Well-Tempered Woodwinds

An account of the acclaimed instrument maker’s life and his impact on the craft as well as cultural history.

Friedrich von Huene was arguably the most important manufacturer of historical woodwinds in the twentieth century. Since he began making recorders in 1958, von Huene exerted a strong influence on the craft of building woodwind instruments and on the study of instrument-making, as he helped to shape the emerging field of Early Music performance practice. Recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the American Musical Instrumental Society, the National Flute Association, and Early Music America, he remained at the forefront of research and design of historical copies of recorders, flutes, and oboes. In a compelling narrative that combines biography, cultural history, and technical organological enquiry, Geoffrey Burgess explores von Huene’s impact on the craft of historical instrument-making and the role organology has played in the emergence of the Early Music movement in the post-war era.

“Though mainly focused on von Huene and the recorder, this book also constitutes a welcome addition to the growing body of literature on the twentieth-century historical performance movement.” —Journal of the American Musicological Society

“Well-Tempered Woodwinds is a fascinating account of the life, the talent, and passions of Friedrich von Huene, a remarkable man who alone sculpted the revival of interest in the historically accurate reproductions of the recorder and the flute. Musicians worldwide owe him everything.” —Richard Wood, founder of The Early Music Shop

“Geoffrey Burgess is a dedicated musician, musicologist, and writer. In Well-Tempered Woodwinds, he builds upon traditional knowledge of Friedrich von Huene by examining rare written sources and personal interviews with the von Huenes and the people surrounding them. His source material is without a doubt unique, and he uses it to create a more complete picture of von Huene’s life.” —Tom Beets, Flanders Recorder Quartet