Bressan Alto in G, a’=415Hz

Usually, baroque type alto recorders are mainly in F, but in the recorders at that time, there are not a few alto recorders with the lowest note G. Compared with the alto in F, it features a light and cute tone. The representative makers of the original alto in G are J.B.Gahn, J.C.Denner, J.W.Oberlender, and G.M.Anciuti. No original alto in G by Bressan has been found so far, but we created this model based on the idea; what if he made a recorder of this size?


It is often a matter of debate about what kind of repertoire to play using alto in G. When the theorist B. Bismantova published a recorder textbook in Ferrara, Italy, in 1677, the illustrated recorder was the first baroque type in history and the fingering chart was for alto in G. From this, it is possible that in Italy at that time, alto in G remained the mainstream, following the trend of the Renaissance era.


When you play Italian works with alto in G such as A.Vivaldi's concerto, F.Mancini's sonatas and so on whose tonality have some #, you can effectively play with easier fingering with good sound. In addition, the Brandenburg concerto No. 4 by J.S.Bach and the recorder concerto in C major by G.P.Telemann often require high-F# that can only be achieved by using a knee, so it is supposed that they could be played with alto in G.

Concerto for recorder in C major TWV 51:C1 / Georg Philipp Telemann

Instrument Used:Bressan Alto in G, a’=415Hz(by Shigeharu Hirao-Yamaoka)

played by Shigeharu Hirao-Yamaoka

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