Flute.

[concert flute, cross flute, German flute, transverse flute] (Fr. flte,
flte traversire, flte allemande, flte dAllemagne, traversire;
Ger. Flte, Querflte; It. flauto, flauto traverso, traversa). Term used
to refer to a vast number of wind instruments, from the modern
orchestral woodwind to folk and art instruments of many different
cultures.
1. Acoustics.
Generically, a flute is any instrument having an air column confined
in a hollow body whether tubular or vessel and activated by a
stream of air striking against the edge of an opening, producing
what acousticians call an edge tone (see Acoustics, IV, 7); flutes
are therefore often called edge-tone instruments. The edge is
generally referred to as sharp, although sharpness is by no means
necessary and may even be a disadvantage, as for example, on
the modern orchestral flute most makers prefer a slightly rounded
edge. The opening is either at one end of a tube, or in the side of a
tube or vessel. The air stream may be shaped and directed by the
players lips as on the modern orchestral flute; confined in a
channel, or duct, which leads the air across the hole, as on the
Recorder or Whistle; or produced by the wind, as in the bulu
prinda, a large (up to 10 metres in length) aeolian pipe hung in
treetops in Southeast Asia.

II. The Western transverse flute

1. Terminology.
Before the late 18th century, the term flauto or its equivalent,
without a modifier, almost always referred to the Recorder,
evidently the dominant instrument of the two during much of their
history, and sometimes specifically to the treble (alto) recorder, the
most characteristic member of the family. Similarly flautino or
flauto piccolo referred to a small recorder, a descant or even a
sopranino. If, in earlier times, a transverse flute was intended, a
modifier had to be added to the noun (e.g. cross, German,
transverse, traversire, traverso).
Materials used for the tube and mechanism include nickel-silver,
sterling silver, gold and platinum, while the springs are usually of
tempered steel or phosphor bronze, occasionally of gold or another
metal. The choice of material, especially for the head joint,
influences the flutes tone: wooden flutes produce a rich tone with a
very full fortissimo in the lower register; metal flutes produce a
limpid, flexible tone with great carrying power and also allow the
player very sensitive control over the tone-colour; gold produces a
mellow sound while silver is more brilliant. To achieve a
combination of these qualities a head joint of wood or gold is
sometimes fitted to a tube of silver.

The modern flautist is expected to be able to play a broad

repertory. Distinct styles and techniques for playing Baroque,
Classical, 19th-century, avant-garde music and jazz have all
become part of the flautists training, and the well-rounded
orchestral flautist must also be an accomplished piccolo player.
The flute is highly popular among young people, especially girls,
although there is still a high proportion of male players in some
countries such as Ireland and Italy.
4. History.
(i) To 1500.
Music was not conceived for specific instruments in this period, and
most references to flutes in written sources are ambiguous,
possibly referring to duct flutes such as recorders or tabor pipes.
Flutes of all kinds were often identified with mythical or spiritual
figures, with pastoral life, and with death. The first evidence to link
the flute with a particular musical repertory is provided by two
medieval illustrations. A manuscript of the Cantigas de Santa Mara
(E-E; c127090) associated with the court of Alfonso, King of
Castile and Len, contains a depiction of two seated flautists
playing left-handed on slightly different instruments, one with
ornamental turning or binding. At this date flutes, like the other
instruments, were probably made by the musicians themselves
rather than by specialized instrument makers. The early 14thcentury Manessische Liederhandschrift (D-Heu), one of the most
important sources of Minnesang, includes a miniature, Der
Kanzler, which presents a clear and elegant portrayal of three
musicians: a fiddler playing a four-string instrument, a transverse
flute player holding the instrument to his right, and a singer (fig.8).
As the music in these manuscripts is monophonic, it is not clear
how the flute was used: perhaps it doubled the vocal line or played
a drone, perhaps it provided improvised heterophony. Guillaume de
Machaut gave instructions in Le Livre dou Voir dit (13635) that
when instruments were used, his (polyphonic) ballades should be
played without ornamentation or cuts, therefore this was probably
not the normal practice. In La Prise dAlexandrie (c1369), he
distinguished between transverse flutes flastes traverseinnes
and duct flutes flastes, dont droit joues quant tu flastes, that
is, flutes you blow straight when you play them.
(ii) 15001800.
Court inventories of the 16th century suggest that the flute was in
high favour for playing the four-part consort repertory of that period.
The earliest printed instructions for flute playing confirm that the
flute was made in several sizes in the 16th century (see, for
example, fig.10). Like all Renaissance woodwind instruments it
was fingered according to Guidonian theory (see Hexachord),

which resulted in three sizes of instrument pitched a 5th apart. The

recorder consort consisted of a bass which followed the flat
hexachord (beginning on F fa ut), two tenors in the natural
hexachord (C fa ut), and a descant in the hard hexachord (G ut).
But on the transverse flute the scale began one note higher, so that
the bass had G (gamma ut) as its lowest written note, the tenor and
contratenor D sol re, and the descant A la mi re. The flute was a
part of the peculiarly English mixed consort of treble viol, lute, flute,
cittern, bandora and bass viol. Music for this combination by
Thomas Morley (1599 and 1611), Philip Rosseter (1609) and
others used a D flute on the tenor part, playing an octave higher
than written. The flute, like all the woodwind instruments, was
transformed during the 17th century. The one-piece, keyless,
cylindrical flute of the 16th century became a conical-bore
instrument, divided into three sections, with a key for D /E . The
new flute could produce hitherto difficult semitones more clearly,
could play in more tonalities and in music which modulated, and
had a more tractable and flexible tone, particularly useful for
performing vocal music. The new flute became known in Germany
around the second decade of the 18th century. Much of this music
was in a violinistic style characterized by constant semiquaver or
quaver motion and arpeggiated passage-work, evidently influenced
by the Italian style. The influence of Italian violin music and the
Vivaldian concerto style is also apparent in Bachs solo sonata
(Partita) in A minor, bwv1013, which is reminiscent of
unaccompanied flute pieces originating in Dresden around 1720,
and in his Sonata in E minor bwv1034, a sonata in the style of a
concerto written, according to Marshall (1989), about 1724. Flutes
of the first two decades of the 18th century were usually made of
boxwood, ebony or ivory; they were constructed in three sections,
with an essentially conical bore and a single key for D /E .
However the instrument was by no means standardized: each
maker developed an individual concept of tone and intonation, and
devised original technical means to achieve it. About 1720 flutes
began to be made in four sections instead of three, dividing the
body between the two hands (fig.15).
(iii) 1800 to the present.
While one-key instruments remained in use by beginners and
amateurs, flutes with more keys were devised, modified and used
in almost chaotic profusion according to the preference of
individual players and makers. The most influential maker was
Theobald Boehm (17941881), whose revolutionary design

concepts provided the basis for the modern flute. After World War II
players of the French-style flute cultivated a smooth, rich,
penetrating and brilliant sound, to which vibrato was commonly
added. This replaced the dark, dense, compact sound, without
vibrato, that had been cultivated by English and German players
for the past 150 years. Brahms and Mahler had desired a flute tone
that merged with the other instruments, but this ideal became
subordinate to an emphasis on the characteristic sound of each
instrument; conductors such as Herbert von Karajan required a
penetrating sound and a wide range in dynamics. Taffanels axiom
le volume est peu de chose et le timbre est tout had been
reversed. Following World War II, broadcasts and recordings made
the polished and evocative playing of Ren le Roy (18981985)
and J.-P. Rampal (19222000) available to a large international
public. These players were exponents of the Taffanel school,
passed down by his students Adolphe Hennebains (18621914),
Gaubert and Marcel Moyse (18891984). Moyses innovatory
approach provided the foundation for a new French school: French
flute playing and teaching were responsible for the almost
complete disappearance of the German and English wooden flutes
and related styles of playing.
Many outstanding works for the flute were composed for players of
the French school. Iberts Concerto (19323) was written for
Marcel Moyse and Hindemiths Sonata (1936) for Gustav Scheck.
Varses Density 215(1936) was written for a platinum flute (215
is the density of that metal) made by Powell for Georges Barrre,
who had earlier played the first performance of the Prlude
laprs-midi dun faune. Honeggers Danse de la chvre (1926),
Jean Riviers Oiseaux tendres (1935) and Martins Trio for flute,
cello and piano (1944) were composed for Le Roy and Poulencs
Sonata (1956) for Rampal. Prokofievs Sonata (1943), however,
was first performed by the Russian flautist N. Kharkovsky, who
probably played a silver, closed-hole Boehm flute with an open G
key, the usual instrument in that region until late in the 20th
century.
Especially since World War II players and composers have
increasingly explored new techniques and expressive possibilities.
Avant-garde techniques include multiphonics, whistle tones and
whisper tones, humming and slap tones (created by slapping the
keys without blowing through the instrument), and the electronic
manipulation of sound. Pioneering works include Varses Density
215, Boulezs Sonatine (1946), written for Rampal, Messiaens Le
merle noir (1951) for flute and piano, Jolivets Cinq incantations
(1936) for solo flute and Suite en concert (1965), Madernas
Musica su due dimensioni (1952, rev. 1963) for flute and tape and
Berios Sequenza I (1958) for solo flute. Notable works of the late

20th century include Ferneyhoughs Unity Capsule (19756) for

solo flute, Cages Ryoanji (19835) for small ensemble, written for
Robert Aitken, and Boulezs explosante-fixe (19914).
Flautists such as Severino Gazzeloni (b 1915), Aurle Nicolet (b
1926), Istvan Matz (b 1947), P.Y. Artaud (b 1946) and Robert Dick
(b 1950) have played a major role in bringing the repertory up to
date. Since the late 1930s the flute has been used as a jazz
instrument by players such as Frank Wess, James Moody, Bobby
Jaspar and Clement Barone. Bud Shank and others such as the
more experimental Eric Dolphy, Roland Kirk and Mike Mower, have
translated the advanced techniques of the avant garde to jazz.

(e) The historical revival.

In the late 1960s there was a revival of interest in early music and
instruments. German teachers such as Scheck and H.-P. Schmitz
reintroduced historical techniques while recordings by H.-M. Linde,
Leopold Stasny, Frans Vester, Stephen Preston and Barthold
Kuijken demonstrated that such effects were at their most
convincing on period instruments. Around 1970 a modern school of
Baroque flute or Traverso playing emerged, based on a selection
from the mass of specific historical information. The all-purpose
traverso, usually adapted from mid-18th-century models and
pitched at the neo-Baroque standard of a' = 415, was used to play
the music of Bach and Handel in a modern style loosely based on
the instructions of Quantz; Hotteterre flutes at a' = 392 were
sometimes used for French repertory, and for music by Mozart,
Haydn and Beethoven an early 19th-century keyed flute at a' = 430
became standard. The neo-Baroque style revived interest in 18thcentury repertory among players of both the traverso and modern
instruments; at the end of the 20th century the work of scholars,
teachers and makers, and the development of an audience for
early music, had provided a few young performers with the means
to develop a personal yet historically informed style, to investigate
neglected music and to perform on instruments associated with
specific repertories. At the same time, the revival influenced
modern styles of flute playing. The flute repertory of the 16th, 17th
and 19th centuries, however, was still viewed as more remote, and
its techniques and instruments had been explored by only a few
specialists.