415 Hz F alto after Denner, Montpellier Maple
The Alto Baroque in F at 415 Hz is undoubtedly one of the 4 essential instruments for exploring the historical recorder repertoire, along with the Flute de Voix, the Ganassi in G, and the Soprano XVIIème "Van Eyck".
This new model is part of my Historical Instrument Reconstruction program, and comes with the Voice Flute, the Ganassi in G and the XVIIth Century Soprano.
It has been redesigned after several historical Denner recorders, including the examples in the Copenhagen Museum and the Royal College of London. The dimensions of these historical models were averaged and the deformations were compensated.
As with the other recorders in my Historical Instrument Reconstruction program, a significant amount of prototyping and reflection was necessary to achieve a finely optimized instrument that is always very close to the originals.
Its lightness is traditional for woods such as Maple, and its grip is rather comfortable, although the gaps in the right hand are significantly larger than on a Stanesby. Montpellier Maple is a small tree that produces a hard, tight wood, quite similar to Boxwood, and which takes on a beautiful golden hue over time.
The slender appearance of this recorder goes hand in hand with a rather thin bore, which gives it an agile and fast high register. Of course, the basses are also generous, and more stable than on the originals, thanks to a careful optimisation of the bore's volumes. The intonation is difficult to find fault with, again thanks to the upstream work of developing this recorder. If you are looking for the better intonation instrument, this model may be for you.
This instrument is delivered in a padded cover, the color of which is your choice.
