The Demise of the Recorder

The improvements made to wind instruments by the Hotteterres contained in them the seeds of the recorder's demise. Once again, musical styles were changing and the transverse flute proved both more popular and better suited to the new style of music.

There does not seem to be any obvious reason for the recorder's demise at this time. It was probably a combination of factors, including fashion and technical developments to the transverse flute. Whatever the reasons, the recorder had effectively disappeared by the middle of the eighteenth century and had been all but forgetten by the end of that century, although a recorder like instrument, called the Czakan did enjoy a period of popularity in Eastern Europe in the the nineteenth century and the flageolet, a six-holed whistle-type instrument remained popular with amateurs.

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