Reports suggest the prevalence of the recorder in schools is falling rapidly – but this is not something to celebrate. As well as being an irritant to parents’ ears, this £10 instrument also provides vital access to music educationIf you are haunted by the tinny squeaks of “Three Blind Mice”, whether from your own past exploits or your children’s, you’re not alone.
– one of the leading specialist music schools in the UK – has this week reported an 80 per cent decline in the number of its pupils who play the recorder: it has three this year, as opposed to 15 a decade ago. To many parents, this may seem like a relief. No more screeching in the house, no more enduring recorder club concerts involving savage butchery of therecorder is not only, when played well, a beautiful instrument in its own right, but it is also a pipeline to lifelong musical experiencesFor students at Chetham’s, the recorder is a very different instrument from the one most of us remember.
The recorder waned in popularity during the Classical and Romantic periods – the eras from which you’ll hear the most on Classic FM – when composers favoured more advanced woodwind instruments such as the flute and clarinet. Recorder performances today often come under the category of “historically informed performance” – concerts at which you might also find harpsichords and viols.