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AltorecorderWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Altorecorder
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

ThealtorecorderinF,alsoknownasatreble(and,historically,
asconsortfluteandcommonflute)isamemberoftherecorder
family.Upuntilthe17thcenturythealtoinstrumentwasnormally
inG4insteadofF4(Lasocki2001,(ii)RenaissanceSachs1913,
50).
Thealtoisbetweenthesopranoandtenorinsize,andis
correspondinglyintermediateinpitch.Ithasthesamegeneral
shapeasasoprano,butisapproximately50%largerinall
dimensions.A50%increaseinlengthcausesa50%increasein
thewavelengthforagivenfingering.Thislowersthepitchbya
perfectfifth,thatisfromCtoF.
TheFaltoisanontransposinginstrument,thoughitsbasicscale
isinF,thatis,afifthlowerthanthesopranorecorderandafourth
higherthanthetenor(bothwithabasicscaleinC).SocalledF
fingeringsarethereforeused,aswiththebassoonorthelow
registeroftheclarinet,incontrasttotheCfingeringsusedfor
mostotherwoodwinds.Itsnotationisusuallyatsoundingpitch,
butsometimesiswrittenanoctavelowerthanitsounds.
Foradulthands,thealtorecorderiseasytoplay.Maintenanceis
thesameasforthesopranorecorder.

History
Recordersareknowntohavebeenmadeindifferentsizessinceat
leastthe15thcentury,butaconsistentterminologydidnotexist
untilthe20thcenturyrevivaloftheinstrument.Intheearly16th
century,bookswerepublishedbySebastianVirdung(1511),
MartinAgricola(1529),andSylvestroGanassi(1535),allof
whichdescribethesmallestofthreesizesofrecorder(tunedin
fifths)asaninstrumentwiththebottomnoteG.Appropriatetothe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_recorder

Amodern
threepiecealto
recorderin
olivewood,
nexttoa
modernthree
piecesoprano
recorderin
castelloor
zapatero
"boxwood"for
comparison.

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highestinstrumentoftheset,itisgivenaname Musicalinstruments
usedforthehighestvocalpartinmusicfromthat Woodwinds
time:discant(Virdung1511,fol.N1rAgricola
Piccolo
1529,fol.6v,Virdungalsocallsitclainflte
Flute
"smallflute",kleineFlteinmodernGerman)
Oboe
andsopranorsoprano(Ganassi1535,fol.2v).
Coranglais
Atthistime,recordersweremadeinasingle
Clarinet
piece.Thistypeofinstrumentcontinuedtobe
Saxophone
producedthroughthe17thcenturyandintothe
Bassoon
early18th,thougharound1650itbegantobe
Contrabassoon
madeinthreeseparateparts.Itwassometimes
Bagpipes
calledtheflautoitaliano,particularlyafterabout
Recorder
1670whenanewtypeofrecorderappearedin
GarkleininC6(c''')
France,calledfltedouce(sweetflute),what
SopraninoinF5(f'')
todaywouldbecalledanalto(treble)inF.In
SopranoinC5(c'')
contrasttothebrighttonedflautoitaliano,which
AltoinF4(f')
waseasytoplayinthehighregister,theflte
doucewasfullandresonantinthelowregister,
VoicefluteinD4(d')
butwasweakontheuppernotes.Thisnew
TenorinC4(c')
versionofrecorder(firstdepictedinapainting
BassinF3(f)
from1672)wasfirstmadeinParisand,shortly
GreatbassinC3(c)
laterandunderFrenchinfluence,inLondon.The
ContrabassinF2(F)
redesignistraditionallyattributedtothe
SubgreatbassinC2(C)
Hotteterres,particularlytoJeanHotteterre,
SubcontrabassinF1(FF)
thoughtheevidenceisrathertenuous.In1696,
JohannChristophDennerandJohannSchell
appliedforpermissiontomaketheFrenchtypeof Brass
instrumentinNuremberg,anditquicklybecame Percussion
thedominanttypeofinstrumentacrossEurope. Stringinstruments
Inmostlanguages,thiswastheinstrumentmeant Keyboards
bythewordforflutealone:GermanFlte,Dutchfluyt,Italianflauto,Spanishflauta.
InEngland,itwasusuallysimply"flute",butwhennecessarytodifferentiatefromthe
transversefluteorothersizesofrecorder,itwascalled"commonflute"or"consort
flute"(Lasocki2001).

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_recorder

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Agricola,Martin.1529.Musicainstrumtalisdeudschynnwelcherbegriffenist/
wiemannachdemgesangeauffmancherleyPfeiffenlernensol/Auchwieauff
dieOrgel/Harffen/Lauten/Geigen/vndallerleyInstrumentvndSeytenspiel/
nachderrechtgegrndtenTabelthurseyabzusetzen(http://reader.digitale
sammlungen.de/resolve/display/bsb10187561.html).Wittemberg:GeorgRhaw.
Baines,AnthonyC.1967.WoodwindInstrumentsandTheirHistory,third
edition,withaforewordbySirAdrianBoult.London:FaberandFaber.
Reprintedwithcorrections,1977.Thiseditionreissued,Mineola,NewYork:
DoverPublications,Inc.,1991,andreprintedagainin2012.ISBN9780486
268859.
Ganassi,SylvestrodaFontego.1535.OperaintitulataFontegara.Venice:[s.n.].
Facsimilereprint,Collezioneditrattatiemusicheanticheediteinfacsimile.
Milan:Bollettinobibliograficomusicale,1934.Facsimilereprint,editedbyLuca
dePaolis.HortusMusicus,Pratticadimusica,SerieA3.Rome:Societitaliana
delflautodolce,1991.Facsimilereprintofthesecondedition,1542,Bibliotheca
musicaBononiensis2:18.Bologna:ArnaldoForniEditore,1969,reprintedagain
in1980and2002.
Griscom,RichardW.,andDavidLasocki.2013.TheRecorder:AResearchand
InformationGuide,thirdedition.RoutledgeMusicBibliographies.Routledge.
ISBN9781135839321.
Hunt,Edgar.1988."SyntagmaMusicumII,Parts1and2ofDeOrganographia
byMichaelPraetoriusDavidZ.Crookes"(review).TheGalpinSocietyJournal
41(October):14244.
Lasocki,David.2001."Recorder".TheNewGroveDictionaryofMusicand
Musicians,secondedition,editedbyStanleySadieandJohnTyrrell.London:
MacmillanPublishers.
Praetorius,Michael.1619a.SyntagmatisMusiciMichaelisPraetoriiC.Tomus
SecundusDeOrganographia(http://books.google.com/books?
id=CBhDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PT82&dq=Praetorius+Blockflten&hl=en&sa=X&e
i=UbJmVIfnMIaOyASj34LwAg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=Praet
orius%20Blockflten&f=false).Wolfenbttel:EliasHolwein,inVerlegungdes
Autoris.
Praetorius,Michael.1619b.SyntagmatisMusiciMichaelisPraetoriiC.Tomus
Tertius(https://archive.org/details/SyntagmaMusicumBd.31619).Wolfenbttel:
EliasHolwein.
Sachs,Curt.1913.RealLexikonderMusikinstrumente,zugleicheinPolyglossar
frdasgesamteInstrumentengebiet.Berlin:JuliusBard.
Virdung,Sebastianus.1511.Musicagetutschtundausgezogen.Basel:[s.n.].
Facsimilereprint,editedbyKlausWolfgangNiemller.Documenta
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musicologica31.Kassel:Brenreiter,1970.ISBN3761800045.
Virgiliano,Aurelio.c.1600.Ildolcimelo.Manuscript.Bologna:CivicoMuseo
BibliograficoMusicale.Facsimileedition,editedbyMarcelloCastellani.
ArchivumMusicum:Collanaditestirari11.Florence:StudioperEdizioni
Scelte.1979.
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