Learn to Play Recorder

Lesson 72: Van Eyck Variations, Part 2 — Engels Nachtegaeltje

  • Play the theme and the first two variations of van Eyck's Engels Nachtegaeltje (“the English nightingale”).
  • Bring the altissimo register from Lesson 50 (Bb5 and C6) into a real piece, not just a drill.

Listen to the nightingale before you read the music. Van Eyck did.

Engels Nachtegaeltje is van Eyck's most virtuosic piece and the recorder's most-played imitative one: the variations climb steadily into the altissimo, imitating the trills and turns of a nightingale's call.

The theme

Simple and stepwise — the variations will leave that comfort behind.

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Variation 1 — running figuration

Mixed eighth- and sixteenth-note figures — irregular and bird-like, not uniform diminution.

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The high C is the nightingale's call: use Lesson 50's altissimo procedure so it sounds free, not pinched.

Variation 2 — into the altissimo

Mostly above the staff: sixteenth-note runs climb to high C and beyond, the lower line answering in the middle register.

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The imitation

The trills, turns, and quick pitch jumps are transcribed birdsong. If the variations sound like recorder exercises, the piece has failed; play with the bird-image in your head, not with the page.

Practice plan

Week 1 — theme and Variation 1
Slow practice for the running figuration; tempo by week's end.
Week 2 — Variation 2, altissimo work
Ten minutes of Lesson 50's altissimo drills per session, then hardest-bar procedure on the high-C passages.
Week 3 — the complete arc
Theme + V1 + V2 end-to-end; record and listen for whether the high notes sound free or strained.

Now play these

Van Eyck: Engels Nachtegaeltje
The piece of this lesson, through Variation 2.
Van Eyck: Doen Daphne d'Over Schoone Maeght
Same form, lower register, less virtuosic.
Van Eyck: Pavane Lachrymae
Slower and more lamenting — a contrast to the bird-piece.

When the theme-plus-two-variations arc plays end-to-end without the altissimo cracking, move on to Lesson 73.