The Recorder and Other Members of the Flute Family in Writings from 1100 to 1500 by David Lasocki (review)

The recorder and the flute as we know them today are two different instruments; they are played differently, used in different ensembles (or for different occasions), and sound differently. The instruments this publication refers to were internal-duct flutes found in Western Europe between 1100 and 1500. Although not specifically mentioned, these instruments include end-blown or rim-blown flute, notched flute, and side-blown flute. Besides the recorder and the flute, other known instruments referred to in this study are the panpipes, the fife, the whistle and the tabor-pipe. As stated in the introduction, “The present book seeks to answer the questions: what were all these instruments called and in what circumstances were they used?” (p. 1).

The author is not new to this topic since he has previously written a number of books about the recorder and the flute. This study, though, focuses on a previous period of time, the Middle Ages through early Renaissance. Little had been written on these instruments before 1500, so previous knowledge had been acquired through art pieces, historical records, and writings such as treatises by Sebastian Virdung and Agricola. We do know recorders and other members of the flute family (herein called flutes) have evolved in their appearance as well as their names and uses over time. We know of their existence through depiction in artworks, but the art usually will not tell us how they sounded, what they were called, how they were played, and who played them. David Lasocki, in his research, used a variety of primary source materials in a variety of languages. He also built upon his personal knowledge from previous research studying flutes to give us further insight.

The focus of The Recorder and Other Members of the Flute Family in Writings from 1100 to 1500 is the terminology used for flutes in early writings. Using mainly lexical and literary writings for his research, the author compared and contrasted words linked to a description or depiction of an image of a recorder or other members of the flute family. One such example is found in a Flemish manuscript; it is a drawing with a section of verse about “duct flutes marked ‘fistuli’ with the Old Dutch word floyt written underneath” (p. 2). Lasocki begins his study with one of the earliest known words used for such a description and traces it forward. With great thoroughness, he traces these early terms found in multiple languages throughout Western Europe. A few of these early flute terms include the Greek word aulos, the French words flaüte, flageol, and frestel, and one of the earliest known, the Latin word flatilla.

The book is organized around the origins of a given word or description of a recorder or instrument in the flute family. Resources these words were discovered in include fifteenth- and sixteenth-century manuscripts, treatises, and dictionaries. Within these manuscripts can be found Latin works from as early as the twelfth century. Terms were also found in the records of the accounts of royalty (such as the purchase of instruments), sometimes with an explanation provided. Derivatives of terms were also discussed. The author posits his approach to this research as different from others, in that he takes the words associated with the various flutes and then moves forward chronologically, rather than using the approaches of other researchers by starting with current descriptions and moving backwards.

In the main section of the book, Lasocki takes these original words or descriptions and researches their beginnings in a variety of languages throughout Western Europe: in Greek and Latin, French, Occitan (Provençal), Catalan and Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Old English, Anglo-French and Middle English. Some chapters are very short, such as “Old English,” at only one page long, while others are much longer, such as “French” and “Middle English.” The length of the...