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Hence, we have a fifth recorder (the common descant in C) and also a sixth one (recorder in D), the latter very popular in England at the beginning of the 18th century. The name of the latter shows that the treble (alto) recorder was always the pivot of the recorder family, since «fourth» or «quatre» underlines that a Bb recorder was tuned four notes apart from the common treble recorder. The voice flute is a recorder in D – tuned a tone above the common tenor recorder, while the fourth flute is a recorder in Bb, hence tuned a tone below the common descant (soprano) recorder. Besides the violin – which seems to be the first choice – and the transverse flute, these six suites may be played on two different sizes of recorders the first four on a «flute de voix» and the last two on a «flute de quatre».
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