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Peter Bressan (1663 - 1731) was one of the most important baroque recorder makers.  He was born in France and  baptized Pierre Jaillard. In 1678 he was apprenticed to a wood turner in Bourg for two years; he then left Bourg, but it is not known where he learnt instrument making, although this was most probably in Paris. His treble recorders are similar to those of his contemporary Jean-Jacques Rippert. He came to England in 1688, and is first mentioned as Brazong or Bresong in English archives in 1691 as one of the 'hautboys' who accompanied William III to Holland. The James Talbot Manuscript (GB-Och Music 1187, c1695; see Baines) shows that he was already a leading London maker of flutes, recorders and oboes.

In the 16th and 17th centuries Bressan's residence had been the town house of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, although by Bressan's day it had been divided up; this explains the use of the red rose of Lancaster in his mark (P I/Bressan/cinquefoil rose).  Bressan was a friend of James Paisible, who in 1721 appointed him an executor of his estate in England (the other was Peter La Tour, later Bressan's principal creditor).

Bressan published violin sonatas by Castrucci (1718) and violin or flute sonatas by Barsanti (1724). He subscribed to J.C. Gillier's Receuil d'airs francois (1723) and to J.E. Galliard's Hymn of Adam and Eve (1728). His house contained a room large enough for exhibitions. In 1725 John Byrom, author of the epigram on Handel and Bononcini, bought a flute from Bressan, which cost five guineas. The London newspapers of about 6 May 1731 report his death in Tournai, describing him as 'that celebrated artist in making flutes'. An inventory of his house shows that he made all the contemporary wind instruments, and indicates his interest in the fine arts, itemizing some 76 pictures, prints, portraits and busts.

As to Bressan's instruments, some three flutes and 48 recorders survive. The recorders consist of one 4th flute (B), 20 altos (F), ten voice flutes (D), 11 tenors (C) and six basses (F). Except for the basses most are scaled in total external length in the ratios B: 3/4; F: 1; D: 6/5; and C: 4/3.

(abridged and adapted from Grove's)

Maker	Recorder Model	Recorder Size	Pitch	Material	Pieces	Holes	Fingering	Comments	List Price	Our Price
Takeyama	Bressan	Soprano	440	Maple	Three	Double	English	New - Marvellous instrument. Hand-picked at the Boston Early Music Festival!	$550	$589
Takeyama	Bressan	Soprano	415	Maple	Three	Double	English	New - Marvellous instrument. Hand-picked at the Boston Early Music Festival!	$600	$649
Takeyama	Bressan	Alto	440	Maple	Three	Double	English	New - Marvellous sound! Hand-picked at the Boston Early Music Festival!	$719	$759
Takeyama	Bressan	Alto	415	Maple	Three	Double	English	New - Marvelous sound! Hand-picked at the Boston Early Music Festival!	$779	$829
Beha-Gibbons	Bressan	Alto	415	European Boxwood (flamed)	Three	Double	English	Used- Mint Condition! - Revoiced by Femke Bergsma	$1950	$1850
Coolsma	Bressan	Alto	415	Flamed Maple	Five	Double and Single	English and Hotteterre	Used - Excellent condition with ivory thumb bushing and expertly re-voiced by Lee Collins in June, 2007 to play better than new! Has two bodies so that you can also play with single holes and Hotteterre fingering!	$2450	$2150
David Coomber	Bressan	Alto	440	European Boxwood w/ivory thumb bushing	Three	Double	English	New - Premium instrument from the workshop of New Zealand maker David Coomber! Typical Bressan sound, but a bit easier-blowing than the Ehlert Bressan	$1950	$2150
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan	Alto	440	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - One of a few A440 recorders that sounds and responds like an old pitch instrument. Perfect for French Music as well as Handel and Purcell!	$1950	$2150
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan	Alto	440	Ebony	Three	Double	English	Used - Mint condition. One of a few A440 recorders that sounds and responds like an old pitch instrument. Perfect for French Music as well as Handel and Purcell!	$2350	$2250
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan Corelli	Corelli/Dorothee Oberlinger Alto	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Complex-toned instrument. Perfect for Italian and French Music as well as Handel and Purcell! Listen to Dorothee Oberlinger play this model on her new Italian CD!	$2050	$2150
Joachim Rohmer	Stanesby Jr	Alto	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Responsive instrument. Perfect for  Telemann as well as Handel and Purcell!	$2050	$2150
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan	Voice Flute	415	Plumwood	Three	Double	English	New - remarkably easy high notes with strong low notes. Plumwood has beautiful grain and color and is light and easy to hold. Includes three tuning rings so that octaves can be played in tune if the head needs to be pulled out!	$2050	$2050
von Huene	Bressan	Boismortier Voice Flute	415	Stained Boxwood w/art Ivory Mounts	Three	Double	English	Used - mint condition. Thumbhole in pristine condition! Very strong tone for a VF throughout the range! Same kind used by Paul Leenhouts.	$2500	$2250
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Oblinger/Ose Keller(X) Eloy Cortinez/Bach(X) Alto	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	Used - Revoiced by maker May, 2008. Slight warping of middle joint does not affect tuning. Perfect for Purcell, Handel, Corelli, and Hotteterre! Solid low g and f with no burbles!	$2750	$2350
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Oblinger/Ose Keller(X) Eloy Cortinez/Bach(X)  Alto	415	Lightly Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Perfect for Purcell, Handel, Corelli, and Hotteterre! Solid low g and f with no burbles!	$2150	$2350
Stephan Blezinger	Italian? Schell? Jenkins - Air Jenkins - Courant	Tenor	415	European Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Based on an instrument found in Leipzig with no maker's marks. Blezinger thinks it's of Italian origin. I think it's from Nurnberg, probably by Schell, based on the turning. In any case it's the most powerful keyless baroque tenor now being made! The ergonomics are excellent and even players with small hands can get the low C! On top of everything else, the tone is supple and smooth even through the high notes.	$2750	$2750
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan Ehlert copy on top, Bressan original in Dayton Miller Collection on bottom, shown for comparison purposes.	Eloy Cortinez/Bach(X)	415	Lightly Stained Boxwood	Three	Single	Hotteterre	Used - Revoiced by maker May, 2008. Slight warping of middle joint does not affect tuning. Perfect for Purcell, Handel, Corelli, and Hotteterre! Solid low g and f with no burbles!	$2750	SOLD 3/05/2009 to the gentleman in Rio de Janeiro.
Fred Morgan	Bressan	Soprano	415	Ebony	Three	Double	English	Used - VERY RARE!! Excellent condition. Suitable for Collectors and Professionals. Very minor wear to thumbhole and slight discoloration of lip (see photo).	$5,750 O.B.O.	SOLD 1/17/2009 to the gentleman in Nagoya.
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Soprano	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - beautiful Bressan sound for solo sonatas!	$1850	SOLD7/22/2008 to the professional recorder player in Atlanta.
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan	Tenor	415	European Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Full-bodied keyless tenor in beautiful European boxwood!. The instrument has remarkably easy high notes with strong low notes.	$2450	SOLD 6/23/2008 to the gentleman in St. Louis
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Soprano	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - beautiful Bressan sound for solo sonatas!	$1950	SOLD 6/21/2008 to the Oberlin Conservatory
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Oblinger/Ose Keller(X) Eloy Cortinez/Bach(X)	415	Lightly Stained Boxwood w/Artificial Ivory Mounts	Three	Double	English	New - Perfect for Purcell, Handel, Corelli, and Hotteterre! ! Solid low g and f with no burbles!	$2650	SOLD!  to the gentleman in Sweden 3/22/2008
Tim Cranmore	Bressan	Alto Bressan (X)	405	Boxwood w/artificial ivory mounts	Three	Single	Baroque	New - Exact copy of original Bressan recorder at the original low pitch! You can play this recorder along with CD's made with original Bressan instruments by such players as Frans Bruggen, Hugo Reynes, Walter van Hauwe and Kees Boeke.	$2050	SOLD!  to the Japanese Gentleman in Cambridge 11/15/2007
David Ohanessian	Bressan	Alto	392	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	Used - lovely dark tone which is perfect for French baroque music at Opera Pitch. Revoiced by Patrick Von Huene June 2007 for fuller sound.	$1850	SOLD! to the gentleman in Valenciennes, France 10/10/2007
Ralf Netsch	Bressan	Voice Flute (Tenor in D)	415	Flamed Boxwood with artificial ivory thumb bushing	Three	Double	Baroque	New - Wonderfully rich tone and excellent intonation make this a perfect instrument for the baroque flute repertoire.	$1500	SOLD! to the gentleman in Italy 08/19/2005
Fred Morgan	Bressan	Alto	415	Boxwood (detail of thumb hole)	Three	Double	English	Used - VERY RARE!! Pristine condition. Excellent for Collectors and Professionals. Beautiful haunting tone with full low notes and singing high notes.	$5,000	SOLD to the professional recorder player in Belgium 07/09/2005
Fred Morgan	Bressan	Alto	415/440	Boxwood (detail of thumb holes)	Three	Double	English	Used - VERY RARE!! Two centers AND foot joints! Pristine condition. Excellent for Collectors and Professionals. It plays beautifully at A415 and is the nicest baroque recorder I have ever seen or heard at A440 after successful revoicing by Ralf Ehlert!	$6,500	SOLD to the gentleman in Japan 07/07/2005
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Alto	415	Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Superb tone quality! Perfect for Handel and Corelli	$1950	SOLD to the gentleman in New York 07/02/2005
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan	Alto	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Dark toned instrument. Perfect for Handel and Purcell!	$1750	SOLD to professional recorder player in the SF Bay Area 3/07/2005
Ralf Ehlert	Bressan	Alto	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	English	New - Superb tone quality! Perfect for Handel and Corelli	$1950	SOLD to the traverso and recorder playing gentleman in Hawaii 7/25/2004
Joachim Rohmer	Bressan	Tenor	415	Plumwood	Three	Double	English	New - remarkably easy high notes with strong low notes.	$1550	SOLD to the gentleman in Southern California 7/17/2004
Beha & Gibbons	Bressan	Alto	415	Stained Boxwood	Three	Double	Baroque	Used - Full rich tone, reminiscent of Prescott	$1500	SOLD to upper intermediate player 6/23/2004
Kinoshita	Bressan	Alto	415	Boxwood	Three	Double	English	Used, excellent condition	$1500	SOLD to  recorder player in Japan 9/10/2003
Fred Morgan	Bressan	Alto	415	Ebony w/Ivory Beak	Three	Single	English	Superb early Morgan	$5000	SOLD to collector in Hawaii 12/31/2001

Picture	Original	Copy	Comments
	Bressan DMC 0127 - Middle	Top: Ehlert, Bottom: Cranmore	Note: the Ehlert and Cranmore instruments were NOT modeled on the DMC Bressan! Instruments shown for comparative purposes only. Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan DMC 0127 - Middle	Left: Ehlert, Bottom: Cranmore	Note: the Ehlert and Cranmore instruments were NOT modeled on the DMC Bressan! Instruments shown for comparative purposes only. Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan  DMC Voice Flute, stained boxwood with ivory mounts.		Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan  DMC Voice Flute heads (top and bottom) compared with Ehlert Stanesby VF head.		Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan  DMC Voice Flute center compared with Ehlert Stanesby VF center		Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan 4th Flute, Oxford The 4th flute is a soprano in Bb, useful for Dieupart suites.  Stained boxwood.	Ehlert	Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan Alto, Oxford - Stained boxwood with ivory mounts	Cranmore, Ehlert	Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan alto in boxwood and ivory, Musikinstrumentenmuseum, Berlin	Many makers produce Bressan copies, but not necessarily this specific instrument.	Photo by Charles Fischer
	Bressan - Paris		All the pictures from the Paris Museum are far too small. If anyone has better digital pictures PLEASE email them to me and I will update them on this site!!!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Baines: 'James Talbot's Manuscript, 1: Wind Instruments', GSJ, i (1948), 9--26

E. Halfpenny: 'The Bass Recorders of Bressan', GSJ, viii (1955), 27--31

E. Halfpenny: 'Biographical Notices of the Early English Woodwind-making School, c.1650--1750', GSJ, xii (1959), 44--52

M.A. Byrne: 'Bressan', GSJ, xxxvi (1983), 2--28; xxxvii (1984), 102--11

W. Waterhouse: 'A Case of Flutes by Mr Bressan', GSJ, xlvi (1993), 162--3

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