The Rediscovery of the Recorder

The recorder was rediscovered in the early years of the twentieth century independantly in both England and Germany. In England, Arnold Dolmetsch, who had come to England from France in 1883 to study at the Royal College of music, was active in the early music movement. He bought a recorder at an auction in 1905 and taught himself to play it. In 1919 his son lost it on Waterloo station and this resulted in Arnold Dolmetsch producing his own instrument.

During the 1920's and 30's, the recorder became popular as an instrument for school music making, especially in Germany and this resulted in a supply of cheaper instruments becoming available. Some of these instruments were not of very good quality and have probably helped to give the recorder its poor image. However in more recent years, developments in manufacturing techniques and the introduction of plastics have resulted in inexpensive instruments of very good quality becoming available. At the other end of the scale, professional quality, handmade instruments cost as much as any good quality woodwind and are in every respect their equals in quality.

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