Tenor recorder

The tenor recorder is a member of the recorder family. It has the same form as a soprano (or descant) recorder and an alto (or treble) recorder, but it produces a lower sound than either; a still lower sound is produced by the bass recorder.

The tenor recorder, like the soprano recorder, is tuned in C, but an octave lower. Because of its larger size, many tenors have keys to make it easier to play the lowest C, C♯, D, and D♯.

In modern notation, the tenor is written at sounding pitch, unlike most of the other recorder sizes, which (except sometimes the alto) are written an octave lower than they sound (Lasocki 2001)

Where flute duets are usually written for soprano and alto recorder, the tenor recorder is indispensable in four-part or polyphonic music, which is often performed by a recorder quartet or quintet.

History

In German-speaking countries in the 18th century, the tenor recorder was named Quartflöte (fourth flute), after the interval it forms below the ordinary recorder (alto) in F. Confusingly, the same name was used for the soprano recorder in C, apparently because it forms the same interval above the alto in G. At the same time, the English and French equivalents, "fourth flute" and "flute du quatre", meant a recorder a fourth higher than the alto in F—that is, an instrument with B♭ as its lowest note (Lasocki 2001).

References

• Baines, Anthony C. 1967. Woodwind Instruments and Their History, third edition, with a foreword by Sir Adrian Boult. London: Faber and Faber. Reprinted with corrections, 1977. This edition reissued, Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1991, and reprinted again in 2012. ISBN 978-0-486-26885-9.
• Lasocki, David. 2001. "Recorder". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

Further reading

• Alker, Hugo. 1963. "The Tenor Recorder: Its Development, Special Characteristics and Repertoire", with additions and amendments by Edgar Hunt. The Consort no. 20 (July): 166–73.
• Griscom, Richard W., and David Lasocki. 2013. The Recorder: A Research and Information Guide, third edition. Routledge Music Bibliographies. Routledge. ISBN 9781135839321.
• Praetorius, Michael. 1619a. Syntagmatis Musici Michaelis Praetorii C. Tomus Secundus De Organographia. Wolfenbüttel: Elias Holwein, in Verlegung des Autoris.
• Praetorius, Michael. 1619b. Syntagmatis Musici Michaelis Praetorii C. Tomus Tertius. Wolfenbüttel: Elias Holwein.
• Sachs, Curt. 1913. Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente, zugleich ein Polyglossar für das gesamte Instrumentengebiet. Berlin: Julius Bard.

Flutes and whistles
Side- blown	Bansuri Daegeum Dizi Fife Five-key flute Fue Kagurabue Komabue Minteki Nohkan Ryūteki Shinobue Yokobue Irish flute Koudi Sáo Simple system flute Tambin Venu Xindi Concert Piccolo Treble Soprano Concert Flûte d'amour Alto Bass Contra-alto Contrabass Subcontrabass Double contrabass Hyperbass
End- blown	Anasazi flute Danso Floghera Frilka Fue Hotchiku Shakuhachi Gudi Kaval Kōauau Ney Nose flute Kalaleng Nose whistle Pinkillu Qina Quray Sodina Sopilka Šupelka Svirel Washint Xiao Pan Kuvytsi Larchemi Nai Miskal Paixiao Siku Soinari Wot
Fipple	Atenteben Dentsivka Diple Dvoyanka Flabiol Flageolet Frula Fujara Hydraulophone Khloy Khlui Kuisi Low whistle Native American flute Organ pipe Salamuri Shvi Sjøfløyte Slide whistle Souravli Spilåpipa Stabule Tarka Tabor pipe Tin whistle Txistu Whistle Xirula Zuffolo Recorders Garklein Sopranino Soprano Alto Voice flute Tenor Bass Great bass Contrabass Sub-great bass Sub-contrabass Vessel Gemshorn Pifana Hun Molinukai Ocarina Tonette Xun
Overtone	Fujara Kalyuka Koncovka Willow flute
Other	Chinese folk flute music Flute repertory Tone hole Uakti Vertical flute

Renaissance music
Movements and schools	Burgundian English madrigals Franco-Flemish Roman Venetian
Musical instruments	Bagpipes Celtic harp Cittern Cornett Harp Harpsichord Hornpipe Hurdy-gurdy Jaw harp Kit violin Lute Mandora Mandore Pan flute Pochette Rebec Recorder Reed pipe Sackbut Shawm Slide trumpet Tambourine Theorbo Transverse flute Trumpet Vihuela Viol Violin Virginals
Musical forms	Carol Madrigal Magnificat Mass Offertory Pavane
National and regional traditions	British Cyprus Elizabethan France Germany Italy Netherlands Poland Portugal Spain
Related articles	List of Renaissance composers