This work is of special significance to me as it represents the peak of my musical endeavours as a recorder player in that I was given the opportunity of playing the second recorder on two occasions under the baton of Heidi Suhrlie with the Bach Chamber Orchestra, Bremen and the Vegesack Kantorei Choir in 1983. I spent three months rehearsing my whole seven minutes of playing-time for my rare moments of recorder glory. Whilst not covering myself with fame (not in the slightest!), it was a wonderful experience to play with professionals and gifted amateurs. I was particularly impressed by the performance of the young 1st oboist (Orlowsky by name and then some 18-years old, myself being 42 with just 3 qualified years of experience dammit!) who simply devoured his coal-black part within a few minutes of first sight-reading the work. Yup, siree! There are simply galaxies between the barely competent amateur and a gifted musician.
These two occasions were also the very rare moments during which I played my beloved D-recorder in public.
