On one hand, educators have seized upon the inexpensive and comparatively easy-to-learn instrument as an ideal vehicle for teaching the rudiments of music - a legitimate enough use, but one that has led many to view recorder playing as a distinctly amateur pastime. A precursor of the flute, the recorder flourished until the 18th century, and then fell out of favor until around 1920, when a circle of British early instrument pioneers rediscovered it. Among these, perhaps the most unusual rebirth has been that of the recorder.
Over the last 60 years or so, champions of the guitar, flute, trumpet, French horn, clarinet and oboe have forged paths through a world dominated by pianists and violinists, and early instruments, frowned upon as obsolete less than a century ago, have been revived and mastered.
Whatever else one might say about musical life in the 20th century, it has been a time when virtuoso performers have found audiences for the most unlikely solo instruments.
