| Abbreviation | Surname | Given Name | Dates | Provenance | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rozmberk | Rožmberk Master | 1552-1599 | Rožmberk near Prachatitz, Bohemia (Czech Republic) | Maker’s mark: two identical devices, each forming an elaborate cross resembling the letter A, but quite different to the mark on Schnitzer instruments. The Sibiu bass with the W-and-crown mark may also be from Rožmberk Master (Bali, 2007). | ||
| Aardenberg | Aardenberg | Abraham Van | 1672-1717 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Abraham Van Aardenberg, born in Amsterdam in 1672, was Richard Haka’s pupil. He set up independently in 1698 and lived on Nieuwe Spiegelstraat. For nearly 20 years, until his death in 1717, he made traversi, recorders, oboes and bassoons. His recorders and oboes are exceptional in quality and style. Notes from van Acht. In many aspects Van Aardenberg made the most atypical recorders. Not only are the turned profiles very characteristic, so are the form of the labium, the joint bore and the finger-hole features, which differ from all of the recorders by Dutch and foreign woodwind makers. Notes from Bouterse (2001). His stamps are of three kinds each including various forms of AARDENBERG in a scroll and one or three fleurs de lis; two kinds also feature a device representing a leaping deer. | |
| AdlerJ | Adler | Robert Johannes | 1899-1963 | Markneukirchen, Germany | The firm of Johannes Adler had its roots in the world-famous Musikwinkel of the upper Vogtland – a picturesque region in the south-western part of Saxony. It was established in 1924 by Johannes Adler (1899-1963), grandson of the instrument maker Johann Gottlob Adler (1825-1900), who founded the family workshop in Markneukirchen in 1881, and son of Robert Oswald Adler (1863 -1946). Johannes Adler became well-known through the manufacture and sale of recorders. Prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, Johannes Adler joined forces with Alexander Heinrich who, as Adler-Heinrich GmbH, produced a wide range of recorders. They ceased production in 2007. The first recorders offered by Johannes Adler were supplied by Martin Kehr and Max König & Söhne. It is presumed that Johannes Adler and his father Robert Oswald commenced their own recorder production in 1934 under director of woodwind instrument making was Kurt Weck, who had learned his trade from Robert Oswald Adler. It is not known if he was also responsible for actual recorder making. Innovations in recorder design made by the Johannes Adler workshop include instruments with recessed finger-holes, a perforated plateau key which enabled true accidentals to be played when partially opened, a model named “Superbal” with a labium with raised carved sides, and the “Knickbas” made from 1837/1938. See Thalheimer (2013: 49). | |
| Anciuti | Anciuti | Giovanni [Johannes] Maria | 1674-1744 | Milan & Venice, Italy | Italian maker of recorders, flutes d’accord, transverse flutes, oboes and bassoons; op. Milan (1709-1741). His full name is known to us from the marks on only two instruments, namely Ioannes Maria Anciuti on a contra-bassoon and Anciutus on a double recorder. His other surviving instruments, which are often made of ivory, include recorders and double recorders, oboes, a bass flute and, possibly, a flute. Until recently, Anciuti was thought to to be a pseudonym, an appropriate one for a maker of reed (It. ancia) instruments. This was an expedient sometimes used in the 18th century by makers who wished to evade the rigid rules of the guild. However, it is now known that Anciut’s name is a proper name originating from Carnia, a mountain region north of Udine and that he was a native of Forno di Sopra in the Venetian State (Careras & Meroni, 2008). Significantly, the winged Lion of Venice device, symbol of the Venetian Republic, appears on numerous examples of Anciuti’s work. Maker’s mark: [lion of St Mark] | ANCIVTI | A MILAN(O) Voice (2014: 97) suggests that Giovanni was most likely to have done his apprenticeship with a family workshop in Venice. | |
| Bassano | Bassano | Family | 16-17c | Bassano, Venice, London | Anglo-Venetian family of outstanding musicians, composers and instrument makers whose products were distributed throughout Europe. Jacomo (died 1559/66) was active as woodwind player to the Doge of Venice, and as a woodwind maker. With his son-in-law Gritti, he made consorts of flutes, recorders, shawms, cornetts and crumhorns. Five Bassano brothers, migrated from Venice to England in the 1530s where they provided a recorder consort at the royal court for 90 years, and spread their fame as instrument makers throughout Europe: Jeronimo I (d ca 1545), Alvise (d. 1554), Anthony I (d 1574), Jacomo (d ca 1558), John (d 1570). The family owned a workshop near to the centre of London around 1544-1552, and is probable that they also acted as purveyors to the court of Henry VIII, of which a long list of instruments exist dated 1547. An inventory made in Augsburg in 1566 reports gross Fuetter darina 27 flötten, gross und klain, so in Engellandt gemacht werden. It is likely that the 45 instruments recorded in an inventory from 1571 at the Muenchener Court (shawm, crumhorn, cornett, recorder) were also made by the Bassano brothers: so zu London gemacht seind worden, von der Bassani bruedern. Arthur (1547-1624), seems to be the person meant in a contemporary English document which notes: Mr. Barsano, one of his Majesty’s musicians who makes fine instruments. His son Anthony II (1579-1658) is also recorded as a maker of musical instruments. Makers marks: The assignment of the various silkworm marks to specific members or generations of this family is still a matter of speculation. It is possible that the maker’s mark ‘B’ depicted by Ganassi (Opera intitulata Fontegara, 1535) refers to instruments by members of the Bassano family. Brown & Lasocki (2006) suggest that the maker of recorders stamped HIE·S and HIER·S may have been Jeronimo Bassano, rather than the Hieronimo de li flauti from the latter part of the century. Brown (pers. comm., 2007) reports that the HIER·S· basset in Sibiu was made using the same reamer as the HIERS· and HIE·S bassets in Vienna (SAM 160 & 161), and that the Sibiu bass also looks pretty similar to one of the HIES basses in Vienna. | |
| Bauer/Bauermann | Bauer/Bauermann | Andreas | a1678-1717 | Leipzig, Germany | Maker of recorders and dulcians. | |
| Beukers | Beukers | Willem, Sr. & Jr. | late 17C-1781 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Willem senior was born in Utrecht in 1666, his son in Amsterdam in 1703. They spent most of their lives in Amsterdam, where they lived on Korte Dijkstraat. Both made recorders, flutes and oboes. Beukers senior died in 1750; the son died in 1781. Notes from van Acht. Makers marks: Their recorders are variously stamped with a sheaf of wheat or a crown, namely W BEUKERS / (sheaf of wheat); (crown) / W: BEUKERS; (crown) / W:BEUKERS / (sheaf of wheat) Those stamped with a sheaf of wheat were probably made by Beukers Sr and are generally better finished than those stamped with a crown (Bouterse, 2001 & 2003). | |
| Bizey | Bizey | Charles | ?1685-p1752 | Paris, France | Maker of wind-instruments, including recorders, flutes, oboes, rackets and bassoons. His career began in Paris where he worked from 1716 until 1752. Archival documents reveal that Charles Bizey, Prudent (Thierriot) and Dominique Porthaux were master makers at the same workshop on the rue Dauphine, in the parish of St André des Arts, first established by Bizey, c. 1745 when he moved from the rue Mazarin, his location from c. 1716, the year he became a master maker in Paris. He was the first French maker to provide the one-keyed flute with alternate upper middle joints of varying length. And his is the earliest known bass oboe. Maker’s marks: (fleur-de-lys) / BIZEY, (fleur-de-lys) / BIZEY / A PARIS / (sun) | |
| Boekhout | Boekhout | Thomas | 1666-1715 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Thomas Boekhout, born in Kampen (Overijssel) in 1666, died Amsterdam (1715), trained with Jan de Jager (1658-1692)), whose niece, Barbera de Jager, he married. He lived in Amsterdam on Keizersgracht and Kerkstraat. In 1713 he advertised in the Amsterdamse Courant, that he maekt en verkoopt alle soort van Fluyten, Hobois … Bas Fluyten die al haar tonen geven als op een gemeene Fluyt, en een niuw soort van Bassoons beyde door hem geinventeert (makes and sells all kinds of recorders, oboes … bass recorders which give all the notes as on a normal recorder, and a new sort of bassoon, both invented by him). In 1731 the inventory of the Marienkirche at Danzig listed a recorder made by him. Jager’s son Frederik assisted him between 1694 and 1707. Thomas Boekhout made recorders (his basset recorders are famous), transverse flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons. Notes from van Acht. Some of his basset recorders were made with an extra key on hole 3 so that the same fingering as that of an alto could be use. His single-keyed bassets are were made in several models. Thus he seems to have experimented with basset recorders (Bouterse, 2001). Maker’s mark: (crown) / T·BOEKHOUT / (Brabant lion); (crown) / T BOEKHOUT / (Brabant lion) | |
| Borkens | Borkens | Philip | 1693 – ca1765 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Philip Borkens was born in Amsterdam in 1693. He was granted citizenship on 4th January 1724. Borkens lived initially in Buiten Bantammerstraat and later in Goudsbloemstraat. Flutes, oboes and clarinets are known by him. He must have died around 1765. Notes from van Acht. His only surving recorder, a soprano in c’, is one of the most beautiful and best playable historical baroque recorders (Bouterse, 2001). Makers mark: (crown) / P·BORKENS / (Brabant lion) | |
| Bradbury | Bradbury | Joseph | p1689-early 18c | England | Maker of recorders and oboes. Halfpenny (1959) relates that Bradbury ‘was an almost exactly contemporary of Stanesby I … beside whom he worked for five years as a fellow apprentice in the workshop of Thomas Garrett, their master’. However, the Turners’ records say nothing about how long Bradbury remained an apprentice of Garrett. They show only that Stanesby had been apprenticed for about a year and a half before Bradbury arrived. | |
| Bressan | Bressan (Jaillard) | Peter (Pierre) | 1663-1730 | Paris & London | Born Pierre Jaillard in Bourg-en-Bresse (1663), Bressan was apprenticed to the woodturner Pierre Boissier between 1678 and 1680. He was making recorders in Paris between 1680 and 1683. There is little to indicate that his style was influenced by other French makers of the time, although his instruments resemble those of Rippert. From 1683, Bressan was working in England, probably at the invitation of the recorder player Jacques Paisible. According to a 1691 archive, he was oboist in the service of King William III. He left England in 1730 due to financial troubles and died shortly after in early 1731 at Tournai. His output includes recorders, transverse flutes, oboes and bassoons. Amongst those who followed in his footsteps were Bradbury, Schuchardt, Stanesby Snr and Jr, and Urquhart. Bressan also published music by Castrucci and Barsanti. Maker’s mark: P u I / BRESSAN / (Lancastrian rose). The ‘u’ appears to be a horseshoe-shaped hyphen. | |
| Cahusac Sr | Cahusac | Thomas I | c. 1738–1798 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Maker of recorders, flutes and bassoons. His workshop was in the Strand, London as early as 1755 where he took his two sons into partnership. He also published music and sold violins. | |
| Carandet | Carandet or Cavaudet | 18th century | France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| T Collier | Collier | Thomas | a 1763-1785 | London | Maker of recorders, transverse flutes, and oboes who in 1765 seems to have succeeded Charles Schuchart (1720–1765) to whom he may have been apprenticed. It has been suggested that instruments stamped with a Brabant lion (including a recorder) were made for Collier by another maker. | |
| Debey | Debey | early 18th century | Flanders, but has been considered French | The reading of the mark de Bey is Dutch (ie de bij) and means the bee. Thus Debey was most likely Flemish, as is suggested by the design of his recorders. Other extant instruments by him include an oboe (GB: Oxford) and an incomplete oboe d’amore (B: Brugges). Maker’s mark: I/DEBEY·/bee (seen front on) | ||
| J Denner | Denner | Jacob | 1681–1735 | Nuremberg, Germany | Jacob Denner (b Nuremberg, 1681; d Nuremberg, 1735), the eldest son of the instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner (born Leipzig), continued his father’s work, making recorders, flutes, oboes and clarinets. And he worked for the Medecis court in Florence in 1708 and received his Master’s rights in 1716. He was employed at several courts as Stadtmusicus (city musician) and oboist (eg. at Bayreuth and Ansbach). Doppelmayr (1730) describes Jacob Denner as not only a world-famous master of his own and other instruments but … specially remarkable for his oboe playing. See Kirnbauer & Thalheimer (1995). It seems that Jacob’s younger brother, Johann David, took over their father’s shop, while Jacob started his own. Maker’s mark: I·Denner (in scroll with rolled up ends) / I(fir tree)D ‘Denner’ is an old German word for the pine tree; hence the depiction of a pine. | |
| JC Denner | Denner | Johann Christoph | 1655–1707 | Nuremberg, Germany | Johann Christoph Denner (b Leipzig, 1655: d Nuremberg, 1707) was the son of Heinrich Denner, a turner of game whistles and hunting horns. His earlier instruments are renaissance in style, but about 1684 when new-style instruments were brought into Germany from France, Denner was quick to realize the advantage to be gained from adopting the new designs. His workmanship was of such a quality that he soon gained fame beyond his own country. His surviving instruments include recorders, shawms, oboes, rackets, bassoons, rackets, and the clarinet. The invention of both the baroque racket and the clarinet have been credited to Denner. Maker’s mark: ·I·C DENNER (scrolled)/ D On the foot-joint of one of his early instruments there is a stamp I.C. (Johann Denner ?) and Felbinger 1682. Felbinger may have been the owner of the instrument. The I.C. DENNER mark was clearly used by other makers after Denner’s death in 1707, through the mid-eighteenth century (Kirnbauer 1992). It has been suggested that Johann Christoph Denner was illiterate (Martin Kirnbauer ex Albert Rice, pers. comm. 2021). | |
| A Dolmetsch | Dolmetsch | Arnold | 1858-1940 | Haslemere, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Arnold Dolmetsch (b Le Mans, 1858; d Haslemere, 1940) was very influential on late 19th and 20th century attitudes to scholarship and performing practice, especially through the reconstruction of obsolete instruments, amongst them the viol, the lute, the harpsichord and the recorder. Arnold completed his first recorder in 1919. He passed responsibility for the research and production of recorders to his son, Carl Dolmetsch, in 1926. A number of craftsman were employed to make recorders at Dolmetsch over the years, including Robert Goble (1924-1937) and Oskar Dawson (1930-1941). Arnold Dolmestch’s work is continued by members of his family to this day. For biographical details see here. The Edmonton firm Insulators Ltd made the tools to produce the plastic recorders designed by Carl Dolmetsch in 1946. They were were later mass produced by Boosey & Hawkes. | |
| Dupuis | Dupuis | fl. 1692 | Paris, France | Instrument maker working in Paris known by his recorders, oboes and a tuning pipe. | ||
| Eichentopf | Eichentopf | Johann Heinrich | 1678-1769 | Leipzig, Germany | Johann Heinrich Eichentopf (b. ? Stolberg, Harz, 1678; d Leipzig, 1769) is best known for his woodwind instruments, though noted also for brass and even bowed strings. His surviving instruments include recorders, a flute, oboes and bassoons. His stamp includes a device depicting a vase of oak-leaves with acorn, a visual pun on his name. | |
| Eisenmenger | Eisenmenger | Michael | 1761-1788 | Mannheim, Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Gahn | Gahn | Johann Benedikt | 1675-1711 | Nuremberg, Germany | Johann Benedikt Gahn was admitted as master in the Nuremberg wood turners guild in 1698. The late date was due to the fact that he married the widow of the master to whom he was apprenticed. Specializing in musical instruments, he maintained a workshop in Nuremberg until his death in 1711 at the age of 36. He was buried at the Johannsfriedhof. Gahn was quite wealthy, leaving a substantial fortune to his wife. About 25 recorders and a few oboes of ivory or boxwood have survived. Some of his recorders feature a carved decoration with acanthus leaves and a mask, a motive, linked to Nuremberg, and appearing on other instruments by other makers. It occurs on peg boxes of viols and on recorders of the famous Nuremberg woodwind maker, Johann Wilhelm Oberlender the Elder (1681–1763). Adrian Brown notes that many of Ghan’s recorders are unlike the more standard designs of the Denners, Schell, and Oberlander, and that some of recorders are internally more similar to the Kynseker designs and in this respect, show a connection to early baroque recorders. | |
| Goulding | Goulding & Co.; Goulding d’Almaine & Co. | ca 1786-1834 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | English firm of music dealers, publishers and instrument makers founded by George Goulding in ca 1786. They entered into partnership with a number of other makers and Goulding’s name was dropped by ca 1836. Between the years 1798 and 1803 the company used the mark GOUDLING & CO./LONDON while trading in St. James Street and Pall Mall. Thomas D’Almaine was associated with Goulding between 1800 and 1836. The catalog dated 1800 of the London firm, Goulding, Phipps, & D’Almaine, lists transverse flutes with one key to six keys; transverse flutes a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, even seventh, and octave higher than normal; and English Flutes, Concerts, plain / Do. do. Seconds and Thirds / Do. do. Fifths, Sixths, and Octaves (Lasocki 2012). Between 1825 and 1836 the firm traded under the titles ‘Goulding, D’Almaine & Co.’ and also ‘Goulding D’Almaine’. Instruments bearing the name of Goulding include recorders, flageolets, clarinets and bassoons. | ||
| Grassi | Grassi | Paolo | op. 1730 | Milan, Italy | Formerly, this instruments have been attributed to Barnaba Grassi. Meucci (in Falletti et al., 2009) has demonstrated this to be an error and suggests that the recorders are in fact by Paolo Grassi, a maker of flutes, oboes and recorders. Maker’s marks: GRASSI | IИ MILAИ; GRASSI | [B?]RASSI | [unclear sign] See de Avena Braga (2015:50); Falleti et al. (2009: 166); Heyde (1978); Young (1993: 91-92). | |
| Grece | Grece (or Grege) | P. (possibly Pierre) | 17th century | Bologna, Italy | Maker’s mark: P·GRECE (or P·GREGE) Since little or nothing is known of P. Grece, it has been suggested that he was a craftsman (possibly a flute-maker) employed at the Rafi workshop prior to 1675 (the year of the donation of instruments to the Accademia) in order to complete a consort of recorders of the same model as the two built earlier by Rafi himself. We cannot rule the above hypothesis out, but another possibility is that P. Grece was the Pierre Rafi documented in 1528-1529 as a brother of Claude Rafi who had also worked in the atelier of his father, Michaud Rafi (d. 1534). What is certain is that if Pierre had been a blood brother of Claude he would have had access to the Rafi mark. If, instead of being a natural child of Michaud Rafi, Pierre was adopted then he would have been required to use a different mark. It may be significant that Grece marked his work with his own name and with a small coat of arms in low relief quite similar to that of Rafi and made with the same technique but bearing the insignia of a sheep and impressed on the foot instead of on the front of the instrument as was customary – Machaud Rafi was known and referred to as “the good shepherd”. See Bär (1995); Brown & Lasocki (2006: 29); Puglisi (1995), Tiella (2004, 2005), Li Virghi (2000). | |
| Grenser | Grenser | Heinrich | 1764-1813 | Dresden | (Johann) Heinrich (Wilhelm) Grenser (b Lipprechstroda, 1764; d Dresden, 1813) was a member of a German family of wind instrument makers. He was apprenticed to his uncle (Carl) August(in) Grenser from 1779 to 1786 and took over the workshop in 1796. He made flutes, oboes, clarinets (including basset-horns), fagottini and bassoons, and what may have been a csakan (a keyed recorder). | |
| Haka | Haka | Richard | 1646-1705 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Richard Haka (b London, 1646; d Amsterdam 1705) was the son of Thomas Hakay, later Haca, who made walking sticks in London before moving to Amsterdam around 1652. Richard’s mother Agnes returned to England in 1675. He started work as a woodwind instrument maker ca 1660. In 1676, when living in Kalverstraat, he married the 23-year-old Grietje van den Bogaert; although declaring himself at the time to be aged 30, it seems likely that he was in fact somewhat older. His nephew Coenraad Rijkel and the instrument makers Abraham van Aardenberg and Jan Steenbergen trained with him. He and Rijkel later quarrelled (q.v.) Haka lived ‘In de vergulde Basfluyt’ (i.e. at the sign of the guilded bass recorder) on the Spui; subsequent addresses were Singel and Keizersgracht. Haka’s instruments evidently enjoyed a wide reputation; a 1700 inventory of the Medici Court in Florence lists a consort of 16 recorders by him. Today they are represented in many collections; in addition to recorders, examples of walking-stick recorder, flageolet, alto flute, shawm, altpommer, oboe, tenor oboe, deutsche schalmei and bassoon survive. Notes from Waterhouse (1988) and van Acht. Maker’s mark: R·HAKA (scrolled) / (fleur-de-lys) | |
| Hallett | Hallett | Benjamin | 1713-1753- | Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Benjamin Hallett (b. London, 1713; d. after 1753) was a maker of oboes and recorders, living and working in Stationers Alley (also known as Boyles Head Court), off the N side of The Strand, London. The instrument-maker Thomas Cahusac lived in the same street (possibly the same house) from the mid-1730s to the late 1740s. Payment of rates on Hallet’s house were taken over by Cahusac in 1748 when Hallet moved to Stationers Alley to Exeter Court, further to the East, where he stayed until 1753 at which time the rate collector books record that he was poor. He took an apprentice Antony Bigs in 1748 and another, Thomas Ryan, in 1749. It is not known when he died. | |
| Harris | Harris | I would welcome details about this maker. | ||||
| Hartmann | Hartmann | Sebastian | Nuremberg, Germany | I would welcome details about this maker. | ||
| Heerde | Heerde, van | Jan Juriaensz, Albert (Albertus) & Jan | 1638-1691 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Jan Jurriaannsz van Heerde was the father of Albertus van Heerde and the grandfather of Jan van Heerde. He came from Groenlo and moved first to Naarden and from there about 1670 to Amsterdam. He became a well known wind instrument maker in that city, producing recorders, transverse flutes, and oboes. Notes from van Acht. A single recorder by Jan Juriaenz. survives, of ivory stamped I.V.H. in a scroll; an ivory sopranino with the same stamp was lost in WW2. Albert probably made most of the surviving recorders. There is a single recorder by Jan who also made flutes and oboes (Bouterse, 2001). | |
| Heitz | Heitz (Heytz) | Johann | 1672-1737 | Berlin, Germany | Johann Heitz (born Kerrenhof, Sachsen-Gotha, 1672; died Berlin, 1737) worked in Berlin from 1702 until his death producing recorders (including echo flutes) and transverse flutes. Many of Heitz’ recorders have the unusual construction of a boxwood body with a tortoiseshell coating and furnished richly with ivory rings. It has been suggested by Kirnbauer & Krickeberg (1987) that Bressan, the only other maker known to have used tortoishell technique, could have been Heitz’ teacher. However, I note that an alto recorder by N Hotteterre (stamped */N/HOTTETERRE) formerly in the Rosenbaum Collection in New York (now dispersed) had a tortoiseshell veneer as does an anonymous German alto recorder at F-Paris: E.980.2.84 Maker’s marks: (fleur-de-lys / I·HEYTZ; (crown) / I HEYTZ / stylised flower Schmidt (1986) has supposed that the instruments, marked with fleurs-de-lis, were produced for the French market. | |
| Hieronimo de li flauti | Salombron | Hieronymus | fl. 1580-1620 | Venice, Italy | Instruments variously stamped HIE·S, HIER·S, HIERO·S and HIERS have been attributed to this maker who, according to Fiabane Armando (ex Francesco Li-Virghi, pers. commm. 2012) was Hieronymus Salombron (Hironimo de piffari or Hieronimo de li flauti). Salombron’s workshop was located in the same district where 60 years earlier Hieronimo Bassano worked. Fiabane suggests that it could perhaps be one and the same premises. Had the maker with the mark HIE·S or HIER·S had been active in the first half of the century, surely Ganassi should have reported it. It is possible that the Venetian branch of the Bassano family (Jeronimo I, Jacomo, Santo) used the HIER·S· mark. A couple of other possible makers with the first name Hieronymus or Hieronimo lived in or near Venice during the sixteenth century: Hieronimo de Udine and Jheronimo Geroldi. Two of the cornetts marked HIER·S· are also stamped with double eagles, perhaps the mark of the Tiefenbrucker family, who may have sold instruments by other makers at their shop in Venice. See Lyndon-Jones (1996). Brown & Lasocki (2006) suggest that the maker of recorders stamped HIE·S and HIER·S may have been Jeronimo Bassano, who flourished in the early 16th century, rather than the Hieronimo de li flauti from the latter part of the century. Brown (pers. comm., 2007) reports that the HIER·S· basset in Sibiu was made using the same reamer as the HIERS· and HIE·S bassets in Vienna (SAM 160 & 161), and that the Sibiu bass also looks pretty similar to one of the HIES basses in Vienna. Maker’s mark: (double eagle) / HIER S·; (double eagle / HIER·S; HIE·S; and possibly HIER·S· | |
| N Hotteterre | Hotteterre | Nicolas [Colin] (ii) [le jeune, le cadet] | 1653-1727 | Paris, France | Nicolas Hotteterre (ii) (b. La Couture-Boussy, baptized 1653; d. 1727, Paris) was a member of a French family of woodwind instrument makers, instrumentalists and composers. His three surviving instruments comprise an oboe and two recorders. He occupied the post of hautbois et violons du Roi from 1667 until his death. Son of the eldest Nicolas Hotteterre (d. 1693). Brother of Louis Hotteterre. | |
| L Hotteterre | Hotteterre | Louis | 1647-1716 | Rue des Arcis, Paris, France | Louis Hotteterre (b. La-Couture Busy, 1647; d. Ivry, 1716) was a member of a French family of woodwind instrument makers, instrumentalists and composers. He worked with his father the eldest Nicolas (d. 1693) and younger brother Nicolas (ii) as an instrument maker in Paris where he occupied the post of saquebout et basse de violon de la chambre et grande Ecurie du Roi between 1665 and 1714. | |
| Hotteterre | Hotteterre | Family (no initial) | mid 17c – mid 18c | Paris, France | French family of woodwind instrument makers, instrumentalists and composers who are sometimes credited with many important changes that took place in the construction of woodwind instruments during the mid- to late-17th century, amongst them the development of the three-jointed recorder from that in one piece. Instruments stamped Hotteterre are difficult to attribute to particular members of the family. | |
| Jager | de Jager | Jan Juriansz. & Fredrik | c1684-1694 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Father and son. | |
| Kenigsperger | Kenigsperger (Königsberger) | Johann Wolfgang | fl 1724–ca 1753/57 | Roding | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Klenig | Klenig | early 18c | ? Germany | Maker of recorders, oboes and chalumeaux. | ||
| Koch | Koch | Stephan | a1807–p1866 | Vienna, Austria | Maker of walking-stick recorders, czakans, double recorders, piccolos and transverse flutes. | |
| Kress | Kress | W. | early 18c | ? Germany | Maker of recorders and oboes. | |
| Kynseker | Kynseker [Kinsecker] | Hieronimus Franciscus [Franciskus] | 1636–1686 | Nuremberg, Germany | Hieronimus Franciscus Kynseker (b Nuremberg, 1636; d Nuremberg, 1686). Active as an instrument maker from 1673 until his death. Instruments by him include recorders, flageolets, and shawms. Signed himself HF on all instruments (Kirnbauer 1992). | |
| Lehner | F Löhner II | Friedrich II | 1797–1865 | Nuremberg, Germany | Son of Johann Andreas (1768-1853), grandson of master turner Friedrich I (1737-). Maker’s mark: (fleur-de-lys)/F.LEHNER/FL/(monogram) Watherhouse suggests that some of the instruments bearing this mark (not necessarily the recorders) may be of earlier manufacture. See Nickel (1971), Eschler (1993), Waterhouse (1993),MacMillan (2008: 47). | |
| Lindner | Lindner | Johann Jacob | ?mid 18c | Germany | Maker of recorders, transverse flutes and oboes. | |
| Lissieu | Lissieu | 1672– | Lyons, France | Maker of recorders, transverse flutes and musettes. | ||
| Lot | T Lot | Thomas | 1708–1787 | Paris, France | Thomas Lot (b La-Couture Boussey 1708; d Paris, 1787) came from a long line of woodwind-instrument makers native to the town of La Couture-Boussey in Normandy who operated businesses in Paris throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Thomas worked as an instrument maker from 1734 until his death. His output includes recorders, flageolets, double recorders and transverse flutes. He built flutes for many of the most prominent Parisian flutists of the early 18th century, including Michel Blavet, Mozart’s friend Johann Baptist Wendling, and Jacques-Christophe Naudot. His instruments were also owned by many of the royal and aristocratic houses of Europe. See Giannini (1993). | |
| Naust | Naust | Pierre | 1660–1709 | Paris, France | Pierre Naust (b La-Couture Boussey, 1660; d Paris, 1709) was active as an instrument maker in Paris from 1692 until his death. His output includes recorders, flageolets, transverse flutes, oboes and clarinets. His workshop was continued by his widow and other members of his family after his death until it was 1734 taken over by Thomas Lot by marrying into the Naust family. The flute in four joints might have been made for the first time in this workshop (before 1709), although this innovation is attributed to Charles Bizey as well. Maker’s marks: NAUST / (Brabant lion); (lion) / NAUST /A PARIS / (lion on all fours, facing right) | |
| Neale | Neale | J. | c. 1730 | Dublin, Ireland | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Oberlender I | Oberlender | Johann Wilhelm I | 1681-1763 | Nuremberg, Germany | Johann Wilhelm Oberlender I (b Nuremberg 1681; d Nuremberg 1763) worked as an instrument maker from 1705 until 1745. Father of Johann Wilhelm II (1712-1779) who was also a wind instrument maker in the workshop of Jacob Denner. The I.W. OBERLENDER/O maker’s mark is likely to have been used by other makers after the death of Johann Wilhelm I and Johann Wilhelm II (Kirnbauer 1992). | |
| Otto | Otto | Rudolf | 1912-2004 | Aldingen, Kreis Tutlingen, Markneukirchen; Germany | Rudolf Otto (1912-2004 was born in Markneukirchen, the son of merchant Richard Otto. He graduated as a master maker of woodwind instruments in 1939 but was building recorders as early as 1933 for his farther’s firm. By 1937 he was selling them directly. He also made other instruments including clarinets, oboes and flutes. His range of recorders were in four categories: School recorders, consort recorders, “Werk” recorders and master recorders. His innovations included a block made of ebonite, a beak with a plastic sleeve, a wider surface for double holes, and a semitone key operated by the little finger of the left hand for the fourth degree of the recorder’s natural scale. Otto also made vogtländischer-csakans with semitone keys. Otto made recorders for Nagel (Hannover), Gustav Herrnsdorf (Markneukirchen) and Moeck (Celle). He also made Bärenreiter recorders for Max Hüller, notably alto recorders in f’ after the Ruëtz model. See Thalheimer (2013: 76-70). | |
| Palanca | Palanca | Carlo | c. 1691–1783 | Turin, Italy | Bassoonist and woodwind instrument maker; born Carlo Pitteti in Valsesia (ca 1691); died Turin (1783). He was the son and pupil of the instrument maker Giovanni Lorenzo Palanca (c.1645-p.1705). From his hands came the greatest number and variety of instruments by any 18th-century Italian maker. He seems to have developed in isolation. Palanca suffered from loss of eyesight beginning in 1770 and his mark may have been used thereafter by another maker perhaps finishing Palanca’s work. Palanca’s instruments are marked CARLO | PALANCA | [sun, star or flower] See Bernardini (1985); de Avena Braga (2015: 50-53, 314-315, 325-333, figs. 77-80, 95-109); Haynes (2001: 22); Olding (1997); Voice (2015). | |
| Panormo | Panormo | Giovanni | born late 1740s | Naples, Italy | The Panormo family (originally from Palermo and then named ‘Trusiano’) was famous in several branches of lutherie in different parts of Europe. Giovanni detto Panormo was born in Palermo (1746), died ? Naples (p. 1783). He was active as a woodwind instrument maker in Naples. Two flautini attributed to him are known to have been sold in 1783 to the Teatro Fondo in Naples, though this seems rather late for recorders. Panormo’s stamp was IOAN: | PANORM: and variants including IOAN: | PANORM: | NEAPOLI and PANORM | E FIGLI | NAPOLI de Avena Braga (2012; 2015: 53-54); Nocerino (2009: 795-797). | |
| Parent | Parent | Michiel | ?-1710 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | From 1697 on, Michiel Parent (a performer as well as a maker of wind instruments) was a member of the ‘Collegium Musicum’ which performed in Amsterdam in the summer and in The Hague in the winter. Notes from van Acht. Made double recorders of which he claimed to be the inventor. These had complex bores. A single example of his alto recorders survives, with a short foot and a remarkably narrow bore. He also made bassoons (Bouterse, 2001). | |
| Poerschman | Poerschman [Poerschmann, Pörschman\ | Johann | 1680-1757 | Leipzig, Germany | Poerschman (b Wittenberg, 1680; d Leipzig, 1757) was a solo bassoonist and oboist with the Leipzig Grossen Conzertes (later the Gewandhuas Orchestra). He also was an instrument maker whose few surviving instruments include a recorder, several flutes, an oboe d’amore, and a bassoon. Poerschman taught two leading woodwind makers of the next generation, August Grenser and Jakob Brundmann. | |
| RL & Co | R.L. & Co. | b 1937 | Germany | |||
| Rafi or Raffin | Rafi | Family | early 16c–?early 17c | Lyons, France | Makers of recorders and transverse flutes active in Lyons in Southern France in the first half of the 16th century. The earliest to be documented around 1500 is Jacques Pillon Michaud Raffin or Raphin (d. 1524), first heard of in 1506, was listed as felustier or flautist in 1512 and faiseur de fleustes (maker of flutes/recorders) in 1523. He was presumably the maker of the bass flute in Rome marked M. RAFI. He had two sons. Michaud’s illegitimate son Pierre is documented in 1528-1529 and may have been the maker Grece whose mark included the insignia of a sheep. Machaud Rafi was known and referred to as “the good shepherd”. Claude (op. c. 1515–m. 1553) apparently followed his brother in this profession. Claude’s fame was celebrated by poets, including Marot, Ronsard and François de la Salle. The latter refers to the good recorder of Raffy in ? 1537. The court of Mary of Hungary in Brussels ordered certain recorders from a master in Lyons in 1536 which may be the same as the certain large recorders with other instruments mentioned the next year. In 1546, the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona commissioned someone to send to Lyons to buy a consort [or pair] of flutes. Amazingly the Academia still owns a flute made by Claude Rafi, and the body of a bass flute. A consort of eight large recorders sufficient for a consort, fourteen others large recorders for the consort, and four sets of fifes by the esteemed craftsman … Graffi are listed among the collection of Manfredo Settala, a Milanese physician, clergyman and instrument inventor, in 1664. Graffi is probably a misreading of Cl. Rafi Maker’s mark: (shield with griffin) / C·RAFI; C.·.RAFI; (shield with a ? Brabant lion) / C·RAFI; shield with a ? Brabant Lion; C.·.RAFI / (shield with griffin); G·RAFI / (shield with griffin). The griffin was the insignia of the Archishopric of Lyons and the emblem of an artisan’s cooperative working in the S. John Baptist’s cathedral district of Lyon, and its use indicated goods of exceptional quality. The external profile of the fluette a neuf trouz appellé par les italiens flauto represented in Philibert Jamb de Fer’s Epitome Musical des tons, sons et accordz (1556) and its publication in Lyon suggest that these instruments were built in the workshop of Claude Rafi. See Bär (1995); Brown & Lasocki (2006: 29); Puglisi (1995), Tiella (2004, 2005); Virghi & Law (2020). | |
| Schrattenbach | Rauch von Schrattenbach [Schratt] | Hans | fl. 1535 | Schrattenbach (Allgäu), Austria | Maker of conventional and columnar recorders. A member of a family of wind instrument makers who are documented in the Bavarian hamlet of Schrattenbach from 1460 to 1595. One known maker named Hans married in 1490 and died in 1526, so our Hans was presumably his son. Two recorders, one in Munich and another in Salzburg, bear the inscriptions HANS RAUCH VON SCHRATT. The latter is also engraved IHESUS MARIA ANNA 1535. Both instruments are stamped with a double trefoil with a right-pointing tail (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 26). The trefoil maker’s mark depicted by Ganassi (Opera intitulata Fontegara (1535) is generally taken to represent Hans Rauch von Schrattenbach. | |
| Schrattenbach Family | Rauch von Schrattenbach [Schratt, Scratenbach] | Hans and Caspar | mid-16C | Schrattenbach (Allgäu), Austria | A number of instruments stamped with one or more trefoils have been attributed to members of the Schrattenbach family. These include recorders, transverse flutes and dulcians. David Lasocki (pers. comm, 2003 & 2005) notes that Waterhouse (1993: 320) sets out the evidence about Caspar Rauch succinctly and fairly. We have only Burney’s statement that Rauch’s instruments were made at Hamburg (And of course we have no idea on what evidence he based that statement – apparently nothing on the recorders themselves.) Citing Postel (1974), Waterhouse notes that a man named Caspar Rauch owned some woodland in Schrattenbach in 1536/7. Charles Burney, visiting Antwerp in 1772, noted the presence in the Oostershuis warehouse of between thirty and forty recorders bearing the name Casper Rauchs Scrattenbach … engraved on a brass ring, or plate, which encircled most of these instruments. The two surviving instruments from this collection, however, are just signed with the double right-pointing trefoil, presumably because the identifying brass rings have fallen off and disappeared. We have no further documentation of Caspar Rauch as an instrument-maker, although a man of that name is mentioned in the local Kempten archives in 1540 (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 26-27). | |
| Reka | Reka | late 19c – early 20c | Germany | |||
| Rippert | Rippert [Ripert, Ripere] | Jean-Jacques | op. 1668 – 1724 | Paris, France | French maker of transverse flutes, walking-stick flutes, recorders, oboes and bassoons, active in Paris, 1696-1725. He may have authored the sonatas for the transverse flute published by someone of the same name in 1722 and possibly of Brunettes ou petits airs à II dessus published in 1725. He was probably also an instrumentalist. Maker’s mark: RIPPERT / dolphin / shield bearing 6 lozenges | |
| Rol | Rol | A.T. | 2nd half 16c | Germany | Maker’s mark: A.T. ROL | |
| Roosen | Roosen | J. | 18th century | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Known from a single surviving basset recorder. His stamp is I·ROOSEN/5-petalled rose (Bouterse, 2001, 2013). | |
| J-H-J Rottenburgh | Rottenburgh | Jean-Hyacinth-Joseph | 1672–1756 | Brussels, Belgium | Maker of recorders, transverse flutes, piccolos, oboes and basoons. His son Godefroid-Adrien was also a skilled recorder maker. His stamp continued to appear on instruments made by his son Godfroid-Adrien (1703–68) and grandson François-Joseph (1743–1803). The illustrious organologist, acoustician, instrument collector and Conservateur of the Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles is the great grandson of J.-H.-J. Rottenburgh. Maker’s mark: I·H / ROTTENBURGH / (star) | |
| G-A Rottenburgh | Rottenburgh | Godefroid-Adrien | c. 1744–1803 | Brussels, Belgium | Member of a great family of Belgian wind instrument makers. Godefroid-Adrien was a maker of recorders and transverse flutes. His father was Jean-Hyacinth-Joesph Rottenburgh. | |
| Rouge | Rouge | a. 1701–1720 | France | Maker of recorders and oboes, active from 1701 until 1720. | ||
| Rykel | Rykel [Rijkel, Rikel, Rykjel] | Coenraad | 1664–1726 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Coenraad Rykel (b Amsterdam 1664; d Amsterdam 1726) was the son of Heinrich Rukoll, a tailor who came to Amsterdam from London before or in 1664. Coenraad was Richard Haka’s nephew and pupil. As well as an instrument maker, Rykel was a musician [bassoonist] in the theatre on Keizersgracht. When Haka moved to new premises in 1696, Rykel stayed on at the old address. A conflict arising from his continued use of his uncle’s name and stamp was resolved in Haka’s favour in 1700. Henceforth, until his death in 1726, Coenraad Rykel produced recorders and oboes under his own name. Notes from van Acht. | |
| JCE Sattler | Sattler | Johann Cornelius E. | 1718/24 – p. 1739 | Leipzig, Germany | Four generations of the Sattler family were active in Leipzig from the early 18th century and used the mark ‘S’ in the latter half of that century. | |
| Schell | Schell | Johann | 1660–1732 | Nuremberg, Germany | Johann Schell (b Nuremberg, 1660; d Nuremberg, 1732) was the son of a hunt-lure turner, Anton Schell. He was active as a maker of recorders, transverse flutes and oboes from 1697 until his death. He is first documented as a flute-maker in 1693. In 1694 he applied together with I.C. Denner to the council for the master’s rights as a woodwind-maker, which lead to him being admitted as a master in 1697. It is uncertain how significant the role was he played relative to Denner concerning the development of French woodwinds. Contrary to statements by Nikel (1971) and Lerch (1996), Klemisch (2006) notes that Schell’s extant recorders are highly developed with a modernising of design and sound. Maker’s marks: H SCHELL (in scroll) / S / (elaborate X-shaped monogram); H.SCHELL (in scroll) / S / JS; H·SCHELL / S / JS (monogram); H·SCHELL / S | |
| J Scherer | Scherer | Johannes, Jr. | 1664–1722 | Butzbach, Hesse, Germany | Johannes Scherer Jr (b Butzbach, 1664; d Butzbach 1722) was active as an instrument maker from 1711 until his death. He made recorders, transverse flutes and bassoons. Father of Georg Heinrich Scherer (1703-1778) who took over the business at the age of 19. Maker’s marks: I·SCHERER (scrolled) / (Brabant lion); SCHERER / (Brabant lion) | |
| J Schlegel | Schlegel | Jeremias | 1730–1792 | Basel, Switzerland | Jeremias Schlegel (b Basel, 1730; d Basel 1792), son of Christian Schlegel, was active as an instrument maker from 1752 until his death. His output includes recorders, transverse flute, oboes, bassoons, and clarinets. | |
| C Schlegel | Schlegel | Christian | c. 1667–1746 | Basel & Zurich, Switzerland | Christian Schlegel (b Mels ca 1667; d Basel 1708), father of Jeremias Schlegel, was active as an instrument maker from 1708 until his death in 1746. He made recorders, double recorders, transverse flutes, chalumeaux, shawms, and oboes. | |
| Schuchart | Schuchart | John Just | 1695–1759 | Germany, London | John (Johan) Just Schuchart (b Germany, 1695; d London, 1759) was active a maker of wind instruments in London by 1720 and very probably worked for Bressan before setting up his own workshop by 1732, perhaps as early as 1725. Thomas Cahusac Senior (1714–1788) and Benjamin Hallet (fl. 1713–1753) were probably apprentices of his. John Just’s instruments cannot be differentiated from those of his son Charles (c. 1720–1765). Their combined output includes recorders, oboes, clarinets and bassoons. Johan Just Schuchart’s instruments are marked I U I SCHUCHART with a double-headed spread-eagle. When John Just died, he designated as his successor not his son Charles, but his own son-in-law, another foreign-born woodwind maker called Henry (Hindrik). | |
| Schuechbaur | Schuechbaur | Franz Simon | p. 1692–1743 | Munich, Germany | Maker of recorders and oboes. | |
| Smart | Smart | George | 1773–1805 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Instrument maker, music seller, and publisher. He was succeeded by one William Turnbull. SeeWaterhouse (1993), MacMillan (2008: 94). | |
| Stanesby Sr | Stanesby | Thomas Sr | c. 1668–1734 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Born in Moorly Lyme, Derbyshire, England. Maker of recorders, transverse flutes, oboes and bassoons. His son, Thomas Stanesby Jr, was also a wind-instrument maker. Maker’s mark: STANESBY / (dolphin); T / Stanesby / (8-pointed star) | |
| Stanesby Jr | Stanesby | Thomas Jr | 1692–1754 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Thomas Stanesby Jr (b London, 1692; d Brompton, 1754) was the son of Thomas Staneby Sr. Instruments made by him include recorders, transverse flutes, oboes and bassoons. Stanesby Jr’s later instruments show a simplification of the older baroque exterior following the trend towards the classical woodwind design. This is evident in several of his recorders with joints similar to those of the transverse flutes of the time and lacking the flared foot used hitherto. A trade card of Stanesby Jr dated 1728 reads: Stanesby Jun. In the Temple Exchange Fleet Street, London Makes to the greatest Perfection, all sorts of musical instruments. In Ivory or fine wood; Plain after a very neat Manner or curiously Adorn’d with Gold, Silver, Ivory &c. Necessary to preserve them; Approv’d and recommended by the best masters in Europe. Sold as above and no where else.Maker’s marks: STANESBY / (dolphin); STANESBY / IUNIOT / F; STANESBY / IUNIOR / 6; STANESBY / IUNIOR | |
| Steenbergen | Steenbergen | Jan | 1676–c.1730 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Jan Steenbergen came from Heerde in Gelderland. A pupil of Richard Haka, his production consisted largely of recorders and oboes. Steenbergen lived and worked in Kerkstraat in Amsterdam until about 1730. A number of his recorders, traversi and oboes have survived. Amongst the 8 or 9 surviving recorders by Steenbergen, one has three double holes (f’/f#’ g’/g#’, c”/c#”), which allows you to play a very stable and well tuned c#”’. Notes from van Acht. Maker’s marks: I STEENBERGEN (scrolled) / (fleur-de-lys); I:STEENBERGEN. (scrolled) / (fleur-de-lys) | |
| Terton | Terton | Engelbert | 1676-1752 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Engelbert Terton, born in 1676 in Rijssenin Overijssel, Holland. He probably studied instrument-making with Jan Jurriansz van Heerde. In 1710, he came to Amsterdam where his first address was Warmoesstraat. In 1731 he bought a house on Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal, where he lived until his death in 1752.Recorders, oboes and a transverse flute by Terton have survived. Notes from van Acht. Maker’s mark: (crown) / E:TERTON / (Brabant lion) although the lion is missing on two of his recorders and on an oboe. | |
| Townsend | Townsend | John | 1819 – 1869 | Manchester, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | The firm of Townsend flourished in Manchester between ca 1825 and 1860 as music publishers, sellers, and instrument dealers. See Blanchfield (1990), Waterhouse (1993), MacMillan (2008: 59). | |
| Troup | Troup | W.G. | c. 1775–1800 | Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Valiani | Valiani | 16c | Italy | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Villars | Villars | Paul | c. 1741–1776 | Paris, France | Woodwind instrument maker whose output included clarinets, flutes, oboes and recorders. Brother-in-law of the instrument-maker Charles Bizey. | |
| G Walch | Walch | Georg | 1690–c. 1716 | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Maker of recorders & flageolets; brother of Augustin (b 1668) & Andreas (b 1672); father of Johann Georg (b 1764) & Lorenz I (1735-1809). See Bruckner (1979). | |
| L Walch II | Walch | Lorenz (II) | 1786–1862 | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Lorenz Walch II (b Berchtesgaden 1786; d Berchtesgaden 1862) was active as an instrument maker from 1809 until his death. He is known for his recorders, flageolets, flûtes d’acord, walking-stick flutes and clarinets. Grandson of Georg (b 1690). Maker’s marks: (5 petal flower)/LORENZ WALCH/BERCHTESGADEN LORENZ/BERCHTESGADEN/(4-leafed clover LORENZ/BERCHTESGADEN/(5-leafed symbol) See Zimmerman (1957: 21-24), Bruckner (1979), Waterhouse (1993), MacMillan (2008: 114). | |
| P Walch | Walch | Paul | 1810–1873 | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Maker of recorders, flageolets, fifes, piccolos, walking-stick recorders and clarinets. Grandson of Georg (b. 1690), brother of Lorenz II (1786-1862). Makers mark: (7-pointed star)/PAUL WALCH/BERCHTESGADEN/(rosette) changed ca 1850 to (crown)/PAUL WALCH/BERCHTESGADEN, following a visit of King Ludwig of Bavaria to the town. Paul was the last of the family to make recorders, though he passed his skills on to George Oeggle (1851-1929), thus ensuring the future of the centuries-old tradition of recorder making in Berchtesgaden. See Bruckner (1979) MacMillan (2008: 113-115). | |
| A Walch | Walch | Augustin or his brother Andreas | Augustin (b 1668); Andreas (b 1672) | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Makers of recorders; brothers of Georg (b 1690). See Bruckner (1979). | |
| L Walch I | Walch | Lorenz (I) | 1735-1809 | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Maker of recorders, double recorders, transverse flutes and shawms; grandfather of Paul, father of Lorenz II, son of Georg (b.1690). See Bruckner (1979) MacMillan (2008: 85, 113-115). | |
| IG Walch | Walch | Johann Georg | 1688–17?? | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Johann Georg Walch is known for his recorders, flûte d’acord and oboes. | |
| Weigel | Weigel | I.T. | second quarter 18c | Breslau, Germany | Maker of recorders, oboes and cor-anglais. | |
| Wyne | Wyne [Wijne] | Robert | 1698–1774 | Nijmegen, Netherlands | Robert Wijne was born in 1698 in Nijmegen. The family originally came from either Nijmegen or Hees. A number of his recorders, traversi and oboes have survived. Robert Wijne died in 1774. Notes from van Acht. Maker’s mark is R.WYNE in a scroll | |
| W Koch | Koch | William F. Sr. | 1892–1970 | Haverhill, New Hampshire, United States of America (USA) | Founded in 1934 by William F Koch (1892-1970) and continued by his son Bill Koch (1926-2009). | |
| Schin | Schin | Joseph | c. 1840 | Neuburg an der Donau, Germany | The workshop of Schin was founded by Joseph Shin I in the early 19th century and continued as a family concern until ca 1870. See Waterhouse (1993) MacMillan (2008: 56). | |
| Ziemann-Molitor | Ziemann-Molitor | Heinrich & Elisabeth | c. 1935 | Hamburg, Germany | Music educationalists who made recorders for the Waldorf School system established by Rudolf Steiner in the early 1920s. These so-called System Ziemann-Molitor recorders were soprano recorders pitched to A=432 Hz, the so-called ‘Sun tone” or ‘Michael tone’, in keeping with Steiner’s requirements. See Reynold (1998/2004: 161) and Zeimann-Molitor (1930 & 1933). Since 2002, inspired by Steiner’s teachings, the firm Mollenhauer have made Waldorf Edition recorders with exchangeable pentatonic and chromatic bodies. | |
| Schuster | Schuster | Heinrich Moritz | op. 1871–1973 | Markneukirchen, Germany | Markneukirchen dealership founded by Heinrich Waldemar Schuster in 1871. From 1897 the company traded under the names “HeMoSch”. From 1906 it was called “Musikhaus Heinr. Moritz Schuster”. After the founder’s death in 1913, the heirs sold the business to the merchant Paul Ficker whose daughter Gertraud ran the wholesale business until 1973. The trademark Cid (found on csakans) was owned by this company. | |
| Egl | Egl | Peter | 18C | Berchtesdaden, Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Fische | Fische | Ni(kolaus) | early 18C | Berchtesgaden, Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Harlan | Harlan | Peter Harlan | 1898–1966 | Markneukirchen, Germany | Harlan did not himself make recorders but commissioned others to do so. A large collection of instruments marketted by Peter Harlan is located in the Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig. | |
| Zick | Zick | Johann Georg | 1678–1733 | Nuremberg, Germany | Johann Georg Zick (b Nuremberg, 1678; d Nuremberg, 1733). Active in Nuremberg from 1703 until his death. | |
| Staub | Staub | Nikolaus | 1664-1734 | Nuremberg, Germany | Nikolaus Staub (b Nuremberg, 1664; d Nuremberg, 1734). Maker’s mark: N. STAVB (in a scroll with rolled ends) NS See Nickel (1971). | |
| Vacano | Vacano | 18C | Germany | I would welcome further details of this maker. | ||
| Marks | Marks | Schutz | 20C | Known from a single recorder, F-Paris E.980.2.549 | ||
| Karis | Karis | M. | 18C | Known from a single recorder, F-Paris E.980.2.527 | ||
| Dawson | Dawson | Oskar | a1930–p1941 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Employed in the Dolmetsch workshops but left in 1930 to set up his own workshop in Haslemere making recorders and clavichords. See Hunt (1977: 132-133); MacMillan (2020). | |
| C Lamy | Lamy | Concord | 20C | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Heinrich | Heinrich | Alexander | (? – 1935) | Markneukirchen, Germany | Alexander Heinrich (b Prague; d Markneukirchen 1935) was active as a recorder maker from 1918 until his death. After the separation of Germany, under the socialist government in eastern Germany, the two manufacturers were forced to join the government owned VEB Musima in Markneukirchen, but fortunately could keep their traditional brand names alive. Three years after the re-unification of Germany the firm he founded was united with Adler as Adler-Heinrich GmbH, now defunct. | |
| J-B Martin | Martin | François Jean-Baptiste | 1862–1923 | La Couture-Boussey, France | Known from a single recorder said to have been made in 1879 by Jean-Baptiste Martin. Three members of this family of woodwind makers bore this name: Jean-Baptiste was born in 1751/2, Jean-Baptiste II (1791-1867), and Jean-Baptiste III (1817-1877). | |
| Fehr | Fehr | Hans Conrad | ? – 1958 | Zurich, Switzerland | A student of Ferdinand Conrad and a maker of recorders. The firm he established still flourishes, although it is now part of the Kunath Group, in Fulda. | |
| C Gras | Gras | Charles | fl. 1836 – a. 1892 | Paris, France | Charles Gras was a member of a long-established family firm, a number of whom bore the name Charles. A single recorder bearing the stamp (bird)/GRAS was purchased by F-Paris in 1893. Thus it is likely that is maker is the Charles Gras cited above (MacMillan 2008: 43-44). | |
| Tolbecque | Tolbecque | Auguste | 1880–1919 | Niort, France | Auguste Tolbecque (b Paris, 1830; d Niort, 1919), cellist and composer, was active as an instrument maker from 1880 until his death. His output includes reconstructions of recorders, crumhorns, rebecs, viols, crwths, vielles, lyres, organs, lutes, citterns. His large instrument collection was purchased by the Belgian government for the Brussels Conservatory in 1879; a second collection and a fine library were dispersed in 1922. | |
| Camus | Camus | op. 1793–1822 | Paris, France | Active as an instrument maker from 1793 until before 1822. Also made French flageolets. A recorder by Camus is listed in the Bruni Inventory of 1793 (Waterhouse, 1993). | ||
| Lener | Lener | S. | 18th century | Germany | I wold welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Bellissent | Bellissent | op. a. 1819–1842 | Paris, France | Active as a maker of flutes for l’Ecole Royale de Musique from 1819 until his death. His output includes recorders, transverse flutes, piccolos and flageolets. He made a number of improvements to the flute, but only a single recorder of his manufacture appears to be extant. A flute, a piccolo and a fife also survive. | ||
| Oberlender II | Oberlender | Johann Wilhelm II | 1712–1779 | Nuremberg, Germany | Active as an instrument maker of recorders, transverse flutes, oboes and clarinets between 1735 until his death in 1779. Son of Johann Wilhelm I (1681–1763). The I.W. OBERLENDER/O maker’s mark is likely to have been used by other makers after the death of Johann Wilhelm I and Johann Wilhelm II (Kirnbauer 1992). | |
| Denner | Denner | late 17th – 18th centuries | Nuremberg, Germany | It is difficult to ascribe instruments to individual members of this family since masters’ marks were inherited in Nuremberg. Three distinct marks were used by members of the Denner family: ‘D’ on its own; ‘I.C. DENNER’ in scroll , with a ‘D’ and sometimes also an ‘I’ underneath; and ‘I. DENNER’ in scroll with ‘ID’ beneath it, with a tree between the letters. ‘Denner’ is an old German word for the pine tree; hence the depiction of a pine. Johann Christoph Denner (1655–1707) was a woodwind instrument maker to whom the invention of the clarinet is attributed. He was born in Leipzig to a family of horn-tuners. With his father, Heinrich Denner, a maker of game whistles and hunting horns, he moved to Nuremberg in 1666. Johann Christoph Denner went into business as an instrument maker in 1678. Two of his sons, Jacob and Johann David, also became instrument builders. At least 68 instruments attributed to J. C. Denner have survived to the present day. Johann Carl Denner (a. 1660 – p. 1702), brother of Johann Chistoph Denner, who made “only recorders and flageolets”, could have prospered had he not been imprisoned for adultery and debts. He left Nuremberg in 1702 and disappeared. Although primarily a professional oboist, Jakob Denner (1681–1735), son of Johann Christoph Denner, was a maker of recorders, chalumeau, flutes, and bassoons. Johann David Denner (1691-1764), son of Johann Christoph Denner, was a maker of oboes, bassoons and flutes. | ||
| G Scherer | Scherer | Georg Heinrich | 1703–1778 | Butzbach, Hesse, Germany | George Heinrich Scherer (b Butzbach, 1703; d Butzbach 1778) was active as an instrument maker from 1720 until his death. He made recorders, transverse flutes and clarinets. Son of Johannes Scherer (1664-1722) from whom he took over the workshop at the age of 19. Maker’s mark: SCHERER /(fleur-de-lys) | |
| Mahillon | Mahillon | Victor-Charles | 1841–1924 | Brussels, Belgium | Instrument maker and acoustician. Author of a five-volume catalogue of the Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire, Brussels, which he founded in 1877 and directed until his death. Great grandson of the famous wind instrument maker J-H-J Rottenburgh. Eldest son of Charles Borroméee Mahillon (1813-1887), founder of the firm of Mahillon which Victor-Charles joined in 1865 where he was responsible for commissioning copies of historic instruments, some of which were used in performance. | |
| Hammerschmidt | Karl Hammerschmidt & Söhne | 1936- | Watzkenreuth (near Fleissen), laer Burgau, Germany | The Hammerschmidt company sold recorders from 1936 onwards. Amongst surviving instruments bearing the Hammerschmidt stamp, those with a wave-like head-joint decoration reminiscent of the Kinsecker recorders were made either in the Watzkenreuth workshop, or pre-turned by König & Söhne; the key-work and ferrules were probably added by Hammerschmidt (Thalheimer (2013). Recorders with the brand-name ‘Klingson’ were made in Karl Hammerschmidt & Söhne’s Burgau workshop. Amongst their output were recorders with semitone keys and instruments made for a musician who wanted to perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto parts without the usual problems. An interesting innovation was a thumb vent with a sort of metal chimney which projects inside the bore so that moisture never drops on the thumb, a feature found in some csakans. | ||
| Urquhart | Urquhart | Patrick | – m.1728 | Scotland | Son of London violin maker Thomas Urquhart (fl. 1660-1670). Maker of flutes and recorders. His mark includes a thistle, indicating a Scottish origin, perhaps. I would welcome further details concerning this maker. His instruments bear a great resemblance to those of Bressan with whom he seems to have collaborated in some way. See Montague (1998); Waters (2021a&b); Vichy Enchères. 2021. | |
| Dushkin | Dushkin | David | 1898–1986 | Poland & United States of America (USA) | One of the pioneers of the recorder in the USA. He contrived a plastic recorder with a removable wooden block. This instrument was reputedly easy and full in tone owing to its wide bore, but the tone was rather coarse. Dushkin started making recorders in 1934. See Hunt (1977: 160). As plastic was somewhat in its infancy, the material sometimes deteriorated over time. I have seen a few of them over the years, in various woods and in different sizes. He was an innovative fellow, and certainly the first American recorder maker of this century, pre-dating Koch by a couple of years (Nik von Huene, 2002). Born in Poland, Dushkin studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris where he met his wife Dorothy Smith. Together they established a music school for children at Winnetka, Illinois (USA) which still operates as The Music Centre of the North Shore. Later, the Dushkins moved to Vermont. | |
| Schott | Schott | 20C | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Commenced production of plastic neo-baroque recorders in 1939. Produced a composite wood and plastic recorder in 1940. One of the world’s oldest and leading publishers of sheet music, they no longer sell recorders of their own. | ||
| Skowroneck | Skowroneck | Martin | 1926–2014 | Bremen, Germany | Primarily a maker of harpsichords, one of the pioneers of the modern movement of harpsichord construction on historical principles. Also a flautist and teacher he started making recorders and baroque flutes in 1949 but switched to harpsichrds. See Der Wunderwerker. Hommage im Steinfurter Bagno (13.1.2007): Martin Skowroneck zum Achtzigsten. Concerto 213: 5 (Apr/May 2007). | |
| Nikkan | Nikkan Gakki | 1892–1970 | Tokyo, Asakusa, Japan | Nikkan (NIhon KAngakki seisakusho, i.e. ie Japan Wind Instrument Factory) made woodwind, brass and percussion instruments as well school recorders in plastic and bakelite. They had collaborated with Yamaha from 1937 and were fully acquired by them in 1970. In the September 1957 edition of the magazine Ongaku-no-Tomo Nikkan advertised an keyed recorder for which a patent was applied for on 25 February 1060 and issued by the Tokyo Patent Office on 7 February 1963 (see Henseler & Otse 2010: 16). From the illustration this instrument appears to be a recorder with a semitone hole for the little finger of the lowermost hand and two keys operated by the little finger of the uppermost hand, presumably to extend the range downwards. | ||
| Morgan | Morgan | Frederick | 1940–1999 | Amsterdam, Netherlands; Daylesford, Australia | For obituary see here. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1940, Morgan began playing the recorder at age twelve. In 1959 he began working for the Pan Recorder Company which made recorders for schools, working there until 1969. During the 1960s he played both as a soloist and ensemble member in a variety of performances in Melbourne and formed The Frederick Morgan Recorder Consort. In 1970 he won a Churchill Fellowship to study Recorder Manufacture and Usage in Europe, making drawings of instruments in museums and private collections and meeting internationally acclaimed recorder virtuoso Frans Brüggen. Following this, he worked for a couple of months at the von Huene recorder workshop in Boston, USA, before returning to Australia where he perfected his designs and sold his first instruments in 1972. In 1979, Morgan established a workshop in Amsterdam but returned to Australia in 1982 to continue working in Daylesford, Victoria. Morgan’s reputation grew throughout the 1980s and 1990s making a range of recorders including the early Ganassi type. He published numerous articles about the recorder for the Victorian Recorder Guild and in the international music journal, Early Music. In 1981 he released a folio of technical drawings of instruments in the collection of Frans Brüggen. A greatly talented instrument maker and a highly accomplished player, Fred Morgan died in a car crash in 1999. | |
| Mollenhauer | Mollenhauer | Conrad Mollenhauer GmbH | 1822– | Fulda, Germany | Musical instrument manufactury begun by Johann Andreas Mollenhauer (1798–1871) which has continued through several generations to the present day. In the past, Mollenhauer made recorders for Bärenreiter as well as in their own right. | |
| Bärenreiter | Bärenreiter | fl. 1935 | Erfut & Kassel, Germany | In the mid-1920s Bärenreiter, probably through an introduction by Willibald Gurlitt, made contact with Harlan. In the following years they supplied the range of Bärenreiter branded recorders of different sizes which sold for about 4 Reichsmarks. In fact the recorders sold under this label were made by others, including Franz-Carl Kruspe, Max Hüller, and Conrad Mollenhauer. | ||
| Marvin | Marvin | Robert (Bob) | 1941–2018 | Eustis ME, United States of America (USA) | Cylindrical recorders; renaissance consort recorders; Ganassi-style recorders; early baroque recorders; also flauti doppi (double recorders). For brief authobiographical notes see https://bobmarvinrecorders.wordpress.com/ | |
| Loretto | Loretto | Alec | ?–(1972-)2013 | Auckland, New Zealand (NZ) | Recorder maker, teacher and prolific writer. Made mredieval, renaissance, transitional, baroque, neo-baroque, and experimental recorders. | |
| Rudall Carte | Rudall Carte & Co. | op. 1872–1950 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | |||
| Küng | Küng Küng Blockflötenbau | Franz | 1906–1983 | Schaffausen, Switzerland | Küng Blockflötenbau was founded in 1933 by Franz Küng. The company is managed today by Thomas Küng. | |
| Goble | Goble | Robert | 1903–1991 | Haslemere and Oxford, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Worked for Dolmetsch from 1924-1937 where he was responsibile for the tuning of recorders. In 1937 he set up his own workshop in Haslemere making recorders and furniture. In 1947, he established a new workshop in Headington, near Oxford, making recorders, clavichords, spinets and harpsichords. After five years he abandoned recorder making. The firm continues as Robert Goble & Son. Christie’s – London Musical Instruments Auction Date : Mar 15, 2000 Lot 15: An alto recorder by Robert Goble, stamped Robert Goble/407; the sounding length 15.7/8in (402mm) No photos found. Estimate: $ 314 – $ 628 Christie’s – London Musical Instruments Auction Date : Mar 15, 2000 Lot 7: Two modern recorders by Robert Goble ; one sopranino stamped ROBERT GOBLE/1063, the sounding length 7.15/15in (202mm); the other, alto, stamped ROBERT GOBLE/251, the sounding length 16in (407mm) (2) No photos found. Estimate: $ 628 – $ 942 Christie’s – London Musical Instruments Auction Date : Jun 16, 1999 Lot 365: A tenor recorder by Robert Goble stamped Robert Goble/1186 on the headjoint; ivory fipple, sounding length 24.1/8in. (61.3cm) No photos found. Estimate: $ 40 – $ 318 Christie’s – London Musical Instruments Auction Date: Mar 17, 1999 Lot 476: A tenor recorder by Robert Goble stamped Robert Goble/1186 on the headjoint; ivory fipple, sounding length 24.1/8in. (61.3cm) No photos found. Estimate: $ 408 – $ 489 Christie’s – London Musical Instruments Auction Date: Jun 16, 1999 Lot 364 : A descant recorder by Robert Goble stamped Robert Goble/377 on the headjoint; ivory fipple and mounts, overall length 12.5/8in. (32.1cm) No photos found. Estimate: $ 40 – $ 318 Christie’s – London Musical Instruments Auction Date: Mar 17, 1999 Lot 477: A descant recorder by Robert Goble stamped Robert Goble/377 on the headjoint; ivory fipple and mounts, overall length 12.5/8in. (32.1cm) No photos found. Estimate: $ 245 – $ 408. | |
| Grey | Grey | John | 20C | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Probably the trademark of a dealer in musical instruments, namely John Grey & Sons Ltd, a subsidiary company of Barnett Samuel & Sons of London. I note that John Grey & Sons did make some of their own instruments but re-badged many others supplied to them by ‘makers to the trade’ of the time. John Grey & Sons were eventually acquired by Rose, Morris & Co. Ltd. | |
| Hail | Hail | ?18C | ? France | I would welcome information about this maker who seems to be known from a single instrument. | ||
| Herwiga | Herwiga | early 20th century | Markneukirchen, Germany | Originally the trademark of Gustav Hernsdorf (1890-1945, who offered recorders from 1938 with historical rather than so-called German fingering. Instruments sold under this brand name were manufactured for Hernsdorf by various Vogtland makers, notably Max König & Söhne of Zwota. Models included Herwiga Chor, Herwiga Chorflöte, Herwiga Rex, Herwiga 2, Herwiga 3, Herwiga Selekta, Herwiga Solist, Herwiga Regina See Pinnock (2023) for further details. | ||
| Hopf | Willy Hopf & Co. | 1948– | Taunusstein, Germany | The musical instrument-manufacturing firm Willy Hopf & Co. was established in 1948 by Willy Hopf (1906-1990), building strings and woodwind and employing a number of professional craftsman. In the 1970s and 1980s recorder making was undertaken by Peter Kobliczek, who later managed the firm as Kobliczek Instrumentenbau GmbH. Today the Kobliczek workshop is managed by recorder-maker Christoph Hammann. However, Willy Hopf’s son, Dieter, continues the family instrument-making tradition as a guitar maker. | ||
| Ferrera | Ferrera | op. 1930–1964 | Barcelona, Spain | I would appreciate further details concerning this maker. | ||
| Cousen | Cousen | John | 1926–2014 | Huddersfield, W. Yorkshire, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Medieval and renaissance recorders after Praetorius, Virdung. Renaissance recorders after Praetorius, Virdung/Agricola. Also made other wind and stringed instruments. Worked with Carl Hanson. See obituary by Steven Turner: FoMRHI Quarterly 127: John David Cousen ( 29th July 1926 – 12th May 2014). | |
| C. Dolmetsch | Dolmetsch | Carl | 1911–1997 | Haslemere, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Carl Dolmetsch was responsible for the research and production of recorders from 1926. A number of craftsman were employed by Dolmetsch over the years including Robert Goble (1924–1937) and Oskar Dawson (1930–1941). For biographical details see here. | |
| Robinson | Robinson | Edward | contemporary | Hillingdon, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | An amateur maker. I would welcome further details concerning this maker. | |
| M Herbst | Herbst | Michael | 17C | Germany | See Nickel (1971). | |
| J Herbst | Herbst | Johann | Nuremberg, Germany | See Nickel (1971). | ||
| Heuschkel | Heuschkel | Christoph | 17C | Germany | I would welcome further detials about this maker. | |
| J-H Rottenburgh | Rottenburgh | Jean-Hyacinth | a. 1700 – c. 1775 | Brussels, Belgium | A member of a great family of Belgian wind insrument makers. Maker’s mark: I·H / ROTTENBURGH / (star). | |
| Schuchart | Schuchart | Charles | c. 1720–1765 | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Charles Schuchart (b London, c. 1720; d London, 1765) was active as a maker of wind instruments from 1753 to 1765. At first apprenticed to his father John Just Schuchart (1695-1753), before setting up his own workshop in 1754. His instruments cannot be differentiated from those of his father. Their combined output includes recorders, oboes, clarinets and bassoons. Charles’ workshop was succeeded by Thomas Collier who may have been his apprentice. | |
| Johann Carl Denner | Denner | Johann Carl | a. 1660 – p. 1701 | Nuremberg, Germany | Kirnbauer (1992) has argued that the plain mark D which has been attributed without cause to Johann Christoph Denner is more likely to have belonged to the forgotten brother Johann Carl, who made nothing but recorders and flageolets. He could have prospered all the same but he was sent to jail for adultery and debts. He left Nuremberg in 1702 and disapeared. | |
| Ziegler | Ziegler | Johann | 1792–1852 | Vienna, Austria | Maker of flutes and csakans, both einfache (simple) and complizierte (keyed). See Glassgold (1962). | |
| L Lot | Lot | Louis | 1807-1896 | Paris, France | Louis Lot came from a long line of woodwind-instrument makers native to the town of La Couture-Boussey in Normandy who operated businesses in Paris throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Louis’ modified Boehm flutes became the official instrument at the Paris Conservatoire in 1860. Louis Lot was the maker of a six-keyed soprano recorder. See Glassgold (1963), Giannini (1993). | |
| Firth, Pond & Co. | Firth, Pond & Co. | John Firth, Sylvanus Pond | op. 1847-1863 | New York, United States of America (USA) | This firm were makers and distributors of musical instruments, including flutes, guitars and pianos. They also published sheet music. See McGee (2008); MacMillan (2008: 90). | |
| Weiss | Weiss | See Bär (1992). There appear to be no recorders by this maker in public collections. | ||||
| Hochschwarzer | Hochschwarzer | A. | mid-19C | Schwaz, Austria | See Bär (1992), MacMillan (2008: 44) There appear to be no recorders by this maker in public collections. | |
| Gheier | Gheier | See Puklický (1986). | ||||
| Fridrich | Fridrich | See Puklický (1986). | ||||
| Pfegl | Pfegl | See Karp (1972). There appear to be no recorders by this maker in public collections. | ||||
| Souvé or Jouvé | Souvé or Jouvé | There is some doubt about the first letter of this name. There is a flûte d’accord by Hentz Jouve (c. 1800) in the Horniman Museum, London, Accn. 421.222.12 which is stamped on the upper surface: JOUVE/PARIS; between two star marks. | ||||
| Plaikner | Plaikner | Albrecht or Jakob | fl. 1696–1708 | Berchtesgaden, Germany | Maker of recorders and double recorders. Examples of his work are at D-Berchtesgaden: Heimat Mus. (Bruckner 1979), and A-Linz: Schlossmus (Haynes 2002). | |
| Eggl | Eggl | Johann or Joseph | Johann (b. 1716) or Joseph (b. 1722) | Berchtesdaden, Germany | Maker of recorders and/or double recorders. Examples of his work are at D-Berchtesgaden: Heimat Mus. See Bruckner (1979). | |
| Carl | Carl | Georg Frans | Nuremberg, Germany | See Nickel (1971). | ||
| Schnitzer | Schnitzer | Family | 16th century | Munich; Nuremberg, Germany | Three generations of the family Schnitzer were responsible for a boom in the woodwind manufacture of musical instruments in the 16th century. Their instruments were widely distributed in their native Germany, as well as in France and Italy. Father to this dynasty was Albecht Schnitzer (born Augsburg, died 1524/5), town piper and pipe maker (Woodwindmaker) in Munich. He had been a notable and much sought-after maker of instruments, as can be understood from a letter from his grandchild Veit Schnitzer, written to King Karl V (1555). The family maker’s mark can be traced back to Albert who signed with a single Â. His sons and successors used the same sign. Hans (buried 1565) also used this mark. Others, including Sigmund (p. 1557) and Arzasius (?), and probably also Mathes (p.1553) used the mark ÂÂ. All of them were town pipers and pipe-makers – Hans, Sigmund, and Mathes in Nuremberg, and Arzasius in Munich. In 1539, the city council of Nuremberg bought shawms and recorders from Sigmund (a large bombard, a vagant [bass], two tenors, and two altos, also a large case of recorders, containing ten recorders and three small bombards) and flutes and cornetti from Mathes. At least another three 16th-century members of the family were also pipe-makers. Arsazius’s son Hans II, first documented in 1515, supplied fifes and rebuilt some recorders in 1566. The style and shape of the maker’s mark appears to represent a pair of compasses, possibly a reference to the Freemason tradition. See Heygehn (2005), Nickel (1971), Darmstätdter (2005: 103), Klemisch (2006), Brown & Lasocki (2006). | |
| Franck | Franck | Hannß | fl. 1427 | Nuremberg, Germany | See Richardson (1996). | |
| Ashbury | Ashbury | John | Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | See Halfpenny (1959). | ||
| Drumbleby | Samuel | London, Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | See Halfpenny (1959). | |||
| Fornari | Fornari | Andrea | 1753-1841 | Venice, Italy | Italian woodwind maker (b Venice, c1753; d Venice, 26 Oct 1841). Primarily a maker of oboes and English horns but also of recorders. He also made instruments for the study of mathematics and physics and for navigation. Fornari also invented a sort of basset-oboe. His son Pietro (b 1793) played the clarinet and also made woodwind instruments and some instruments with the stamp FORNARI / A VENEZIA may have been made by hime rather than his father. See Bernardini (1989), Toffolo (1987), Bernardini (1989). | |
| S Bassano | Bassano | Santo | late 18C | Venice, Italy | A petition by Sanato Bassano (1791) lists the woodwind instruments he makes, amongst them alto recorder, third flute, and octave flute. See Toffolo (1986). | |
| Mazel | Mazel family | Nuremberg, Germany | Thalheimer (1990) notes a recorder in c”’ that came to light during the restoration of the woodwind collection in the Musei Civici, Modena. This ivory one-piece instrument was made by the Nuremberg maker with the mark M (probably from the Mazel family) and dates from around 1670. | |||
| Gerlach | Gerlach | Gottlieb | 1856–1909 | Munich, Germany | Kirnbauer (1993) notes that Gerlach made a copy of a Jacob Denner alto recorder for the Bogenhausen Künstlerkapelle. | |
| Lorenzo | Lorenzo | Giovanni | c. 1645 – p. 1705 | Italy | Teacher of Carlo Palanca (ca 1691-1783). See Bernardini (1985). | |
| Graessel | Graessel | Georg | 1874-1948 | Nuremberg, Germany | See Eschler (1993), Thalheimer (2013: 8-11). | |
| Eerens | Eerens | F. | Netherlands | One walking stick recorder by this maker has survived; also four transverse flutes (Bouterse, 2001). | ||
| Mondon | Mondon | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||||
| Porst | Porst | Werner | – | Stockholm | Manufacturer of an Elit model soprano recorder. | |
| Schunda | Schunda | J. | op. 1871–1944 | Pest | I would welcome further details of this maker. | |
| Hopkins | Hopkins | Asa | 1779–1838 | Litchfield CT, United States of America (USA) | A successful clockmaker before turning to instrument-making from 1829–1837. Also made flutes, clarinets, and flageolets. | |
| Castel | Castel | N. | op. 1720–1750 | Venice (or the Veneto), Italy | Surviving instruments include recorders as well as flutes. The recorders are marked variously “CASTEL”, “N. | CASTEL”, and “stylised N | CASTEL”, with or without a lion (or griffin) rampant. The ‘stylised N’ has been mistaken for ‘W’ and for ‘J.C.’ One of the surviving flutes is marked ‘Giuseppe Castel’, in addition to the lion; another is marked simply ‘CASTEL’. Thus it seems likely that several family members were involved in instrument making. See de Avena Braga (2013; 2015: 45-49); Sardelli (2007: 53); Voice (2015); Waterhouse (1993: 58). | |
| MIGMA | MIGMA | Musikinstrumenten Genossenschaft Markneukirchen | 1943 – p. 1950 | Germany | A co-operative of several hundred musical instrument makers. Many well known (and not well known) makers distributed their products through MIGMA. | |
| Reich | Reich | B. | early 18C | Next to nothing is known about B. Reich and only two recorders bearing his name have survived. | ||
| Lucien Lot | Lot | Lucien | op. c. 1946 – m. before 1963 | Paris & Garennes-sur-Eure, France | Lucien Lot appears to be unconnected with the extensive Lot dynasty of instrument makers. Maker’s marks: LOT/FRANCE/BREVET S.G.D.G. also LN LOT /GARENNES EURE /FRANCE See Waterhouse (1993); MacMillan (2008: 91-92). | |
| M Hotteterre | Hotteterre | Martin | c. 1635–1712 | Paris | Martin Hotteterre (born Paris, c. 1635; d. 1712, Paris) was a member of a French family of woodwind instrument makers, instrumentalists and composers. He made recorders, oboes, flageolets, basoons and musettes, and he is also known as a composer. Son of Jean Hotteterre (i); father of flautist Jacques[-Martin] Hotteterre ‘Le Romain’ (c.1680-c.1761), known today for his treatise on the flute, recorder and oboe. | |
| Lambert | Lambert | France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |||
| Souch | Souch | Great Britain | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |||
| Cotton | Cotton | William | Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London | Great Britain | William Cotton was apprenticed to Patrick Urquhart (c.1668 – 1728) November 1722, at the age of 18, for a period of seven years. However, the training was shortened by the death of the master a year before the end set for 1729. Cotton’s merchant card of c.1765 (British Museum) reads: “Wind instrument maker, at the Hautboy and two Flutes in Bride Lane Court near Fleet Street, London. Makes and sells all sorts of Wind Instruments, viz. Bassoons, Hautboys, German and Common Flutes in ye neatest Manner. N.B. All Sorts of Instruments mended.” See Waters (2021a&b); Vichy Enchères (2021). | |
| Gall | Gall | Germany | Known from a single recorder in the collection of Frans Brüggen, cited by Haynes (2002: 447). I would appreciate further details of this maker. | |||
| JD Denner | Denner | Johann David | 1691–1764 | Nuremberg, Germany | Johann David Denner (1691-1764), son of Johann Christoph Denner, was a maker of oboes, bassoons, recorders and flutes. | |
| Öcl | Öcl (Ögl) | I. | early 18C | German, Berchtesgaden | Maker of Schwegelpfeiffen (fife), flûtes and flûtes d’accord (double recorders). | |
| Perosa | Perosa | Domenico | c. 1693 – p. 1757 | Venice, Italy | Maker’s mark D. PEROSA (in a wimpel). Little is known about Perosa. He was ‘Profesor da Instromenti da fiato a san Moiè’, a professional maker of wind instruments living in [the parish of] San Moisè, Venice. He may have been related to Marco Perosa, oboist at San Marco in Venice around 1760. It is unknown where he did his apprenticeship (Voice (2014: 97). The mark has been read incorrectly as Peposa (Schlosser 1920). Besides a sopranino recorder in private possession, there exists a soprano recorder in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and an oboe in the Claudius-Collection, Copenhagen. See Haynes (2001: 407), Sardelli (2007: 49, 150 & pl. 6), Voice (2015: 87), de Avena Braga (2015: 55-57 – photographs, measurements & technical drawings). | |
| Boie | Boie | Johann Friedrich | 1762–1809 | Göttingen, Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Metzler | Metzler | Valentine | fl. 1790–1820 | United Kingdom | Valentine Metzler worked at 105 Wardour Street, London from 1812 to 1815. He is known from a single voice-flute in the style of Bressan which he either repaired or sold. Maker’s mark: METZLER/LONDON/105.WARDOUR ST. Three generations of the Metzler family were active in London, and there is some doubt as to which family member the mark may be ascribed. See MacMillan (2008: 96). | |
| Lindh | Lindh | Abraham | op. 1776 | Norrköping, Sweden | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Prowse | Prowse | Thomas, Jr | 1816–1835 | See MacMillan (1983: 492). | ||
| Noblet & Thibouville | Noblet & Thibouville | c. 1863 | Ivry la Bataille, France | The firm of Noblet et Thibouville was founded in 1862 with the union of a member of the woodwind-making family of Noblet with Eugène Thibouville See MacMillan (1983: 491-492; 2008: 55). | ||
| Coppens | Coppens | I.I. | 19C | ?Belgium | Cited by MacMillan (1983: 491). | |
| Fritzsche | Fritzsche | Carl August | 19C | Germany | Cited by MacMillan (1983: 491). | |
| H.+Grenser & Weisner | H. Grenser & Weisner | op. 1817–1826 | Dresden, Germany | Makers of bassoons, clarinets, flutes, oboes and other woodwind. Cited by MacMillan (1983: 491). | ||
| Hakkert | Hakkert | Philip | 19C | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Cited by MacMillan (1983: 491). | |
| Powell | Powell | Edward Verne | 1903–1986 | New York, USA | The Chromette or Orkon was invented in 1941 (US patent #2330379, 1943) by Edward Verne Powell (1903-1986), the son of Verne Q. Powell the famous New York flute maker). It was essentially a modified soprano recorder moulded in plastic with metal reinforcement rings and fitted with a simplified Boehm system keywork. Its lowest notes could be blown loudly as well as softly with minimal pitch change and the chromatic scale was much facilitated by the keywork. Although it was intended to be mass produced for use in schools as a prepartory instrument for potential flute players, the venture failed (Huene 1994). Orkons were made for Powell by Richard W. Jerome. Only a few hundred of these instruments were built between 1942 and 1952, most of them in the period 1951–1952. There is absolutely no connection between the company that produced these instruments and that of Verne Q. Powell Flutes, Inc., with two exceptions. (1) Verne Q. Powell was the father of Edward V. Powell. (2) Richard W. (Dick) Jerome, worked for both companies. See here for further details and images. US patent #2330379 (1943) can be viewed there. | |
| Noblet | Noblet | F. | 1728–1904 | Ivry la Bataille, France | The Noblet family was large, with inter-relationships between them unclear. Family members worked in La Couture-Boussey, Ivry-la-Battaille and Paris (Waterhouse (1993). The company was acquired by Leblanc in 1904. | |
| Cousseau | Cousseau | Antonius | fl. 1589 | ? Germany | See Heyghen (2005: 247). | |
| AE | AE | ? 19th century | Netherlands | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Tott | Tott | L. | 18th century | ? France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Hüller | Hüller | Gottlob Hermann | 1878–1975 | Vogtland, Germany: Schöneck | A family woodwind instrument manufacturer founded by Gottlob Hermann Hüller (1858–1929), who commenced his apprenticeship with Wilhelm Heckel. They Also supplied wood, metal and other supplies to other instrument makers Made accessories for instruments. In 1912 G.H. Hüller acquired the well-known woodwind instrument workshop of H.T. Stümpel in Minden and, in 1920, the firm of Carl Kruspe in Erfurt which later separated from the parent company and was run by G.H. Hüller’s son Max and grandson Kurt. After reunification, the G.H. Hüller factory closed and the workers dispersed to Adler & Moennig and to the West. | |
| Gofferje | Gofferje | Karl | 1893-1966 | Zwota, Germany | Gofferje’s recorders were sold through Merzdorf in Markneukirchen. They were almost cylindrical and very even in sound (Moeck 1982: 66). I would welcome further information concerning this maker. | |
| Novinski | Novinski | Kurt | 1903-1974 | Frankfurt, Germany | Instrument maker and distributor. Von Huene (cited by Burgess 2015: 48) observed that Novinsky “copied also mensur [sic] inside and spacing and size of holes”, a novel concept at that time. | |
| HO-Schlosser | Schlosser | Heinrich Oskar | 1857–1947 | Zwota, Germany | Member of a family of woodwind makers from the Vogtland area of eastern Germany who made recorders for Hermann J. Moeck (including the ‘Tuju’ model) Hans Jordan, August Richard Hammig, and others, and it is not possible to say which of their unbranded instruments originated in their workshops. However, those of Heinrich Oskar, “the black”, and his descendents are often recognizable. Schlosser family members who made recorders include: Gustav Adolph Schlosser (1845-?); Heinrich Oskar Schlosser (1875-1935), “der weisse”; Ernst Paul Schlosser (1905-1965); Siegfried Schlosser (*1934); Johann Gabriel Schlosser Jr (1835-1894); Heinrich Oskar Schlosser (1875-1947), “der schwarze”; Ernst Ludwig Schlosser (1905-1973); Rüdiger Schlosser (1934-2005); Erich Oskar Schlosser (1916-c.1943) The two cousins who shared the same name were distinguished by their hair colour. See Thalheimer (2005; 2008: 176-183; 2013: 80-81). | |
| Moeck | Moeck Musikinstrumente & Verlag GmbH | – | 1925– | Celle, Germany | Founded in 1925 by Hermann Moeck; taken over by his son Dr Hermann Alexander Moeck (1922–2010); now owned by Sabine Haase-Moeck. Before 1949 Moeck did not make recorders as such but ordered them unvoiced then tuned and finished them themselves. Hermann Moeck (1922-2010) took over from his father in 1960. abine Haase-Moeck, who ran it together with her husband, Dr. Ronald Haase until 2014. In June 2014, as managing partner, she appointed her son, Jan Nikolai Haase and her nephew, Florian Haase as managing/executive directors. Since then, they have managed the business together in the fourth generation. | |
| Merzdorf | Merzdorf | Walter (also Wilhelm) | op. 1930–1955 | Markneukirchen, Germany | Instrument sold under this name were manufactured for Merzdorf by various Vogtland makers, amongst them Karl Gofferje (Moeck 1982: 66). I would welcome further information about this firm. | |
| Nagel | Nagel | Adolf | early 20th century | Hannover, Germany | Instrument sold under this name were manufactured for Nagel (Alfred Grensser) by various Vogtland makers. I would welcome additional information about this firm. | |
| Herrnsdorf | Herrnsdorf | Gustav | 1890–1945 | Markneukirchen, Germany | Owner of the trademarks Herwig / Herwiga-Rex and Hamlin. Recorders marketed by Hernsdorff were manufactured by various Vogtland makers (Moeck 1982: 64). Hamlin recorders were a cheaper line than those offered under the name Herwig. I would welcome further information about this firm. | |
| Hamlin | Hamlin | 1938– | Markneukirchen, Germany | Originally a trademark of Gustav Hernsdorf (1890–1945, who offered recorders from 1938 with historical rather than so-called German fingering. Hamlin recorders were a cheaper line than those marketed under the tradename Herwiga-Rex, also owned by Hernsdorf. Instruments sold under this name were manufactured for Hernsdorf by various Vogtland makers. | ||
| Wrede | Wrede | H. | London, England | Instrument maker, dealer and importer. A number of woodwind instruments by him survive. Waterhouse (1993). | ||
| Mathieu | Mathieu | Charles Mathieu | Paris | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Meinel und Herold | Meinel und Herold | 1920s–1973 | Klingenthal, Germany | Meinel und Herold was located in Klingenthal and sold a wide variety of different instruments during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1945 Meinel & Herold was integrated into the Migma corporation but was continued as a brand name until discontinued in 1973 by orders of the government of DDR. | ||
| Read | Read | Robin | op. 1983 | Bedford & Olney, Great Britain (UK) | Advertised in Early Music; Reyne (1983). | |
| Fitzpatrick | Fitzpatrick | Horace | op. 1977 | Oxford, Great Britain (UK) | Instrument maker and scholar who made and marketed a high sSA consort of medieval recorders based on the Dordrecht Recorder. See Fitzpatrick (1975). | |
| Pitchem | van Pitchem | Jean | op. 1541 | Bruges | Jean van Pitchem, fleutmaker, is mentioned in a document from 1541 (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 19). | |
| Willay | Willay | Loys | op. 1426 | Bruges | In 1426, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy ordered from Willay four large minstrel instruments [probably shawms], four douçaines [still (i.e. quiet) shawms], and four recorders, all furnished with leather cases and chests … to send to the Marquise of Ferrara (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 19). | |
| Chapuis | Chapuis | Jean | op. 1443 | Bruges | In 1443, the Burgundian Court paid Jean Chapuis, described as a luthier (lute maker), but perhaps also a woodwind maker – for ‘4 ivory recorders, one decorated with gold and jewels and the others plain’ (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 19). | |
| Noue | de la Noue | Mathurin | op. 1542 – d. 1544 | Paris (rue Garnetal) | La Noue is known from a surviving contract with Victor Thomassin, haberdasher, whose son was apprenticed to him. La Noue’s probate inventory included eight recorders, three flutes, three tabor pipes, four piffres à chant, five other piffres, three musettes (bagpipes), four musette chalumeaux (bagpipe chanters), and four shawms (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 20). | |
| Danner | Danner (Thanner) | Hans | op. 1572–1581 | Egg | The use of a single letter for a maker’s mark might have pointed to Nuremberg. But elsewhere there were two known woodwind makers with the initials HD, at least in one spelling. Hans Danner (also Thanner) who came from Egg, a village 20 miles east of Basel, served the Stuttgart court as lutenist and official woodwind maker from 1572 to his death in 1581. His widow sold the court some instruments that he had presumably made: 10 Kolonen und 8 dazu gehörige Zwerchpfeifen zu (Ten columnar recorders [?] and eight flutes belonging to them). The other was Hans Drebs. (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 30). | |
| Drebs | Drebs (Trebs) | Hans | op. 1598–1636 | Leipzig | The use of a single letter for a maker’s mark might have pointed to Nuremberg. But elsewhere ther were two known woodwind makers with the initials HD, at least in one spelling. Hans Drebs (also Trebs), said to be from Austria, was a Stadtpfeifer (probably only an adjunct) and woodwind maker in Leipzing from 1598, and sold cornetti (1613) and recorders (1617, 1636) to the city (Brown & Lasocki, 2006: 30). | |
| PM | PM | I would welcome further details of this maker | This monogram is known from a recorder case. | |||
| Hess | Hess (Hessen) | Bartholomeus & Paul | 16C | Breslau | Brothers, originally from Steiermark (Styria) who were Stadtpfeifer at Breslau. In 1553 Kaiser Ferdinand I gave them a rivilege, renewed in 1560, protecting them against counterfeiting in Bohemia and annexed lands for instruments of wood and brass for piping and blowing, such as trombones, trumpets, shawms, recorders, crumhorns, cornetti, rauschpfeifen, Swiss pipes, and tabor pipes large and small … Sales of their instruments can be traced as far afield as Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Graz, though none have survived. | |
| Billing | Billing | Friedrich | op. 1808–1825 | Poland | ||
| Nickolaus | Nickolaus | op. 1397 | Prague | See Waterhouse (1993), Brown & Lasocki (2006: 19). | ||
| Bartolomio | Bartolomio | op. 1408 | Urbino & ? Brescia | Worked for the Count of Urbino who paid him for for four new recorders he had sent to the court in Brescia, presumably having bought them locally or even made them himself. See Waterhouse (1993), Brown & Lasocki (2006: 23) | ||
| Guillelmus | d’Ager | Guillelmus | 1420 | Barcelona | Guillelmus d’Ager is noted as “tornerius sive flahuterius, civis Barchinone” (turner or flahute maker, citizen of Barcelona) in a legal document in 1420. He is the earliest confirmed recorder maker in western Europe. In Valencia in 1430, a city payment record for an event mentions “salaris de sonadors d’estruments de corda, de flauta e cornamuses e altres” (payments to players of stringed instruments, recorder and cornamuses and others. Se Madurell (1950: 211), Roca Traver (1983), Waterhouse (1993), Brown & Lasocki (2006: 23) | |
| Peach | Peach | World War I | Leicester, UK | See Waterhouse (1993). | ||
| Bolton | Bolton | Robert | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |||
| Coolsma | Hans Coolsma | Hans Johannis | 1919–1991 | Utrecht | After a period of intensive study and research, Hans Coolsma, founder of the Dutch Recordercenter, started to build in 1951 the first range of AURA -“Study” recorders. In 1955 Coolsma developed the AURA-“Conservatorium”-model, an instrument for the more advanced player. Both models were received enthusiastically and the Coolsma workshop quickly progressed. In 1961 he built the first Hans Coolsma-Solo Recorders. These high-quality instruments are used worldwide by good amateur and professional players. Shortly before his death Coolsma handed over to AAFAB his workshop including the highly trained production co-workers. Now a Trademark of AAFAb. See Byrne (2014). | |
| Monin | Monin | Claude | early 20th century | Asnières, France | Inventor of a removable beak system adopted by Italian recorder maker Giacomo Andreola. | |
| Arwen | Arwen | op. 1983-1985 | La Pointevinière, France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Bariaux | Bariaux | Daniel | op. 1982 | Brussels | See Flûte à bec 3:18-20 (1982). | |
| Bartlett | Bartlett Historical Woodwinds | op. 1983 | St Louis, United States of America (USA) | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Bartschies | Bartschies | op. 1983 | ? Switzerland | See recording, BIS CD266 (1984). | ||
| Beekhuizen | Beekhuizen | Paul | op. 1983 | The Hague | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Beha & Gibbons | Beha & Gibbons | Laura & Bernard M. | 20th century | Maasachusetts | Active in the 1980s and ’90s. Their workshop was at 630 Huron Ave, Cambridge, MA. They offered renaissance recorders after van Eyck, Ganassi, Kynseker; baroque recorders after Bressan, Hotteterre, Rippert, Stanesby Jr., Steenbergen also renaissance flutes. | |
| Biedma | Biedma | Jesús | 20th century | Madrid | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Björling | Björling | Torsten | op. 1994 | Uttran, Sweden | See FoMRHI membership list (1994). | |
| Boehm | Boehm | Thomas C. | op. 1994 | Madison, USA | No longer makes recorders. Now makes bows for archery. See here. | |
| Bomsen | Bomsen | Wim | 20th century | Netherlands | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Bonnefond | Bonnefond | Maurice | op. 1983 | Lons Le Saunier, France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Boosey & Hawkes | Boosey & Hawkes | – | 1930– | London, UK | Hawkes merged with the revival company of Boosey in 1930 to form Boosey & Hawkes. | |
| Francesco Canevari | Canevari | Francesco | op. 1990-1991 | Italy | See Teldec CD 9031-73267 | |
| Canevari (Fulvio) | Canevari | Fulvio | op. 1993 | Italy | See CD Astrée E-8737. | |
| Crookes | Crookes | David | op. 1983 | Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Crown | Crown | op. 1983 | USA | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Danckert | Danckert | Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |||
| Deerenberg | Deerenberg | Baldrik | 20th century | Amsterdam | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Ende | van den Ende | Vincent | 20th century | Netherlands | Worked with Schimmel. I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Drouin | Drouin | François | op. 1983 | Luneray, France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Emmerfors | Emmerfors | Anders | op. 1994 | Skoghall, Sweden | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Eras | Eras | Rudolf | op. 1960 | Kandern/Baden, Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Fluteson | Fluteson | op. 1983 | Beaucaire, France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Geiger | Geiger | Georg | op. 1989–1994 | Sweden & Australia | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Heide | van der Heide | Geert Jan | op. 1975-1983 | Putten, Netherlands | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Jacob | Jacob | Kurt | 1896–1973 | Marneukirchen, Germany | Began producing recorders for Peter Harlan in 1923. The first available Harlan recorder, an alto in e’, was offered for sale in 1926. See Thalheimer (2013). | |
| Janke | Janke | Gerhard | op. 1994 | Hamburg, Germany | List of members, FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Jordan | Jordan | Karl & Hermann | op. 1909-1929 | Markneukirchen, Germany | Proprietors since 1909 of Adler & Co. From 1928 adopted the trademark of Sonora. | |
| Kinhaven | Kinhaven | op. 1983 | New York, USA | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| JunghänelB | Junghänel | Bernhard | ?-1994) | Gütersloh, Westfalen, Germany | Herr Junghänel died in January 1994. He was the older brother of the lutenist Konrad Junghaenel. His sister Adelheid is the wife of Andreas Glatt. Bernhard was apprenticed to Gunter Körber. As well as recorders he also made other instruments, including portative organs. He was a fine double reed and recorder player who made recordings with his group Musikalische Compagny. He also played dulcian with Bruce Dickey’s Concerto Palatino and can be heard on an Accent recording of Early 17th Italian music. | |
| König | König & Söhnen | Karl Max Sr | 1870-1953 | Zwota, Germany | The König firm was founded in 1840 by Franz Louis König (1816-1977) and their work was continued by his son Albertus (1943-1911). In 1912 the company name was “Albertus König, Inhaber, Max König”. The partnership “Max König & Söhne” was founded in 1935 by Karl Max König Sr (1870-1953) when the makers of woodwind instruments were listed as Karl Max Sr, Alfred Felix (1897-1946), Karl Max Jr (1901-1984), Otto Georg (1904-?) and Albert Ludwig (1909-1995). König & Söhne made recorders for William Herwig, Alexander Heinrich, Robert Oswald Adler, Walter Merzdorf, Richard Jacob (“Weissgerber”), the Hell Workshop [Albert Lorenz], all from Markneukirchen, Bärenreiter Publishing Coompany in Kassel and Richard Oertel in Bad Brambach. See Thalheimer (2013: 67). | |
| Kowalewsky | Kowalewsky | Gerhard | Ostbargumfeld, Germany | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Max Hüller / Kruspe | Hüller | Max | 1884-1965 | Germany: Müllhausen (1829-1836); Erfurt (p. 1836) | Woodwind instrument maker Franz Carl Kruspe (1808-1885) founded his workshop in Mühlhausen in 1829, moving to Erfurt in 1836. His son, Friedrich Wilhelm (1838-1911) was trained by his father and later took over the workshop.. His son, Eduard (1871-1919) took over the workshop in the third generation. After the latter’s death, the workshop and brand-name passed to Gottlob Hermann Huüller in Schüneck, also a maker of woodwind instruments, in partnership with his sons Max, Oskar, Kurt, Hermann and Wilhelm. In 1920, Max Hüller (1884-1965) moved to Erfurt where he became the manager of the Carl Kruspe firm, changing the focus to the production of flutes. The impetus to start making recorders came from the musicologist Werner Danckert (1900-1970) who commissioned Max Hüller to make new copies of the original instruments by Hieronymous Franziskus Kinsecker from the instruments already copied for him by Georg Graessel. Moeck (1978: 42) notes that Hüller made two additional instruments not in the original Kinsecker consort: sopranos in a♭” and b♭”. Max Hüller was particularly interested to develop a comprehensive family of recorders. As well as consorts in E-A, D-A, C-F and B-E, he made instruments in G, G♭ and E♭. As well as bass recorders in d, he offered them in c and G and F. He also experimented with very small instruments: he made sopranino recorder in g’ with 6 finger-holes and 1 thumb-holes, and in c”’; with 5 + 2 finger-holes. Instruments sold directly by Max Hüller were signed C. KRUSPE / ERFURT. After 1929, the workshop in Erfurt not only made Hüller recorders, but also provided instruments to Bärenreiter until 1936 when these were replaced by the the “new Bärenreitter recorders” designed by Manfred Ruëtz (1907-1944) which included consorts in C-F, D-A and B-E as well as instruments in other pitches such as the “Bach recorders” in f”, e’, e♭’ d’ and d♭’ initiated by Ruëtz. The workshop also provided prefabricated recorders complete with the Hüller “Orpheus” trademark to other workshops In 1925 and 1926, Hüller built copies of several late baroque recorders, including a Denner alto from the Germanisches Museum, Nuremberg, and an alto recorder from the Bach Museum in Eisenach. See Moeck (1982), Rummel (1977), Thalheimer (2013: 72-93; 94). | |
| Kunst | Kunst | Norbert | op. 1983 | Netherlands | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| LambertS | Lambert | Simon | op. 1994 | London, United Kingdom (UK) | See List of members FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Lawson | Lawson | George V. | op. 1994 | Tunbridge Wells, United Kindom (UK) | See List of members FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Ledgerwood | Ledgerwood | Wales Christian | op. 1983 | ? United States of America (USA) | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Lehrer | Lehrer | Imgard | United States of America (USA) | Made recorders during the early days of the American Recorder Society (Wollitz 7 Blue, 1983: 6). | ||
| Lemberg | Lemberg | Sandy | op. 1978 | ? United States of America (USA) | See Boeke (1978), Reyne (1983). | |
| Lemin | Lemin | Brian | op. 1983 | United Kingdom (UK) | See Reyne (1983). | |
| Lerch | Lerch | Tom | op. 1994 | Berlin, Germany | See List of members FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Lorelei | Lorelei | Early Music Shop, Bradford, United Kingdom. | ||||
| McCordick | McCordick | Stephen J. | op. 1994 | Derby, United Kingdom (UK) | See List of members FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Maienburg | Maienburg | J. | op. 1988 | See Capriccio CD10233 (1988). | ||
| Maienzauber | Maienzauber | op. 1980 | Germany | Trademark of Schlosser | ||
| Malcontent | Malcontent | Angelo | op. 1882 | Florence, Italy | No longer active, presumably because he was never happy with his work. See Catrice & Reyne (1982). | |
| Mathisen & Waldbaum | Mathiesen & Waldbaum | op. 1994 | Jyderup, Denmark | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Melcher(s) | Melcher(s) | Gerd | op. 1983-2009 | ? Germany | Baroque recorders after Ganassi, Anciutti, Bressan, J.C. Denner, Stanesby Sr, Staneby Jr, Rottenburgh, Steenbergen, Terton See Reyne (1983), and here(2018). | |
| Meyenburg | Meyenburg | Jürgen | op. 1994 | ? Germany | See NEMA (1994), Adams (13 & 15). | |
| Miller & Anderson | Miller & Anderson | Thea Miller, Susan Anderson | op. 1983 | Ontario, Canada | Medieval recorders. These instruments were made with a cylindrical bore and had a practical range of about an octave and a half. See Advertising brouchure (ca 1976), Reyne (1983). | |
| Nägeli | Nägeli | Max | mid-20th century | Horgen, Switzerland | See Waterhouse (1993) | |
| Peter | Peter | Joachim | op. 1973 | Berlin, Germany | See CD Teldec 4509-97466-2 (1973). I would welcome additional information about this maker. | |
| Rhoads | Rhoads | Kimber | op. 1990 | See FoMRHI Quarterly 60: 3 (1990). | ||
| Rosetti | Rosetti | op. 1982 | ? United Kingdom | See Reyne (1983). | ||
| Sanders | Sanders | Robert | op. 1983 | ? United States of America (USA) | See Reyne (1983). | |
| Schimmel | Schimmel | Hans | op. 1994 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Retired from recorder-making. | |
| Schouten | Schouten | Simon | op. 1983 | Netherlands | See Reyne list, IX (1983). | |
| Schreiber | Schreiber | W. | 1904 | Nauheim, Germany | See Hunt (1977: 163), Waterhouse (1993: 362), Reyne list, IX (1983). | |
| Stein | Stein | Louis | op. 1926 | France | See Hunt (1977: 164). | |
| Stephens | Stephens | Peter | op. 1994 | Watford, UK | Amateur maker. See FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Stieber | Stieber | Ernst | op. 1960 | Germany | See Galpin Society Journal XIII: 80 (1960), Reyne list, IX (1983), Thalheimer (?date: 335). | |
| Stiles | Stiles | Gart | op. 1994 | Somerton, UK | Amateur maker. See FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Stroom | Stroom | Charles | opo. 1994 | Netherlands | Amateur maker. See FoMHRI (1994). | |
| Sturbois | Sturbois | Annie | Brussels, Belgium | Worked with Daniel Bariaux. | ||
| Syron | Syron | John Mark | op. 1982-1983 | Peekskil, New York, USA | See American Recorder 23(2): 68 (1982) Reyne list, IX (1983). | |
| Tardino | Tardino | Giovanni | op. 1994 | Rome, Italy | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Teichmann | Teichmann | Ingbert | op. 1983 | Rennerod, Germany | See Reyne list, IX (1983). | |
| Teplow | Teplow | Debbie | op. 1978-1983 | USA | See Boeke list (1978), Reyne list IX (1983). | |
| Shegget | Shegget | Heiko ter | op. 1993 | Utrecht, Netherlands | See Erasmus Productions CD WVH 078 (1993). | |
| Tomlin | Tomlin | Peter | op. 1983 | Gadalming, UK | See Reyne list, IX (1983). | |
| Walcker | Walcker & Co. | Oscar | op. 1920 | Ludwigsburg, Germany | See O’Kelly 1990: 6), Thalheimer (2013: 8), Waterhouse (1993: 363). | |
| Weißberger | Weißberger | op. 1930-1955 | Germany | See Thalheimer (? date: 336-337). | ||
| Westenberg | Westenberg | op. 1983 | Germany | See Reyne list IX (1983). | ||
| Wilkes | Wilkes | Diana | op. 1994 | Wallington, UK | See List of Members, FoMRHI (1994). | |
| Wolthers | Wolthers | Frank | op. 1983 | Den Haag, Netherlands | See Reyne list IX (1983). | |
| Yamada | Yamada | Yukko | Japan | See Angel CDC47405, CDC47406 | ||
| Ziel | Ziel | Hans Hermann | op. 1994 | Blumenau, Brazil | List of members, FoMRHI (1994) Oboist, including baroque oboe (2003) | |
| Thibouville-Cabart | Thibouville-Cabart | 1865 – p. 1910 | Ezy (c. 1865 – a. 1875), Paris (a. 1875–) | Maker of flageolets, recorders and fifes. See Waterhouse (1993). | ||
| Kohlert | Kohlert | V. Kohlert’s Söhne | Czechoslovakia | The Kohlert Company was founded in Graslitz, Czechoslovakia in 1840 by Vincenz Ferarius Kohlert. On his death in 1900/01 ownership of the company was transferred to his sons, Rudolf, Daniel and Franz and the company’s name was changed to V. Kohlert’s Söhne. Kohlert produced the first German-made saxophone around this time. By ca 1938 Kohlert had become the largest German instrument maker, employing 600 craftsmen and producing an entire range of brass, woodwind and double-reed instruments. After WWII, the firm was nationalized into the Amati cooperative and the Kohlerts became workmen in their own factory. | ||
| Jeantet | Jeantet (?Jean) | fl. a. 1823 – p. 1827 | France: Lyon | Listed as a facteur et marchand di’instruments. Known from only a small number of woodwind instruments amongst which is a single recorder. See Waterhouse (1993), MacMillan (2008: 44). | ||
| JA Lamy | Lamy | Joseph Alfred | 1850–1919 | Paris, London | Little is known of Lamy save that he also made violin bows. | |
| JG Martin | Martin | Johann Gottfried | c. 1772 – p. 1842 | Potsdam, Germany | Known from a single recorder at D-Leipzig. Maker’s mark: Prussian eagle/MARTIN/POTSDAM See Waterhouse (1993). | |
| Oppenheim | Oppenheim | early 19C | England | Waterhouse lists ‘Oppenheim’ and ‘M. Oppenheim’ as London woodwind instrument makers, and a firm of ‘Oppenheim Brothers’ who flourished 1876-1884. See Waterhouse (1993), MacMillan (2008: 56). | ||
| Bertani | Bertani | D. | late 18th century | Italian | ‘A bad string instrument maker who also made woodwind instruments’ (Waterhouse 1993). See MacMillan (2008: 88). | |
| Schweffer | Schweffer | Heinrich | c. 1814 – 1887 | Graz, Austria | The firm of Schweffer was establed by Heinrich Schweffer, who was succeeded by his son August (1850-1940). The firm made recorders and other woodwind instruments, including csakans. | |
| Dupré | Dupré | Pierre Paul Ghislain | 1790–1862 | Tournai, Belgium | Known from a single instrument, Dupré was self-taught and began with cane flutes (Waterhouse, 1993). | |
| Galpin | Galpin | Francis William, Canon | 1858–1945 | Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, England | Church of England clergyman, musicologist, instrument maker and pioneer of the early music revival. Galpin amassed a collection of some 500-600 musical instruments of all types, building some himself. Most of the collection was sold to USA-MA-Boston: MFA in 1916. Galpin’s collection included an original by Stanesby and four playable reproduction renaissance-style instruments turned by a London maker (possibly Rudall Carte) and finished by Galpin himself. | |
| Garsi | Garsi | Francesco | 1764-1856 | Parma, Italy | Garsi is also known as a maker of clarinets and bassoons. However, only a single recorder and a flute by this maker have come to light. See de Avena Braga (2015: 49, 316, fig. 81), (Waterhouse, 1993: 128). | |
| Lecomte | Lecomte | Arsène Zoë | ca 1890 | Paris, France | The firm of Lecomte & Cie was founded by Lecomte and flourished in Paris from 1859 to post-1910. See Sallaberry (2003), MacMillan (2008: 46). | |
| JA Löhner | Löhner | J.A. | 1768–1853 | Nurenberg, Germany | Son of of master turner Friedrich I (1737-); father of Friedrich II (1797-1865). Makers marks: (tree)/J.A.LÖHNER/A/NURNBERG and (tree)/J.A.LÖHNER [cursive]/A/NURNBERG [cursive]/(two stars) | |
| Grandi | Grandi | Michele Antonio | 1635–1700 | Italy | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Kehr | Kehr | Martin | 1884–1960 | Zwota, Germany | Heinrich Louis Kehr, inkeeper, instrument maker and timber merchant, founded the tradition of instrument making in the Kehr family. His son, Emil Martin Kehr (1884-1960) was a maker of woodwind instruments. In order to produce on a large scale, Peter Harlan joined forces with Kehr, in Zwota, who concerted his entire workshop to the production of recorders which he made exclusively for Harlan. On Martin Kehr’s death the business was taken over by his son, Ludwig (1911-1979) and operated with his wife Mariechen (1922-2008) until his death in 1979. In the period between 1930 and WW2, up to 20 makers were employed at the Kehr workshop in Zwota. As well as Harlan recorders they also produced six-holed pipes. They produced instruments with the same pitch but different bore dimensions, keyed recorders and models with curved windways. See Thalheimer (2013: 64-66). | |
| Uhlmann | Uhlmann | Tobias | 1776–1838 | Vienna | Maker of csakans. | |
| Schöllnast | Schöllnast | Franz | 1775–1844 | Pozsony | Maker of csakans. | |
| Placht | Placht | G. | –1833 | Pest | Maker of csakans. | |
| Doke | Doke | Carl | 1778–1826 | Pozsony | Maker of csakans. | |
| Pan | Pan Recorder Fctory | 1951 – c. 1969 | Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia | In 1959 [Fred Morgan (1940-1999)] took a casual job at the Pan Recorder factory in Hawthorn where ‘Lazy’ Ade Monsbourgh (1917–2006) and Don ‘Pixie’ Roberts (1917-1992), two Australian jazzmen, had been manufacturing school recorders since 1951. Here Fred fell in love with recorder making, and stayed on with Pan for ten years (1959-1969). See It all came easy to the master. Sydney Morning Herald (16 August 2006); Waterman, Rodney, Recorders … and all that jazz. The Recorder, Journal of the Victorian Recorder Guild 6: 26-27 (2016). | ||
| AdlerRO | Adler | Robert Oswald | Hermsgrün (at Adorf) 1863 -1946 | Markneukirchen | Robert Oswald Adler (born Hermsgrün 1825, died Markneukirchen 1900) was apprenticed to his father Johann Gottlob. He attended the College in Markneukirchen graduating with honors, after which he worked for the firm Sauerhering in Magdeburg. In 1891 he founded a company under his own name. Apart from the production of woodwind instruments Adler Musical instruments was used as a transit company in collaboration with Olga Adler until April 1961. Robert Oswald Adler signed his work ROA or Roa. He was the teacher of Paul Schlosser, Kurt Weck, Paul Fickelscherer and Carl Strübing (Swiss). In 1924 his son Johann Adler (1863-1946) founded his own business in Markneukirchen which acquired an excellent reputation for its recorders. | |
| Aman | Aman | Frank | c. 1938 | USA | Designer and manufacturer of the the Tonette and Aman recorder, both marketted by the Tonette Co., a subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar Company from 1938. Aman also designed flutes as well as a plastic bugle, the latter in the face of metal shortages during WW2. | |
| Colas | Colas | Prosper | fl. 1857 – p. 1883 | Paris, France | Maker of woodwind and brass instruments, a dealer, and maker of bows and of glass moutpieces for brass instruments. | |
| Hawkes | Hawkes & Son | 1889–1930 | London, UK | The firm of Hawkes & Son was founded in 1860 and used the following mark from 1889. In 1930 Hawkes merged with the revival company of Boosey to form Bossey & Hawkes Maker’s mark: HAWKES & SON/DENMAN STREET/PICADILLY/LONDON See MacMillan (2008: 100). | ||
| Moritz | Moritz | Carl Wilhelm | Berlin, Germany | Carl Wilhelm Moritz was the son of and successor to J.G. Moritz. The elder Moritz died in 1835. C.W. Moritz continued the business for the next twenty years, making brasswind instruments. On his death in 1855, the business was continued by his wife and sons. Recorders bearing the firm’s stamp may have been made for them elewhere, probably by one of the Markneukirchen makers. | ||
| Bainbridge | Bainbridge | Wiliam | fl. 1809-1834 | England, Great Britain, United Kingdom, UK | Known chiefly as a maker and developer of the flageolet, inventing double and triple versions of that instrument. He played flute, oboe, and flageolet. There is a sole reference to a recorder made by him, but its whereabouts is unknown. | |
| Destuyver | Destuyver | J.B. | fl. late 19C – early 20C | Ghent, Belgium | Known by only one recorder. See Waterhouse (1993), MacMillan (2008: 89). | |
| Sattler | Sattler | early 18C~ | Leipzig, Germany | Four generations of the Sattler family were active in Leipzig from the early 18th century and used the mark ‘S’ in the latter half of that century. The presence of the ‘A’ suggests either Carl Andreas Wilhelm (1758–1788) or possibly Fridrich August (1775–1850). | ||
| Musima | Musima GmbH | 1953–2004 | Markneukirchen, Germany | 1953–1990: VEB Musikinstrumentenbau Kombinat; 1990-2004: Musima GmbH. The brand name ‘Musima’ was purchased by township of Markneukirchen. | ||
| Riley | Riley | Frederick | 19th century | New York, United States of America (USA) | Probably involved in instrument making from 1845-47, when he headed Frederick Riley & Co. In the 1845 NYCD, his firm advertised as Manufacturers of Musical Instruments … Military Bands supplied with setts [sic] of Instruments at reasonable prices. Brass & Side Drums of extra size made to order. N.B. Riley & Co. are not merely vendors of Instruments and Music, but are practical manufacturers. See Groce, N. (1991). Musical instrument makers of New York: a Directory of Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Urban Craftsman. Annotated Reference Tools in Music No. 4. Pendragon Press, Hillsdale. ISBN 0-918728-97-5. | |
| Foley | Foley | fl. 1780 | England | Known from a single instrument. Stamp FOLEY/ [motif: a fan or plume shape within a square]. | ||
| Proser | Proser | op. 1777–1795 | London | A flute and bassoon maker, known for a single recorder. | ||
| Tegekhout | Tegekhout | 17th or 18th century | Belgium | Maker’s mark: crown / TEGEKHOUT / lion Further information about this maker would be very welcome. | ||
| Picard | Picard | op. 1896 | France | I would very much appreciate additional information on this maker. | ||
| Chaplin | Chaplin | C.H. | fl. 1941 | Letchworth | I would be grateful for further details of this instrument maker. | |
| Settala | Settala | Manfredo | 1600–1680 | Milan | A clergyman, physician and naturalist who built 100 or so musical instruments in his own workshop, amongst them an armonia di flauti, for exhibition in his camera delle meraviglie. | |
| Koch | Koch | William F. Jr | 1926–2009 | Haverhill, New Hampshire, United States of America (USA) | Founded in 1934 by William F Koch (1892-1970) and continued by his son Bill Koch (1926-2009). | |
| King | King | Max | op. 1920–1938 | Zwota bei Klingenthal, Saxony | Stamped MERZ VILLAGE MARKNEUKIRCHEN. The dealer was Walter Merzdorf. | |
| Couesnon & Cie | Couesnon | op. 1920–1939 | Paris, France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | ||
| Schmiedl | Schmiedl [later Schmidl] | Hausa [Balthasar] | 1905–1999 | Heiligenblut, Austria | Carinthian turner and wood sculptor who operated under primitive conditions. He made recorders from 1930-1938, before abandoning it. He also made Tyrolean schwegelpfeifen (fifes) and pipe organs. His recorders were made in c”, a’, g’ g’, d’ and c’ and were temporarily sold under the brand ‘Edelweiss’. See Benedikt (1982). | |
| Eckert | Eckert | A.J. | op. 1920–1950 | Lyon, France | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Pastalit | Pastalit | op. 1920–1936 | Vogtland, Germany | Pastalit is also the name of the plastic used in some of their recorders. | ||
| Stark | Stark | Paul Reinhard | op. 1920–1936 | Wohlhausen, Germany | Marketted as Pastalit. Maker’s mark: MARKE PASTALIT / -MUSICS- | |
| Götz | Götz | op. 1954 | East Germany | I would appreciate more information about this maker. | ||
| Barth | Barth | R. | c. 1900 | Stuttgart, Germany | A 4-keyed soprano recorder by this maker is currently offered for sale by Jean-Michael Renard. | |
| Gedney | Gedney | Caleb | bap. 1726 – m. 1769 | England | Advertisment in London Evening Post, 21 November 1754 mentions Travers or German flutes of all Sizes, English flutes ditto (Lasocki 2012). There is a bassoon by Gedney in the Horniman Museum, London, Inv. 14.5.47/205; and there is a two-keyed tenor oboe (taille de hautbois) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is also said to have made clarinets. The English maker Thomas Stanesby Jr bequeathed his tools to his apprentice Caleb Gedney on condition that he marry Stanesby’s widow! | |
| Brown | Brown | George | fl. 1716–1766 | Germany, Ireland, England | First mentioned in a Dublin newspaper of 1754. Although he still listed ‘Common flutes’ his specialities were transverse flutes, a detachable mouthpiece for focussing the tone on these instruments and cane transverse flutes. By 1753 he had moved to London. From Dublin, Brown made forays to Oxford, where he advertised in Jackson’s Oxford Journal (20 November 1754) that he ‘MAKES all Sorts of Wind Musical Instruments in the greatest Perfection, true and pleasant toned … Hautboys, Bassoons, Clar[i]nets, and Common Flutes … especially a good Concert Common Flute which is the Foundation of all Instruments. In the Daily Advertiser, 1 January 1766, Brown noted that he was esteemed by great Judges to be a complete Master of his Trade, having practised that Art in Germany (his native Country) and in England, for near 50 Years past (Lasocki 2012). | |
| Mason | Mason | John | f. 1754–1778 | ?London | Mason advertised in the Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, 26 January 1756 that he had invented the C-foot for the transverse flute, a claim that was refuted by both Gedney and Charles Schuchart (John Just’s son). The newspapers reveal more about Mason’s career. In 1765 he advertised that he assures the Public, he has been Fife-maker to his Majesty’s three Regiments of Guards these 18 Years … He makes the most curious German and Common Flutes, Fifes, Hautboys, Clarinets, Bassoons, Vox Humanes, &c. his Work being well known, and used through all Parts of his Majesty’s Dominions Abroad and at Home. Mason was in the midst of another dispute: this time with Brown and the Irish maker Henry Colquhoun (d. 1791) over who had invented the detachable mouthpiece for the transverse flute as well as the bass (more likely alto or tenor) flute (Lasocki 2012). | |
| Colquhoun | Colquhoun | Henry | d. 1791 | Ireland | In the Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, 20 February 1765. Colquhoun claimed to have invented the detachable mouthpiece for the transverse flute as well as the bass (more likely alto or tenor) flute. Colquhoun, who also claimed to be fife maker to the Guards, said he maked and sold “all Kinds of Wind Instruments, as Bassoons, Hautboys, German and Common Flutes, &c. &c. for Exportation or Home Consumption” (Lasocki 2012). | |
| Cahusac Jr | Cahusac | Thomas | b. 1756 | Reading, Berkshire | An undated trade card of Thomas Cahusac Sr. (1714-1798) offers Common Flutes of all Sizes. around 1787, his young son Thomas Cahusac Jr. b. 1756) set up a workshop in Reading, Berkshire, about 40 miles west of London. He advertised that he Manufactures and sells every article in the musical line as cheap as in London; and all istruments bought of him, if not approved of may be exchanged after one week’s trial. German flutes from 7s 6d to 6l 6s … Common Flutes 2s 6d to 6s each. Fifes from 1s to 7s each … This advertisement is useful in showing us the relative price of transverse flutes, recorders, and fifes. A year later, Cahusac Jr advertised Common Flutes and Fifes of all sizes … (Lasocki 2012). | |
| Astor | Astor | 1752–1813 | Germany, London | George Astor (1752-1813) arrived in London from Germany by 1778 and established himself as a flute maker. By the mid-1790s he had vastly expanded his business to manufacturing, making and selling instruments of all kinds, but specially wind and keyboard instruments. His range of goods is illustrated by his detailed catalog dated 1799, in which the following entries are relevant for our purposes: A Flute, tipp’d with Ivory, 6 silver Keys, and extra Joints / Ditto, 5 silver Keys / Ditto, 4 ditto / Ditto, 6 Brass ditto, and extra Joints / Ditto, 5 ditto / Ditto, 4 ditto / Ditto, French flagelet … The ‘dittos’, employed to save typesetting costs, are difficult to understand at first sight. But these entries show that Astor was selling … recorders at the normal level, presumably alto, as well as a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and octave higher (Lasocki 2012). | ||
| Mousseter | Mousseter | fl. c. 1800 | Paris | See Waterhouse (1993). | ||
| Bauman | Bauman | op. c. 1720–1730 | Germany | I would appreciate further information about this maker. | ||
| Hanson | Hanson | Carl “Dudley” | -1968–2014 | Norwich, England, Great Britan (GB), United Kingdom (UK) | Medieval recorders; renaissance recorders after Agricola, Virdung, Praetorius; Ganassi recorders; also flutes after Mersenne and baroque flutes. See Hanson (2014). Carl (Dudley) Hanson. Recorder Magazine 34(3): 97. | |
| Rahma | Rahma | 20th century | Jallais, France | Appears to have been an organisation marketing plastic neo-baroque & school recorders made elsewhere. | ||
| Béthune | Béthune | Marie-José | op. 1980s | Cambrai, France | Active in the 1980s. She was mentioned in an old French magazine between 1981 and 1983 (Jean-Luc Manguin, pers. comm. 2014). | |
| Boisselot | Boisselot | Pierre | 20 January 1750 | Montpellier | Instrument maker and toy maker. Married Marguerite Comte, 7July 1772 at Montpellier. Member of a family of turners, luthiers, piano makers and toymakers. | |
| JBSchöllnast | Schöllnast | Johann Baptist | 19C | Pressburg (Bratislava) | 1-keyed soprano csakan in D at A=440 offered for sale on eBay May 2015, item 141661030810. belonged to an old archivist of Filarmonic Orchestra, from a private museum in Vienna. Ebony body, one key, german silver key and ring, tunable in two pieces; total length 300 mm; sounding length 25.7 mm. | |
| Montazeaud | Montazeaud | Nothing is known of this maker. His only instrument is stamped: MONTAZEAUD | [globus cruciger] See de Avena Braga (2015: 31-32, footnote 123). | ||||
| Jahn | Jahn | Wilhelm Jr | op. 1920-1936 | Zwota, Germany | A musical instrument making family dating back to the 19th century. Friedrich Wilhelm Jahn, who died before 1880, was a harmonica maker. His son, Friedrich Wilhelm Jahn Jr. (1859-1940 registered as a maker of wodwind instruments in 1880 and, in 1907, as a maker of woodwind instruments. Two of his sons, Wilhelm (1880-1949) and Karl August (1882-1969), were also employed in the workshop. Wilhelm, the elder son, inherited the family house which also included the workshop, and took this over as well. Wilhelm Jahn’s second son, Kurt Wilhelm (1910-1941), also seems to have been employed in the workshop before the War. 6-8 instrument makers were employed at the Jahn workshop producing mainly recorders and some bassoons. The recorders were mostly supplied to the form of Gustav Herrnsdorf in Markneukirchen, but also to C.W. Moritz (Berlin), G. Mollenhauer & Söhne (Kassel), C.W. Meisel sen., Klingenthal (brand name “Cyclop”) and others. Jahn also produced special models for Herrnsdorf, e.g. recorders with a plastic-sleeved beak, recorders in C with a B foot, recorders with a key operated by the little finger of the uppermost hand for producing a note pitched below the fundamental, and a rather elegant double key for the lowest note of a basset recorder. See Thalheimer (2013: 60). | |
| Uebel | Uebel | 19-20 C | Wohlhausen, Markneukirchen | 1878-1936 Company F.G. Uebel in Wohlhausen (clarinet construction company). 1936 F. Arthur Uebel in Markneukirchen and G. Rudolf evils in Wohlhausen. After the death of F. Arthur Uebel his nephew G. Rudolf Uebel took over the workshop. In all three workshops produced recorders. F. Arthur Uebel produced recorders until 1963 for the handler Wilhelm Herwig (Herwiga). After 1963 Werner Uebel (nephew of F.A. Uebel), took over recorder production or Herrnsdorf. G. Rudolf Uebel (1915-1991) often used the upturned surname on his instruments: Lebü. | ||
| EL-Schlosser | Schlosser | Ernst Ludwig | 1905-1973 | Zwota, Germany | Member of a family of woodwind makers from the Vogtland area of eastern Germany who made recorders for Hermann J. Moeck (including the ‘Tuju’ model) Hans Jordan, August Richard Hammig, and others, and it is not possible to say which of their unbranded instruments originated in their workshops. However, those of Heinrich Oskar, “the black”, and his descendents are often recognizable. Schlosser family members who made recorders include: Gustav Adolph Schlosser (1845-?), Heinrich Oskar Schlosser (1875-1935), “der weisse”, Ernst Paul Schlosser (1905-1965), Siegfried Schlosser (*1934); Johann Gabriel Schlosser Jr (1835-1894), Heinrich Oskar Schlosser (1875-1947), “der schwarze”, Ernst Ludwig Schlosser (1905-1973), Rüdiger Schlosser (1934-2005), Erich Oskar Schlosser (1916-c.1943). The two cousins who shared the same name were distinguished by their hair colour. See Thalheimer (2005; 2008: 176-183; 2013: 80-81). | |
| R-Schlosser | Schlosser | Rüdiger Schlosser | 1934-2005 | Zwota, Germany | Member of a family of woodwind makers from the Vogtland area of eastern Germany who made recorders for Hermann J. Moeck (including the ‘Tuju’ model) Hans Jordan, August Richard Hammig, and others, and it is not possible to say which of their unbranded instruments originated in their workshops. However, those of Heinrich Oskar, “the black”, and his descendents are often recognizable. | |
| AdlerO | Adler & Co. (Sonora) | Franz Oscar | 1862-1922 | Markneukirchen, Germany | Son of Gottlob Adler (1825-1900). In 1885, Oscar Adler (1862-1922) founded a company for the manufacture of woodwind instruments. Until 18934, the firms’ main office was in his father’s house where the company belonging to his brother Robert Oswald Adler (1863 -1946) had also been based since 1891. In 1896 he was joined by his brother-in-law, string maker Herman Fürchtegott Jordan (1854-1908) and in 1900 their partnership was renamed “Deutsche Holzblassinstrumentenfabrik Oscar Adler & Co.” After Jordan’s death, Oscar Adler left the company and started a small firm named Franz O. Adler which operated until c.1932. The range of instruments produced included flutes, csakans, flageolets and reed instruments. When Martin Kehr began to make the Harlan recorders in 1926, these were added to the Oscar Adler range, modeled on instruments by Kehr/Harlan whose exterior design was largely copied. Production was directed by the co-owner of the firm Karl Friederich Jordan, who probably also sold Adler recorders under his own name. The Adler workshop also sold unsigned instruments to wholesalers who marked them with their own stamp (Thalheimer 2013: 52-53). Oscar Adler produced recorders with plastic head-joints made of “Acolit” with an ebonite block and wooden lower joints. The firm also sold recorders with semitone keys, as well as six-holed pipes with semitone keys. | |
| Hinkeldei | Hinkeldei [Hinkeldey] | Thomas | 1885-1966 | Zwota, Germany | Son of woodwind instrument maker Christian Karl Hinkeldei Snr (1847-1914) who founded the family workshop in 1872. Thomas worked as an instrument maker until the War, after which he was only an instrument dealer and did some work for accordion makers at home. On his death the workshop passed to his son Carl (1924-1971). The Hinkeldei workshop specialised in flutes and recorders as well as simple shawms. Their recorders were made only in c”, d”, a’ and f’. As well as all-wooden instruments some were made with plastic head-joints. They also made six-holed pipes with or without keys and with or without a windcap. The workshop worked for the firm of G.H. Hüller in Schöneck and collaborated with the Jahn family in Zwota. Some Hinkeldei instruments are signed HARO, a brand name not yet associated with any specific Vogtland dealer. See Thalheimer (2013: 58-59). | |
| KruspeFC | Kruspe | Franz Carl | 1808-1885 | Mühlhause & Erfurt | Woodwind instrument maker Franz Carl Kruspe (1808-1885) founded his workshop in Mühlhausen in 1829, moving to Erfurt in 1836. His son, Friedrich Wilhelm (1838-1911) was trained by his father and later took over the workshop .. His son, Eduard (1871-1919) took over the workshop in the third generation. After the latter’s death, the workshop and brand-name passed to Gottlob Hermann Huüller in Schüneck, also a maker of woodwind instruments, in partnership with his sons Max, Oskar, Kurt, Hermann and Wilhelm. Although the Franz Carl Kruspe worshop did not make recorders they did make csakans. See Thalheimer (2013: 72-73). | |
| Schwabe | Schwabe | Max Ewald | 1902-1978 | Zwota, Germany | Son of brasswind maker Carl Louis Schwabe (1866-1947). He trained with his uncle, woodwind maker Hermann Louis (called Alois) Schwabe (1868-1945) and worked for the firm of Gebrüder Mönnig in Markneukirchen who also made recorders. In 1923 he was registered as an “accordion maker”, living in his father’s house in Zwota. | |
| Goddard | Goddard | ?John | 18C | Great Britain (England, United Kingdom, GB, UK) | Lasocki (2012: 68) notes that after William Lowen Sr died in 1654, his widow Mary took an apprentice, John Goddard, in 1657. | |
| Bernhardt | Bernhardt | Joahann Heinrich | 17-18C | Nordhausen | Maker’s Mark: BERNHART / 1 Only two other Bernhardt woodwind instruments are known: an oboe d’amore (S-Stockholm M151) which has the stamp Star /BERNHART / 3 on the upper two joints; and a flute (USA-DC-Washington: DCM 0469) in four pieces, three marked (Lion rampant) / BERNHART / 1, and one marked (lion rampant) / BERNHART / 2. In 1716, Bernhardt signed a separation [agreement] with Margrete Pfeifer, with whom he later had a son, Georg Andreas Bernhardt. See Seyfrit (1982:135); Dullat (2010: 77), Karp (1972), Rice (2021). | |
| Rose, Morris & Co. | Rose, Morris & Co. | Stanley Rose Leslie Rose Victor Morris | 1920- | London | Offered recorders from 1947 onwards. Rose, Morris & Co. (Australia) Pty. Ltd was established in 1948. | |
| Moonen | Moonen | A.M. | 20C | Netherlands | I would welcome further details about this maker. | |
| Adler-Heinrich | Adler-Heinrich Blockflötenbau GmbH | 20-21C | Germany (DDR) | The two Vogtland companies Johannes Adler and Alexander Heinrich merged prior to the dismemberment of the DDR. However, they ceased production in 2007. Some of their designs continued to be made for a while by Ulrich Hahl who set up an independent workshop of his own but that, too, soon failed. The Adler-Heinrich bell recorders designed by Klaus Grunwald were similar in appearance to renaissance recorders, with a wide, largely cylindrical bore, a simple external profile, and large single tone holes with a raised tone-hole for the lowest finger. But their most striking feature was their large, flared, wooden or metal bell. Thus they differed radically from traditional designs. These instruments were said to produce an extremely loud, full sound from bottom to top, and offer a wide variety of alternate fingerings which permit dynamic variation. It was claimed that a much greater range of breath pressures could be used than on traditional instruments, and that a remarkable variety of articulations was also possible, allowing them to compete successfully with loud modern instruments such as piano, saxophone. Soprano and alto models were available and there were plans to produce all sizes from sopranino to great bass in a variety of woods. | ||
| Breukink | Breukink | Adriana | 1957–2002 | Netherlands | Renaissance recorders after Bassano, Schnitzer; Ganassi recorders; baroque recorders after Denner, Stanesby Jr; ‘Dream’ recorders. Designer of Moeck’s ‘Slide’ recorder, and Mollenahauer’s ‘Dream’ recorders. In partnership with Geri Bollinger, developed the ‘Eagle’ recorder which continues to be developed and made by Gerri Bollinger & Küng. | |
| Lockwood | Lockwood | Albert | 1945–2013 | United Kingdom (UK), Great Britain (GB), England | Baroque and modern recorders; the basses with a unique keywork. See See Recorder Magazine 33(4): 140 (2013). | |
| Glatt | Glatt | Andreas | 1945–2013 | Belgium | Baroque recorders after Stanesby Jr, J.C. Denner, Bressan & Borkens. Transverse flutes after Hotteterre, Naust, Bressan, Stanesby Jr, G.A. Rottenburgh, Palanca. All instruments only with original fingering and at original pitch. Glatt was one of the first modern makers to try to recreate recorders as close to the originals as possible, including fingering, pitch, tuning, etc. At the first International Recorder Days/Festival of Flanders in 1972, he exhibited his Stanesby Jr recorder made at the original pitch (A410), at that time in the private collection of Mme Chambure and now in the permanent collection of the Cité de la Musique, Paris. From 1978-2000, he co-founded Accent Records with his wife, Adelheid. See Thalheimer (2014: Tibia 3 (2013). | |
| Zamir | Zamir Recorder Industry | 1975–2005 | Israel Kibbutz-Gevim, Ashkelon | Plastic and wooden neo-baroque recorders. Trademarks include Ariel, and Gill. | ||
| Strathmann | Strathmann | Arnfred Rudolf | m. 2016 | Germany Melsdorf, Kiel | A patent for a fully keyed recorder was taken out in 1988 by the saxophonist Arnfred Rudolf Strathmann who adapted the elaborate keywork and fingerings of the saxophone the the recorder. With his co-worker Klein, a series of ‘Strathmann flutes’ was developed with many modern features. The body is made of wood or durable plastic, the block height is adjustable with a simple thumbscrew, and the thumbhole is replaced by a key which opens two small holes high up in the head piece which raises any fingering of the lower register to the octave above. The volume of sound for all notes is stronger than on conventional recorders, and the timbre is said to be between that of a recorder and flute. Strathmann flutes have been made in both soprano and alto models. An interview (in German) with ‘Rudi’ Strathmann can be found here. A video of Rudi playing his Strathmann flute can be seen and heard there. The firm Mollenhauer incorporated the patented Strathmann adjustable block in a newly designed alto recorder. | |
| Junghänel | Junghänel | Bernhard | 1948–1994 | Germany Gütersloh, Westfalen | Renaissance and baroque recorders. Also dulcians and chest organs. Herr Junghänel died in January 1994. He was the older brother of the lutenist Konrad Junghänel. His sister Adelheid is the wife of Andreas Glatt. Bernhard was apprenticed to Gunter Körber. As well as recorders he made other instruments, including portative organs. He was a fine double reed and recorder player who made recordings with his group Musikalische Compagny. He also played dulcian with Bruce Dickey’s Concerto Palatino and can be heard on an Accent recording of Early 17th Italian music. | |
| Harrell | Harrell | Bobby | 1933–2021 | United States of America (USA) Plant City, Florida | Bobby Harrell, a remarkable one-handed craftsman from Florida (USA), designed and made a novel one-handed recorder, a modified Yamaha 300 plastic instrument. See here. | |
| C Collier | Collier | Charles | 1935–2011 | United States of America (USA) | Renaissance recorders after originals in Vienna. | |
| Soubeyran | Soubeyran | Claire | 1949– 2018 | France Boissy l’Aillerie | Although Soubeyran was primarily a maker of early flutes, she made a single copy of an early recorder. A specialist in woodwind conservation, Soubeyran consulted for both private and public collections, including the Musée de la Musique in Paris, the Smithosonian Institution in Washington, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. See Tribute Page; Duhot (1986: 18-21). | |
| Cartwright | Cartwright | Don | 1930–2017 | Australia Lindisfarne, Tasmania | Baroque style recorders and oboes made from native Tasmanian timbers. | |
| Crinjen | Crinjen | Eugéne | 1962–2016 | France Pau | Baroque recorders after Bressan, Denner, Hotteterre (with Jean-Marie Ségretier). Also made baroque flutes after Rottenburgh, Grenser, Hotteterre, Lot, Quantz, Hotteterre, Denner, and Stanesby. Crinjen was a Dutch-born flautist and instrument-maker who began playing flute at five-years-old, influenced by Frans Brüggen. He took masterclasses with Barthold Kuijken and Wilbert Hazelzet. In 1983, he operated a workshop in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. | |
| Ravdonikas | Ravdonikas Равдоника́с | Felix Vladislavovich Фе́ликс Владисла́вович | 1937–2011 | Russia | A polymath: organologist and musicologist, musician and composer, graphic artist, actor, mathematician, ethnographer, designer and craftsman specializing in flutes. See here | |
| von Huene | von Huene | Friedrich Alelexander | 1928–2016 | United States of America (USA) Brookline, Massachusetts | Born Friedrich Freiherr von Hoyningen, genannt Huene in Breslau (then Germany). Huene grew up on a farm in Mecklenburg, and emigrated to the USA in 1948. Following service in a US Air Force band he attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and received his BA in music there in 1956. From 1956 to 1960 he worked in the shop of Verne Q. Powell, flute maker, in Boston, and spent his spare time experimenting with the construction of recorders. In 1960 he opened his own workshop, first in Waltham, Massachusetts, and later in Brookline. In 1966–7 he held a Guggenheim Fellowship to study instruments built in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, preserved in various museums. Von Huene was one of the first modern makers of recorders to base his instruments on historic designs. He also designed recorders for mass production, notably a model based on the work of Jean-Hyacinth-Joseph Rottenburgh (1672–1756), manufactured and distributed by Moeck in Celle, and a model based on the work of Bressan, manufactured and distributed by Zen-On in Japan. He also designed and built recorders with modern keywork. See Wikipedia. The von Huene Workshop is now run by Friedrich’s son, Patrick. | |
| Paetzold | Paetzold | Hans-Joachim | 1921–2012 | Germany Tubingen | From 1946 as a flute maker at Rössler, Schreiber and Stieber in Tübingen. Founded his own company in 1961 making school recorders, then specializing in master recorders (one-off pieces). Designer of modern square bass recorders manufactured by his nephew Herbert Paetzold, and (with Nikolaj Tarasov) of modern recorders with extended range manufactured by Mollenhauer. | |
| Hanchet | Hanchet | John | 1941–2016 | Norwich, England (Great Britain, UK) | Medieval and early renaissance style recorders; but mainly shawms, crumhorns, bassoons and rackets. See Obituary | |
| Rogers | Rogers | Keith | 1943–2008 | England, Great Britain (GB), United Kingdom (UK) | Baroque recorders. In partnership with Jeremy West made cornetts and other instruments. | |
| Arvidsson | Arvidsson | Ragnar | 1934–2019 | Sweden, Västra Frölunda | Baroque recorders after Bressan, Haka & Stanesby, and after his own design. RA recorders are novel instruments of Arvidsson’s own design with a unique bore derived from his engineering experience of microwave waveguide systems in radar and telecommunication equipment. They have the sound of renaissance recorders (close to Ganassi) but are played with neo-baroque fingering. They have a full chromatic range of 2 octaves (plus some extra high notes). Born 19 August 1934 in Vintrosa, Sweden; died 28 June 2019 in Örebro, Sweden). Arvidsson was a Swedish engineer, musician and recorder maker. He was for a time Sweden’s only recorder maker and several Swedish flautists have used his instruments. Arvidsson started playing the recorder in his early teens, but eventually switched to the clarinet. See Wikipedia (2023) | |
| Storbækken | Storbækken | Magnar | 1934–2019 | Tolga, Hedmark, Norway | Maker of various Swedish folk instruments, including jotunfloyte, a kind of recorder. | |
| Meyer | Meyer | Ernst | 1954–2016 | Bächli (Hemberg), Switzerland | Baroque recorders after Pierre Jaillard Bressan and Jacob Denner. | |
| Grinter | Grinter | Michael | 1953–2018 | Chewton, Victoria, Australia | Ganassi-style recorders, and baroque recorders after Bressan, Denner, Haka, Stanesby & Steenbergen. Also flutes and whistles. | |
| Rössler | Rössler | Heinz | 1920–2001 | Weddingstedt, Germany | Heinz Rössler founded the company Rössler-Recorder Manufacturing in 1948. The workshop was situated in Weddingstedt near Heide (Schleswig-Holstein). In the early 1960s the product range was enriched with the construction of instruments of high quality. Heinz Rössler started to build woodwind instruments after historical examples, for instance alto recorders after J. W. Oberlender (1681-1763) or voice-flutes (tenors in d’) after J. C. Denner (1655-1707). Ulf Rössler entered the familiy business in 1976. The Rössler workshop closed in 2002, bankrupt and insolvent. Mollenhauer have completely bought out Rössler’s remaining tools and material and will be able to undertake maintenance work of Rössler recorders. | |
| Weber | Weber | Rainer | 1927–2014 | Bayerbach, Germany | Medieval recorders; renaissance recorders (including columnar recorders); transitional recorders. | |
| Hogenhuis | Hogenhuis | Jelle | m. 2021 | Marssum, Netherlands | Primarily a flute-maker, especially of bass, contrabass and sub-contra-bass flutes, including models in PVC for flute choir use. His website noted that his contrabass and sub-contra-bass flutes could be provided with a recorder headpiece. | |
| Gerock | Gerock | Christopher | 1772–1850 | Germany & England | Christopher Gerock was born in Weinsberg, Germany in 1772 and was living in London by 1795. He was naturalised by an Act of Parliament in 1804 and established business premises at 76 Bishops Gate, London. He was a well known maker of wind instruments of all kinds and many examples of his rosewood flutes and clarinets exist in music museums around the world. He was also a music seller and publisher. His chamber organs are poarticularly well regarded. According to two cases at London’s Old Bailey, Samuel Porter, who worked for Christopher Gerock tried to steal Gerock’s flutes on two occasions from his house. It seems that Gerock only marked his flutes if they were finished with the unicorn and also included another mark, a star, when they were sold. Thus some of the stolen flutes were stamped with a unicorn but with no star! | |
| Abbreviation | Surname | Given Name | Dates | Provenance | Notes |
Cite this article as: Lander, Nicholas S. 1996–2024. Recorder Home Page: Instruments: Historic makers, instruments & collections: Historic Makers. Last accessed 24 April 2024. https://www.recorderhomepage.net/historic-makers/