The soprano recorder is an octave above the level of the human soprano voice. Its lowest note is C5, and the normal range is C5–D7, but expert players achieve notes up to G7. Compositions for soprano recorder are usually notated an octave lower than they sound. The timbre is similar to the sound of the flue pipes of an organ, which is why some organ stops sound similar to a recorder. These registers are called then block-flute or forest-flute.
Fingerings
In addition to the traditional "Baroque" (or "English") fingering, which was created in Haslemere in 1919 by Arnold Dolmetsch,[1] soprano recorders have been made that make use of "German" fingering, which was introduced by Peter Harlan around 1926. In German fingering the note f2 is playable with a simpler fingering than the Baroque technique's forked (or cross-) fingering. However, German fingering has been described as a "step backwards ... made on the false assumption that the instrument would be easier for schoolchildren". The disadvantage is that other, unavoidable cross-fingerings become more difficult.[2]
Wollitz, Kenneth. 1982. The Recorder Book. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN0-394-47973-4.
Wind, Thiemo. 1984. "Der Fluyten Lust-hof: Erste vollstandig kommentierte Gesamtausgabe, herausgegeben von Winfried Michel und Hermien Teske (Winterthur, Amadeus Verlag, 1984)". Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 34, No. 2:178–83 doi:10.2307/939015JSTOR939015ISSN0042-3874
Further reading
Baines, Anthony C. 1967. Woodwind Instruments and Their History, 3rd edition, with a foreword by Sir Adrian Boult. London: Faber and Faber. Reprinted with corrections, 1977. This edition reissued, Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1991, and reprinted again in 2012. ISBN978-0-486-26885-9.