American Recorder Society  · 
Eric Haas
  ·
September 9, 2023
  
<ol>
Cleaning up the music room, I came across a copy of Walter Bergmann's Golden Rules for Ensemble Playing (originally published in the Recorder News of 1957), and thought it was time for a repost. Bear in mind that the advice is largely tongue-in-cheek.<p>

<li>Play the same piece.
<li>Stop at every repeat sign and enter into a lengthy palaver whether to repeat or not.
<li>The most essential part in an ensemble is the other one.
<li>If you play a wrong note, give one of your partners a dirty look.
<li>Keep your fingering chart handy; you can always catch up with the others.
<li>Tune carefully before playing, then you can safely play out of tune the whole evening.
<li>Take your time in turning over [pages]; see No. 5 above.
<li>An ornament should be an embellishment and not an embarrassment.
<li>Your conductor has been paid for. You waste your money if you don't look at him/her.
<li>Aim for the highest n.p.s. (notes per second).
<li>A right note at the wrong time is a wrong note. The opposite, of course, is also true.
<li>Spare the breath and spoil the tune.
<li>If all the others are wrong and you alone are right, follow the wrong.
<li>All forte and piano markings, dot above, below, and behind a note, etc. are not to be observed. They are only decorations for the eye made by frustrated engravers.
<li>If a passage is difficult, slow it down; if it is easy, speed up. In the long run it all evens out.
<li>If you have lost your place in the music irretrievably, stop everyone and say, 'I think you need to tune again.'
<li>Blessed are they who have no perfect pitch, for theirs is the kingdom of music.
<li>Have the answer ready: 'I always play in tune, because I play a Bressan (Coolsma, Aura, Dolmetsch, von Huene, Koch, Koenig, Schott, [Moeck, Mollenhauer, Küng, Yamaha, Aulos, Prescott] etc.) recorder.'
<li>When, thanks to you, the ensemble has had to stop, explain lengthily why you made the mistake. Everyone will be most interested.
<li>Do not follow the conductor (be together with him).
<li>Like the trill on the upper note, vibrato always (?) starts on the upper frequency.
<li>Use historical evidence as some people read the Bible. They pick out what suits them and omit what does not conform to their preconceived notions.
<li>An authentic interpretation is achieved when not a note of the original remains.
<li>Be careful in selecting an edition. In a good edition, a forte stands at the beginning of a fast movement and a piano at the start of a slow one. Breath marks stand over rests, but are omitted when they could be helpful. Prefaces are essential. The make the performance of the piece completely unnecessary and sometimes even undesirable.
<li>Shakespeare's advice to recorder players:
<ul>
<li>a) A rest is silence (Hamlet) [NB and don't forget 'Tis as easy as lying']
<li>b) My foot my tutor (Prospero)
<li>c) My kingdom for a semiquaver (Richard III)
</ul>
<li>Thou shalt not play the little bit left over at the end.
</ol>