brought back as a student, folk, as well as early music, instrument, early last century

You persist in this notion that the recorder was brought back as a folk instrument, which is most clearly not the case, despite the exceptions I've pointed out elsewhere. The main motivation for this singular piece of resurrectionism was in the revival of Early Music, which is not folk music, though the development & exploration of various early & medieval repertoires has certainly had an impact on certain folkish artistes, including Shirley Collins, The Amazing Bondel, and the Third Ear Band, all of whom used recorders in their music. That it became a student / kids instrument was entirely due to the cheapness of mass produced plastic instruments the intention being to give a grounding in basic music theory before moving on to a proper woodwind instrument. The main effect of this is that countless thousands of kids were put of music for life, and left with the impression that the recorder is a toy!

The recorder is no toy, nor is a folk instrument; rather it is a highly developed dynamic instrument designed for extremes of solo virtuosity. Watchers of BBC4's recent Early Music programme can't fail to have been impressed by the playing of David Tennant look-alike Piers Adam in his ensemble Red Priest. A David Munrow for our age perhaps? Those who didn't see it, check this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8wL1AR7iqo