Tanzstücke


Composer:	H. Genzmer	Suppliers:
Editor:		Duet	A/A
Publisher:	Schott & Co. Ltd.	Publication:	OFB 34

I was introduced to the wonderful world of Harald Genzmer by Stephan Schrader when he was doing his best to make a recorder player out of me in 1984-5. The work comprises 9 "dances" namely: "Vivace e giocoso", "Comodo", "Tranquillo", "Andante", "Amabile" (7/8), "Comodo" (again but in 5/4), "Allegro" (9/8), "Allegro" and "Allegro giocoso". I have purposely put the word dances in inverted commas because if you look, dear surfer, at the given time signatures, one wonders what kind of animal actually dances them.
Joking apart, I found these pieces extraordinarily difficult and never managed any of them to Stephan Schrader's or my own satisfaction. Excellent pieces for skill-honing they may be but for me they were eventually pure torture. My notes are black with pencilled remarks such as "Luft/Zunge/Nase" (air/tongue/nose), alternative fingerings along with an odd primitive sketch of an opened mouth. The pieces themselves I found to be rather weird for my taste and was always very happy to proceed with happier works.
I was very much amused some years later when I teamed up with Nannette Wiethölter for a short while, that Nannette told me of similar experiences with her music teacher. We both quickly and wryly agreed that these dances were not to be in our repertoire.