Copenhagen 2009-3

The Danish Music Museum, inv.no. 2009-3 (ex private collection, Århus)

Material: Original: ivory, copy: boxwood.

Pitch: c” at a’=532, i.e. fundamental is a bit higher than modern eb”.

Design: Simple Renaissance form, though the foot is more flared.

Finger holes: Seventh hole displaced sideways, duplicated.

Musical characteristics: Tone is bright and clear, and there is a fine balance between top and bottom. The recorder gives a nice feeling of resistance on all notes. The bottom notes are very stable and rich, while the top notes require more attack than the Rosenborg recorder.

The recorder’s history: The outer shape of the recorder closely resembles a soprano recorder by Richard Haka (1646-1709) in Edinburgh University Collection, but the course of the bore is very different. It is tuned a minor third higher than the Edinburgh instrument. It turned up in an antique shop in a Danish provincial town towards the end of the 1980’s. In 2009 it was acquired by the Danish Music Museum.