Short history of the recorder
A Short history of the recorder
First known recorders are from the mid 14th century.
The recorder is technically called a fipple flute (the fipple being the block that creates the lower part of the windway). Other names for the recorder are the flute à bec (French), flauto dolce (Italian) and blockflöte (German)
The recorder was used and developed through the renaissance period. It had a parallel bore, large finger holes and could be played either right or left handed. It was limited in range to less than 2 octaves.
It was further developed in the baroque period as a 3 jointed (head joint, middle joint and foot joint) instrument in which a tapered bore could be accurately made. This increased the range to over 2 octaves.
Following the baroque period, developments in orchestral instruments, particularly of the keyed flute, meant that the recorder was too quiet to be of use in an orchestra, and interest in the recorder diminished.
Early in the 20th century, the recorder was revived mainly by the enthusiasm of Arnold Dolmetch, who started making copies of baroque recorders in 1919.
Since then there has been increasing interest in the recorder and it became a popular instrument for teaching music in schools. This led to the recorder gaining a reputation for being more of a toy than a serious musical instrument.
Through the Society of Recorder Players and other interest groups, the recorder is currenly gaining in popularity and there are now many recorder orchestras and other groups, both professional and amateur, performing with recorders.