Classical Musicians and Their Instruments

Dell Hollingsworth

Dell Hollingsworth is artistic director of the Baroque ensemble La Follia, which she founded in 1980, and is music specialist at UT's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. She also performs around the state with the Texas Baroque Ensemble and the Westport Ensemble.

"The recorder is deceptive: easy to play in the early stages but devilishly hard to make speak eloquently; seemingly simple in design, but quite sophisticated on the inside. The best modern makers (who handcraft recorders after museum originals) use ancient techniques of undercutting the tone holes, shaping the bore, and voicing the windway to create instruments that are up to the demands of the often virtuosic music of past centuries.

"The recorder challenges the player to be creative, since its dynamic range is very small and there is no key system to simplify the fingerings. But the distinctive sweetness and mystery of its sound has enchanted listeners for centuries. In earlier times, the recorder was also charged with symbolism, being closely associated with amorous passion, death, and the supernatural.

"I enjoy the direct connection between myself and this lovely, resonant vessel of wood, which comes alive when filled with moving air. I like to play in acoustically live places, like empty churches or stairwells, where the sound can bloom and set the whole space vibrating."