Bassano consort
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The Bassano flutes are copies of originals found in the Musée Instrumentale in Brussels and the Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona. They are marked '!!' and are attributed to the Bassano family of woodwind makers and players. There are over sixty different instruments found throughout Europe; cornets, recorders, flutes and crumhorns, all of which are stamped with this mark, or variants of it. This mark has been identified by David Lasocki as moth wings and associated with the Bassanos, who were of Jewish origin and were active in Venice and London during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Brussels consort is composed of two tenors and a bass. Of the latter, only the headjoint has survived. These flutes are made of boxwood and are pitched at approximately A=408.
The Verona consort is pitched half a tone higher, about A=425, and is also composed of two tenors and a bass, all made of boxwood. Having measured these two consorts with their half tone difference, I used the relationship between them to re-calculate the instruments to play at 415, keeping all of the measurements in proportion, so that the copies will be as close to the originals as possible. I offer complete consorts (a or g descant, d tenor, G bass) at 415 and 408.
Copies are available in boxwood, as well as in a variety of soft woods including maple, pear plum or cherry.
Copies are available in boxwood, as well as in a variety of soft woods including maple, pear plum or cherry.