PHOTO: Kaarli Kooli 5th graders playing the soprano
plokk/flööt (recorder) at the school's
advendi/kontsert at Kaarli kirik, Tallinn's only twin-towered church, standing just beyond the Old Town and named after King Karl XI of Sweden. From the left are Emma, Lotta, Marii, Susi, Hanna-Loore (back row, grade 6), Mirtel, Karolina (
6. klass) and Juhan. The
plokkflööt is in fact far from new, it's the original Western
flööt, at least in its solid wooden form; today many recorders are made from moulded resin. The light-coloured
pillid (musical instruments) featured here are made of resin, not
elevandi/luu (ivory), as desired by royalty and aristocrats during the
renessanss period. Photo: Riina Kindlam
Surprise-surprise! In German, the
puu/puhk/pill (woodwind instrument) seen being played here is called
eine Blockflöte, hence the Estonian
plokkflööt, Swedish
blockflöjt and Dutch
blokfluit. And the
koraali/viis, chorale or Lutheral hymn tune the students are performing, "
Kui armsast jõulupuu nüüd hiilgab" (How sweetly the Christmas tree shines), also hails from Germany, originally "
Am Weihnachtsbaum die Lichter brennen".
The block in the
plokkflööt is the solid piece of wood beneath the recorder's mouthpiece, which is often made of
kadakas (juniper) or red cedar, chosen because of its rot resistance, ability to absorb water, and low expansion when wet. Historically, recorders were also made of a single BLOCK of hardwood. Its whistle mouthpiece, or beck (beak,
noka/taoline huulik) gives its name to the instrument in French (
flûte à bec) and Finnish (
NOKKAhuilu), among others. And yet a third family of monikers, such as the Italian
flauto dolce, derives from the instrument's sweetness and gentleness of sound.
But recorder?! The earliest known document mentioning "a pipe called Recordour" dates from 1388. "The instrument name "recorder" derives from the Latin recordārī (to call to mind, remember, recollect), by way of Middle French recorder (before 1349; to remember, to learn by heart, repeat, relate, recite, play music) and its derivative
recordeur (c. 1395; one who retells, a minstrel). The association between the various, seemingly disparate, meanings of recorder can be attributed to the role of the medieval
jongleur (Estonian
žonglöör, minstrel) in learning poems by heart and later reciting them, sometimes with musical accompaniment." (Wikipedia)
The
plokk/flööt was the original Western
flööt. Until the latter half of the 18th century, the Baroque period in musical history, the name "flute" always meant recorder. To differentiate it, the transverse (side-blown) flute was called, in Italian for instance,
flauto toraverso, the horizontal flute – Estonian
põikflööt. Until the transverse flute overtook the recorder in popularity once again.
The clear sound, described as pure and lyrical, was well loved in the Renaissance period and was used to perform the lead, accompanied by string instruments with a refined, gentle timbre, such as the lute (Estonian
lauto) and viola da gamba, predecessor of the
tšello. It was often played in churches and royal palaces, and due to its associations with angels, appears in many works of art.
One source states the
plokkflööt was first used in schools in Japan in 1959. It is now used in music education the world over as many children's first instrument. Composers who have written for the recorder include Monteverdi, Lully, Purcell, Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Paul Hindemith, Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Berio, and Arvo Pärt.
Riina Kindlam, Tallinn
