Guido M. Klemisch

Woodwinds of Renaissance and Baroque

Guido M. Klemisch disposes of a professional musical education, international experienced as a concertist and craftsmanship on the field of historical woodwinds.
He graduated from the conservatoires at Hannover (1969) and Den Haag (1973) with recorder, transverse flute and baroque oboe, played from 1970 to 1986 in several countries as solo-flutist as well as baroque-obo-player with the ensemble Camerata Amsterdam, apprentice of a wood-turning workshop (1970 – 1973) and worked in the years 1973 - 1974 under the direction of Bruce Haynes (Den Haag) as instrument maker and 1974 – 1975 as a lecturer at the „Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag (NL).
1974 he founded his workshop of historical woodwinds – the first of its kind - in the Netherlands, first at Scheveningen (NL), later at Zwolle (NL).
This happy combination of skills braught Guido to restauration, reconstruction and making true copies of renaissance and broque woodwind instruments in collaboration with wellknown musicians: Gerhard Braun (+), Frans Brüggen (+), Ku Ebbinge, Bruce Haynes (+), Bernhard Krainis (+), Barthold Kuyken, Winfried Michel, Michel Piguet (+),Hugo Reynes, Heiko ter Schegget, Johannes Skorupa, Irmgard Tutschek (+), Kodu Uhesugi, Jeanette van Wingerden, and many others.
His artistic training and international concert experience enabled him to pursue his research on voicing and regulating of woodwind instruments in relation to the wishes of the artist as well as the required repertoire.
Original instruments remain his only study models. He measures, restores and copies instruments he finds in private and Museum collections throughout the whole world. In his search for adequate recorders and flutes for playing 16th. 17th and 18th century music, he discovered long forgotten instruments c.g. voice-flute, bass recorder, flageolet. He was one of the first builders in the 20th c. to make renaissance recorders with the compass of 2 octaves range.
Guido M. Klemisch brought back to light the Dutch builders of the 18th c. such as Abraham Aerdenberg, Jan Steenbergen and Debey. Following his example many modern makers now also copy them.
During the last years he designed alto recorders after Johann Heinrich Eichentopf (1678-1769), Leipzig and Johann Wilhelm (I) (1681-1763), Nürnberg, with its gorgeous carvings. His research in museums and his extensive experience of making instruments enable him to produce first class instruments that are sought after troughout the world and guarantee him a fine handwork where all vital operations are made and controlled by hand.
In 1979 he developed a new baroque recorder in original and modern pitch for the German Moeck recorder manufacturer.
Since 1998 Guido M. Klemisch has opened his workshop in Berlin. In 2005 he founded the “Klemisch Consort Berlin”, playing 16th and 21th c. music for recorder. Therefor he designed several Renaissance-Recorder-Consorts after HIER•S, Schnitzer and Bassano. Theses consorts are played by various ensembles and were purchased by several Music Conservatories.
In 2020 he became engaged in a big research project with the “Musikinstrumenten Museum der Universität Leipzig” in Leipzig on “Fipple flute, construction and development”.
He is frequently present at numerous festivals, exhibitions, courses and lectures as a soloist maker and teacher

Publications on the recorder
„Blockflöte“, in „Bachs Orchestermusik“, Kassel, 2000
„Die Kernspaltflöte um 1500“ in „Heinrich Isaac und Paul Hofhaimer im Umfeld...“, Innsbruck 1997
„Zur Bauweise der Blockflöte um 1700...", SAIM, Michaelstein/Blankenburg, 1992.
“Blockflöte” in “Händels Instrumentalmusik”, Laaber, 2009
„Blockflöte“ in „Instrumente und Aufführungspraxis der Barockmusik“, Laaber, 2020
Several articles in „Lexikon der Musik des Barock“, Laaber, in preparation