Your Recorder Community

Owls is the story of a hunt. It begins at dusk, the mysterious hour, when night birds are just opening their eyes. Then their wings slowly start to flap… it is time to fly! In the dark sky, the owls seem to dance, moving in circles with their eyes wide open. They are aware of every movement. Their flight is completely silent; they look like dangerous shadows… until they hasten to their prey. The pursuit is on… and the owls always win! A big part of Owls is based on a special mode: while one voice evolves in a chromatic scale, another voice alternates perfect fourths and fifths with it.

Constance (Connie) Primus, ARS member since 1968, generously sponsored this month’s Member’s Library Edition because she wanted to challenge a young serious composer to create an innovative, but accessible, recorder trio. Active for years in the Denver Chapter, she helped organize other chapters in Colorado, directed summer workshops there, and served four years as president of the ARS Board. She has encouraged ARS chapters and workshops to commission music for the recorder, an effort that produced “Minstrels” by Hans Ulrich Staeps published by Sweet Pipes, Inc. and “Dialogue and Dance” by Cecil Effinger published by the ARS. One of her lifetime goals has been to share her love of music.