Friedrich von Huene - RIP

I learned today that master flute and recorder maker Friedrich von Huene died on Sunday [http://slippedisc.com/2016/05/early-instrument-maker-has-died/].

I was in his shop in Brookline, Mass, several years ago and he and his wife were in a hurry to get to his weekend home in Maine. I grabbed what I needed so I wouldn’t hold them up, but he wanted to show me some flutes he had in production. He gave me a tour of his workshop and the flutes he was working on, surely making him late. (If I remember correctly, the tides played a big part in rowing to the island in Maine. His wife tried to hurry him along, but he kept on going.) He was enthusiastic about introducing his world-class recorders and baroque flutes to a rank amateur.
The world has lost a real gentleman and craftsman.

A legend; R.I.P.

FVH was a very fine craftsman indeed, even into his later years. His knowledge of recorders and flutes was truly encyclopedic. His impact on the early music scene, and woodwind making in modern times would be hard to overstate. RIP.