB). Heard this sonata played by Janet See (“The flutist of choice in baroque repertoire”) on Baroque flute at a recent master class at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Was inspired to try my own interpretation; really a delight to play!

Leclaire: Sonata No. 6 in E Minor - 4. Allegro (2018.04.29)

Exploring the potential for using virtual instruments to create a realistic early music sound, with an emphasis on Baroque music. ¶ Esplorante la eblecon por uzi virtualajn instrumentojn por krei realisman fru-muzikan sonon, kun emfazo je baroka muziko.

Telemann: Concerto for Recorder and Viola da Gamba in A minor, TWV 52:a1 - 1. Grave (2017.08.20)

Jason Castle

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