The Delightful Companion

At the end of the seventeenth century, Delightful, Genteel and Most Pleasant were used to describe the company of the Pipe Recorder or Commen Flute in many English manuals with solo music for lovers of the recorder. What can increase musical pleasure more than playing the beloved recorder? Playing the recorder with someone very dear to you. So The Delightful Companion has a double meaning for me … For this CD, we chose duets that were originally composed for two recorders and music that mentions the recorder as one of the possible instruments. The CD opens with a piece for only two recorders, An Italian Ground from The Delightful Companion (Londen, 1686). Its recurring bass theme was usually richly elaborated, so that, paradoxically, the abbreviation arr. (arrangement) features in the CD’s table of contents.