The recorder is the “grandmother” of all flutes. Thanks to its whistle mechanism (a block — a stopper in the head that directs the air), even a child can play without special training. That is why the recorder became the first instrument for millions of European schoolchildren.
Yet the recorder is also a serious concert instrument. In the Baroque era, Handel, Telemann, and Bach wrote for it; the family spans from sopranino to bass. Performers of the stature of Frans Brüggen and Michala Petri raised the recorder to virtuoso solo heights. The Ukrainian sopilka is a close relative of the recorder, sharing the same whistle construction.
