The recorder was popular from medieval times but declined in the 18th century in favour of orchestral woodwind instruments, such as the flute, oboe, and clarinet. During its heyday, the recorder was traditionally associated with birds, shepherds, miraculous events, funerals, marriages and amorous scenes. Images of recorders can be found in literature and artwork associated with all these. Purcell, Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi used the recorder to suggest shepherds and birds, and the pattern continued into the 20th century.The Recorder Homepage, maintained by Nicholas S. Lander, includes a comprehensive survey of historical instruments

The recorder was revived in the 20th century, partly in the pursuit of historically informed performance of early music, but also because of its suitability as a simple instrument for teaching music and its appeal to amateur players. Today, it is often thought of as a child's instrument, but there are many excellent virtuosic players who can demonstrate the instrument's full potential as a solo instrument. The sound of the recorder is remarkably clear and sweet, partly because of the lack of upper harmonics and predominance of odd harmonics in the sound.

The name of the instrument

The instrument has been known, in English, as a recorder, at least since the 14th century. Grove's Dictionary reports that the earliest use of the word 'recorder' was in the household of the Earl of Derby in 1388: fistula nomine Recordour. The name originates from the use of the word record, one meaning of which is "to practise a piece of music".

Up to the 18th century, the instrument was called lang: Flauto (flute) in Italian, the language used in writing music, whereas the instrument we today call the flute was called 'lang: Flauto traverso'. This has led to some pieces of music occasionally being mistakenly performed on transverse flute rather than on recorder.

Today, the recorder is known as lang: flauto dolce in Italian (sweet flute), with equivalents in other languages. In Spanish the name flauta is ambiguous, as it can mean both the flauta travesera, the flauta dulce (recorder) or other types.

How the instrument is played

The recorder is held outwards from the player's lips (rather than to the side, like the "transverse" flute). The player's breath is compressed into a linear airstream by a channel cut into the wooden "block" or fipple (A), in the mouthpiece of the instrument, so as to travel along this channeled duct (B) called the "windway". Exiting from the windway, the breath is directed against a hard edge (C), called the "labium" or "ramp", which causes the column of air within the resonator tube to oscillate at the desired frequency, determined by the bore length or open tone hole used. The length of the air column (and the pitch of the note produced) is modified by finger holes in the front and thumb hole at the back of the instrument.