Bass Recorder

Johann Schell German

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 684

Resting near the music book in La Hyre’s Allegory of Music is an instrument with a metal windpipe that would have been attached to a mouthpiece. It is either a double-reed instrument such as a shawm or a bass recorder like this example by Johann Schell. The recorder is a flute with a whistle mouthpiece and ranges in size from soprano to bass. Soprano recorders were used as solo instruments,while bass recorders were typically part of recorder ensembles.

Bass Recorder, Johann Schell (German, Nuremberg 1660–1732), Wood (fruit wood), brass, ivory, German

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