American Recorder Society Downloadable Music Libraries

The American Recorder Society currently makes the following libraries of music available to members for free download.
 

• Play-along Library The ARS is pleased to offer this opportunity for recorder players to play the missing part in these selections of music, offered by professional and teaching members of ARS.  For each piece, you will find multiple recordings, so that, for instance, you may play the soprano line while listening to a recording of the alto, tenor, and bass parts. Scores/parts are provided.
• Members' Library Editions The Members Library Editions (MLE’s) are one of the many benefits that ARS members have received since 1987 as supplements to the American Recorder  Magazine. In celebration of the ARS is 75 year these were first made available as free digital downloadable (Adobe .pdf ) editions to members, and new additions are added as they are published. This collection of more than 50 compositions offers a wide diversity of styles and you are sure to find one for every occasion and level of experience.
• Play-the-Recorder Month These compositions/arrangements were published in American Recorder magazine in past years for ARS members to play on Play-the-Recorder Day, the third Saturday in March. Most were written specifically for this event. Established in 1992, this event was instituted to promote the enjoyment of playing new music, recognize the important contribution of contemporary composers/arrangers to the world of recorder music, and to encourage others to play recorder.
• New Music for Recorder The ARS is pleased to offer downloadable contemporary music written specifically for recorder players. These are original works for recorder (and potentially other instruments), not arrangements or transcriptions of previous works.
• NEW!  Arrangements and Transcriptions This is where you’ll find recorder arrangements and transcriptions of older music, including pieces from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras, as well as traditional pieces and more “modern” music such as Ragtime and Blues.  For more music of this type, free for download, you may want to check the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) and the Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL).
• Recorder Orchestra Library With this library of downloadable recorder music, the ARS is pleased to recognize our Recorder Orchestra category of membership, and composers and arrangers who have written or arranged music for Recorder Orchestra. These may be original works, or arrangements of existing works of any genre, with a minimum of five parts specifically for recorder (with possible accompaniment of other instruments).

You may use the Composition Share Link, found on each piece, to share this music with your friends. Note that anyone may see the thumbnail image and listen to the sound sample, but only logged-in ARS members may download music or listen to the entire .mp3 recording.

Composers - are you interested in composing recorder music for the ARS? Click HERE for info!

From this page, you may search for music across all libraries.  To search within a single library, click on the name of the library listed above.

Are you looking for "play-along" recordings? Select "Recorded Accompaniment" in the "Style" search box.
 TitleComposer Last NameMost Recent FirstOldest FirstArranger Last Name-Any-Very EasyEasyModerateChallengingVery Challenging-Any-Social/CasualConcertFast/Up-tempoLaid-back/SlowTonal/MelodicNon-tonal/ModernImprovisatory SchemesFolk/TraditionalRagtime/Jazz/BluesVariations/Fantasies/AdaptationsNeo-Renaissance/Baroque/ClassicalRenaissance/Baroque/ClassicalRecorded Accompaniment-Any-Christmas/AdventEaster/LentHanukkahOther HolidayPatroticSt. Patrick's DayThanksgivingMin: Max: