James Hervey was an English divine. He was born in 1714 and died in 1758. Having taken orders he filled curacies in Hampshire and Devon, and in 1743 he became curate to his father, at whose death he succeeded to the livings of Weston Favel and Collingtree. His works, which had a great popularity notwithstanding their turgid and meretricious style, include Meditations among the Tombs; Reflections in a Flower Garden; a Descant on Creation; Contemplations on the Night and Starry Heavens; Theron and Aspasia, religious dialogues; and a volume of Letters. Research James Hervey
Originally, a descant was a double song; a melody or counterpoint sung above the plain song of the tenor; a variation of an air; a variation by ornament of the main subject or plain song. The term is also applied to the upper voice in a part of music and also to the canto, cantus, or soprano voice. The term has also been used synonymously with counterpoint, or polyphony, which developed out of the French dechant, of the 12th century. Research Descant
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument. It is an end-blown flute with a fipple mouth-piece and eight finger holes, producing a soft mellow tone. Recorders are produced in various sizes - sopranino, descant or soprano, treble or alto, tenor, bass great-bass and contra-bass being the most common - the most popular size being the soprano or descant recorder frequently learned by school children, though the most useful in terms of flexibility is the treble or alto recorder (the next size up from the descant recorder).
Recorders were historically produced in a fingering system now known as historical, later in the 20th century a new fingering system known as modern was developed in England which involved making the fifth hole on the recorder somewhat larger and/or higher. From being developed in England this system received its alternative name of the English system, and confusingly was also called the baroque system (the true baroque system was applied to recorders of the 17th and 18th centuries). At the same time in Germany a rivalfingering system, known as the German system was developed. Most modern recorders utilise the Modern (English, pseudo-baroque) fingering system.
Recorders are produced in either wood or plastic. Low cost or student recorders are typically made from plastic, and while fairly resistant to errors in breathing technique, are also prone to squeak and lack quality of sound. Wooden recorders are more expensive, require firmer blowing by the player and produce a more mellow, higher quality tone. Harder, more dense woods produce recorders more capable of expressing the individuality of the player, with the down side of being less tolerant to breathing errors and more difficult to play. The typical woods used to make recorders, from the cheapest, softest woods to the more expensive, harder, better qualities are maple, pear, plum, olive, boxwood, rosewood and ebony. Wooden recorders, by the very nature of the material, change their characteristics over time. A new wooden recorder needs to be broken in, or warmed up, by short regular playing of a few minutes each day for a few weeks to allow the wood to react to the moisture in the player's breath. Research Recorder
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