Working on these cylindrical consort recorders gave me some further ideas about the Rafi instruments. Apart from the two in Bologna, there is only one other existing recorder, a large tenor in Eisenach. The Bologna instruments are supplemented by the identical instruments stamped P GRECE, which together with the Rafis form a three size consort, each size being the usual fifth from the next. The lower quality work on the Grece instruments has led many people to believe that these were contemporary copies of an original Rafi set.
Another question concerns their age, as they have been dated from anywhere from the beginning of the sixteenth century up to the middle of the seventeenth. Indeed one writer has even proposed the theory that they are pre-baroque, 'transitional' instruments. I feel myself that the details such as the long thin window and the almost cylindrical bores, surely point to an earlier tradition of instruments, perhaps even pointing to a pre-consort 'medieval' style.
In any case I felt that these instruments were an interesting starting point for a late medieval model and I made quite a successful tenor followed by an alto, again at the same high pitch standard explained above. The ease of the high notes of these instruments and the quick speech and articulation possibilities I feel more than balance any weaknesses they have in the bottom register.