Not Just the Alto

According to myth (or received opinion), the wealth of sizes of recorder present in the Renaissance petered out in the Baroque period, until only the alto (British: treble) was left, except for a few smaller sizes in concertos and vocal music. In this book David Lasocki examines all the surviving writings between about 1600 and 1800 (treatises, tutors, inventories, advertisements, purchases and sales) as well as indications of instrumentation in the repertoire. He concludes that sizes of recorder besides the alto were far more common and far more diverse than we have imagined. Imagine!