Description
David Lasocki, Flutes, Recorders, and Flageolets in Inventories, Purchases, Sales, and Advertisements, 1349-1800.
Published May 2018. 346 pages.
Also available in print from amazon.com and other amazons around the world.
This unprecedented book presents copious original material about the recorder, flute, and other members of the flute family from the Middle Ages to the early Classical period. The material is taken from previously unexplored or neglected sources: inventories of instrument collections, inventories and wills of musicians and instrument makers, records of purchases and sales, and newspaper advertisements. It shows the variety of people who were involved with the instruments over four and a half centuries; what types, sizes, and quantities of instruments people owned; what people were buying and selling; and what the instruments were called. A much fuller picture therefore emerges of the history of these instruments throughout Europe and beyond. The sources are presented in their original language and spelling, together with English translations of all foreign-language material.
Note: This book combines two previously published writings – the article “A Listing of Inventories and Purchases of Flutes, Recorders, Flageolets, and Tabor Pipes, 1388–1630,” in David Lasocki, ed., Musicque de Joye: Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Renaissance Flute and Recorder Consort, Utrecht 2003 (Utrecht: STIMU Foundation for Historical Performance Practice, 2005), 419–511; and the book A Listing of Inventories, Sales and Advertisements Relating to Flutes, Recorders and Flageolets, 1631–1800(Bloomington, IN: Instant Harmony, 2010) — with additions and corrections.
Praise for one of the components of this book, A Listing of Inventories, Sales, and Advertisements Relating to Flutes, Recorders, and Flageolets, 1631-1800(Instant Harmony, 2010):
“This excellent book, written with great attention to detail…. Lasocki both informs and entertains in this unique compilation of historic advertisements and other listings. I recommend it highly for early music specialists and music libraries, and also for history buffs, who might enjoy these snapshots of daily life from the 17th and 18th centuries.”
Aldo Abreu, review in Early Music America 19, no. 2 (summer 2013): 48-49
“Lasocki’s painstaking compilation illuminates the place of flutes, recorders, and their relatives in their social setting and raises intriguing questions about instrument making, distribution, and commerce. This effort, when extended systematically to other types of instruments and farther afield geographically, will considerably expand our view of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music culture. As a step in this direction, Lasocki’s e-book rewards thorough examination and is essential for music research libraries.”
Laurence Libin, review in Notes 67, no. 4 (June 2011): 728-29
“… a veritable mine of information…. Lasocki’s customary thoroughness and attention to detail come to the fore…. the translations — appropriately literal — are excellent…. In summary, this is an excellent, thoroughly researched and well-referenced source of information which should prove invaluable to students of the instruments concerned.”
Douglas Macmillan, review in Galpin Society Journal 73 (2010): 266-67
“As one would expect from this author, it is a scrupulously researched and compiled volume…. Everything is neatly categorized by country of origin and arranged chronologically….. Lasocki wisely chose to … include English-language translations of all foreign-language listings…. While this volume will be of value to scholars who are searching for specific information, it will also provide hours of fascinating perusal for anyone with an interest in these instruments. The insights provided by these brief items are completely different from what one learns from a more formal narrative history book.”
Gwyn Roberts, review in American Recorder 53, no. 2 (March 2012): 38
