The recorder (竖笛) is a pipe-like musical instrument which has been taught in British primary schools for many generations. But now, it faces extinction, with one of the UK's top music schools reporting an 80% reduction in the number of young people playing it in the last 10 years.
The instrument's future is so worrying that the European Recorder Teachers Association is trying to bring it back to life again so it does not go the way of the lute. The ERTA argues that if the recorder was good enough for the Beatles, it has a place in modern music today.
Tom Redmond, the headmaster of Chetham's school of music in Manchester, said only three of its pupils practised the recorder, compared with 15 a decade ago. "More pupils were taking up the piano or other instruments," said Redmond. "The ones that became really popular are the ones students spend more time playing alone. With the instruments being more socially based, there has been a reduction."
Redmond also said that this problem went "beyond the recorder itself" and was a mirror of the future of music. "Like removing any plant or animal from an ecosystem (生态系统), removing the recorder has a huge chain reaction beyond just the instrument. You need these instruments to create the inspiration for music, and without that, there is less excitement for them and to learn music," he said.
Chris Orton, a recorder tutor and chair of the ERTA, is leading the fight against the instrument's extinction. He said, "The recorder is increasingly ignored by students, and yet it has a rich history and unbelievable attractions. As well as making beautiful sounds, it's an accessible instrument because it is low-cost compared to other woodwind instruments, and it's light and easy to carry."
