Faà di Bruno, Giovanni Matteo [Horatio, Orazio] 83

(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 (1794–1881), whose revolutionary design concepts provided the basis for the modern flute.

(a) Early 19th-century flutes.

(b) The Boehm flute.

(c) The flute after Boehm.

(d) The modern Boehm flute.

(e) The historical revival.

Flute, §II, 4(iii): The Western transverse flute: 1800 to the present

(a) Early 19th-century flutes.

Flute makers of the early 19th century modelled their instruments on those of the previous generation. Their flutes had a conical bore, a small embouchure-hole and six irregularly sized small tone holes, a key for D and, usually, keys for F, G and B, with eventually up to 12 further keys to supplant the fingerings inherited from the one-key flute; many have ivory ferrules or graduated tuning devices such as screw stoppers, registers or corps de rechange. Around 1820 a long c'' lever for the right forefinger appeared; its invention has been attributed to both Claude Laurent (fl 1805–48) and J.N. Capeller (1776–1843). Capeller also devised a one-piece body joint to replace the separate joints for each hand. Instruments were made of boxwood, ebony or other woods, ivory or crystal, and keys of brass, silver or pewter.

Key systems developed along national lines. In France, Devienne and, for many years, the influential maker and player J.-L. Tulou persistently rejected the addition of a second F key and keys for c' and c': most early 19th-century French flutes had four or five keys, with a separate joint for each hand. From 1805 French flutes had their keys suspended on rods and pillars attached to a plate screwed to the body of the instrument. Makers included Tulou, Laurent, who was especially noted among the post-Revolution upper classes for his crystal (glass) flutes, and Clair Godfroy aîné. German, Austrian and English makers continued to mount the keys on wooden protrusions called ‘blocks’, but their head-joints were now, after innovations by Richard Potter (1726–1806), often lined with metal. Keys for F and B were sometimes supplied in dual form – either by fitting a second key or by adding a second touchpiece – to give the option of two different fingerings. A key for d'' operated by the first finger of the right hand was added by Capeller about 1811; it served also to improve trills involving D, B and B. Although variations persisted, by about 1820 the flute with eight or nine keys and c' or b as its lowest note was standard everywhere except France. Prominent English makers included James Wood (fl 1799–1832), Tebaldo Monzani, J.M. Rose (1794–1866) and Thomas Prowse (fl 1816–68), who made the large-hole flutes associated with the English virtuoso Charles Nicholson (1795–1837). The most important German maker was Wilhelm Liebel (1793–1871) of Dresden, whose instruments, along with those of Koch and Ziegler, were recommended by A.B. Fürstenau, the most influential German player, teacher and flute composer of the period.

Fürstenau toured as a virtuoso and served from 1820 as first flautist at the Hoftheater in Dresden, then under the direction of Weber. He wrote two methods for the flute: Flöten-Schule (1826) and Die Kunst des Flötenspiels (1844). He performed (on a flute by Koch) the Adagio (1819) from Weber’s Trio op.63 for flute, cello and piano with the composer and the cellist J.J.F. Potzauer and was the dedicatee of Friedrich Kuhlau’s Three Grand Duos op.39 (1821). After 1825 Fürstenau played a flute by Liebel. Kuhlau, who did not play the flute himself, but had an affinity for it, wrote a number of other chamber works for the instrument: his Grand Trio op.90 for three flutes (1826) was dedicated to the French flautist A.-T. Berbiguier and his Six Divertimentos op.68 (1825) to P.N. Petersen (1761–1830). Schubert’s Introduction and Variations on Trockne Blumen (1824) was composed for Ferdinand Bogner, professor of the flute at the Vienna Conservatory. The most prominent French players were Tulou and his rival Louis Drouet, who played Mendelssohn’s Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream in its first London performance (24 Jun 1829); both were prolific composers for the instrument. The most important English player was Nicholson, whose powerful tone, the result in part of his use of a flute with unusually large finger-holes and embouchure-hole, had both admirers and detractors. Drouet, in vain, tried to establish himself in London, but neither he nor his French flutes were accepted by the English public. Another important player was the Spaniard J.M. del Carmen Ribas (1796–1861), who served as first flute in the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig from 1838 to 1843 and played on an eight-key Nicholson flute.

Flute, §II, 4(iii): The Western transverse flute: 1800 to the present

(b) The Boehm flute.

Flutes featuring the concept, technology and acoustic principles devised by Theobald Boehm are called Boehm flutes. Boehm was trained in his father’s trade as a goldsmith, but even as a child displayed an aptitude for music. As a young man he combined the careers of goldsmith, flute maker and professional flautist. In 1828 Boehm, then flautist in the Bavarian Hofkapelle, opened a flute factory in Munich. In 1829 he made an ‘old-style’ conical-bore flute with the keys suspended on pillars and axles, and right-hand levers on rods for b' and c''. On hearing Nicholson in London, Boehm was struck with the tone he produced on his large-hole flute and set out to design an instrument on which larger holes were spaced for good intonation and evenness of tone rather than according to the reach of the player’s fingers. A prototype was made for him by Gerock & Wolf of London in 1831. Boehm’s instrument broke new ground by employing ring keys, an idea patented in 1808 by the English inventor Frederick Nolan and also employed by J.C.G. Gordon. This device transferred the movement of a finger to keys outside its reach, allowing a single finger to stop two or more holes at the same time. On Boehm’s new flute, a ring key allowed the right first finger to stop two holes, producing F rather than the usual F – an idea suggested by H.W.T. Pottgiesser in 1803, and F was now produced with a second ring-key mechanism, for the right third finger: the basic scale of the instrument was now C rather than D.

Boehm’s second model, which featured a combination of ring keys and rod axles (the ‘ring key’ flute), was made in his Munich shop in 1832. The hole for G was closed indirectly by the second or third finger of the right hand, the key for G was open-standing and Tromlitz’s open-standing C key for the left thumb was revived. As early as 1833 Boehm’s pupil Eduard Heindl (1837–96) performed a Fantasie by Kuhlau on the new flute. Within a few years conical ring-key Boehm flutes were being made in Paris by the firm of Godfroy and by 1843 the instrument had become successful enough for Boehm to license its manufacture by Rudall & Rose in London (under the direction of Boehm’s foreman, Rudolph Greve). In 1846–7 Boehm studied acoustics with his friend Carl von Schafhäutl with a view to improving his flute and developed his Schema (Munich, 1862, a plan for the relationship between the tube diameter and the placement and size of the tone holes, also published in his pamphlet Die Flöte und das Flötenspiel in akustischer, technischer und artistischer Beziehung of 1871). His next design, the ‘Boehm-system’ flute (1847), was a cylindrical-bore instrument of silver with a parabolic head, a rectangular embouchure-hole with rounded corners, and tone holes of the largest possible size, closed by padded keys interlinked with rod-axles and clutches; this instrument was the basis of the modern flute (see Keywork). After several experiments with a thumb key for B/B, in 1849 Boehm devised the version that has since been universally adopted. The invention of this key was incorrectly ascribed by R.S. Rockstro (1890) to Giulio Briccialdi and the key has since been known by his name. Boehm at first manufactured his flutes himself, later in partnership with his foreman Carl Mendler (1833–1914) under the name Boehm & Mendler. His pupils Emil Rittershausen (1852–1927) and Thomas Mollenhauer (1840–1914) also made flutes to his design, the latter making a piccolo to Boehm’s specifications in 1862. Under Liszt’s direction, between 1842 and 1862 Theodor Winkler (1834–1905), principal flute in the Weimar Hoforchester, was the first orchestral player in Germany to use the Boehm cylinder.

The practicality of the 1832 ‘ring key’ flute was recognized early in France, and instruments were made and promoted by Godfroy, his son V.H. Godfroy and his son-in-law Louis Lot. Victor Coche (1806–81) and Auguste Buffet jeune (1830–85) modified the instrument, moving the rod-axles to the player’s side of the tube and adopting needle springs instead of the flat ones used by Boehm. In 1837–8 Vincent Dorus (1812–96) devised a G key that remained open except when the ring key for the adjacent hole for A was pressed – a compromise between Boehm’s closed G key and the open G of earlier flutes; this open key, although opposed by Boehm, has been generally adopted. Dorus adopted Godfroy’s improved conical ring-key Boehm flute because ‘it was, in essence, the keyed Godfroy flute he had used until 1838 except for its more functional mechanism’. In 1839 he played Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette on a conical ring-key Boehm flute by that maker. Dorus and P.H. Camus (b 1796) championed Boehm’s flute and wrote the first tutors for it (1839); they introduced his cylinder flute at the Paris Conservatoire when Dorus succeeded Tulou as professor of the flute in 1860. But the conical ring-key Boehm flute remained in use: Saint-Saëns’s Romance op.37 (1871) and Carl Reinecke’s Undine (1882) were dedicated to A. de Vroye (1835–90), a student of Coche, who was then still playing one.

Boehm sold the rights to make his 1847 cylinder flute to Godfroy and Lot in France and Rudall & Rose in London. The French manufacturers replaced Boehm’s G key with Dorus’s open one, arranged the keys in a straight line and perforated some of them as a compromise between the rings of the 1832 model and the closed keys of some non-French instruments. Buffet replaced the vaulted clutches used by Boehm and Godfroy with flat ones. After about 1850 the French Boehm cylindrical flutes were usually made of silver or nickel-silver, less often cocus or rosewood. The earliest methods for this, Boehm’s second and final concept, were written by E. Krakamp, W. Popp, W. Barge and by Boehm himself.

Flute, §II, 4(iii): The Western transverse flute: 1800 to the present

(c) The flute after Boehm.

Fürstenau and most other German flautists rejected Boehm’s designs; his new flutes, they felt, made superfluous the alternative fingerings that enhanced the tonal character and intonation of the instrument. Partisans of the old conical keyed flute – Wagner prominent among them – were not willing to relinquish the old instrument’s wider variety of tone to gain the smoother technique, greater dynamic range and better intonation offered by Boehm’s instruments. Wagner referred to the new instruments as ‘Blunderbusses’ (Gewaltröhre) and forced Moritz Fürstenau, one of the first to play the Boehm flute in Germany, to return to his old instrument. Boehm’s pupil Rudolph Tillmetz (1847–1915), who was Wagner’s principal flautist at Bayreuth, ordered an adapted ring-key flute from J.M. Bürger (fl 1881–1904) for the première of Parsifal in 1888. As late as 1898 Tillmetz claimed that ‘the tone of the cylindrical flute was too assertive and lacking in flexibility’, and the firms of Rittershausen (fl 1876–1927), Joseph Pöschl (1866–1947) and J.H. Zimmermann (1851–1922) offered hybrid conical ring-key flutes until 1920.

Beginning in 1853 H.F. Meyer of Hanover (1814–97) made flutes that reflected the requirements of German and Austrian symphony orchestras: they played easily in the high and low registers, produced greater volume and had better intonation than earlier ‘old-system’ flutes. Although his flutes were superficially similar to the nine-key instruments of the period, they differed in bore dimensions, placement and size of the tone holes and the size and form of the embouchure-hole; the keys and ferrules were generally made of nickel-silver or other metals. Flutes following his concept were known as ‘Meyer’ flutes or ‘old-system flutes’ to distinguish them from Boehm system flutes; they were immensely popular in the second half of the 19th century and played the flute parts in orchestral works by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mahler and Richard Strauss. They remained standard in the symphony orchestra until about 1930 and in military bands even later. Important players of the Meyer flute included Franz and Karl Doppler and Jules Demerssmann (1833–66); Ernesto Koehler (1849–1907), Wilhelm Popp (1828–1903) and Adolf Terschak (1832–1901) wrote methods or studies for it.

By the late 19th century national preferences had given way to personal ones. Some players remained true to their first flutes while others switched to new models: in the Bilsesche Kapelle in Berlin in 1881 the Danish flautist Karl Andersen, who played a Meyer flute, sat next to the Frenchman Charles Molé, who played a silver Boehm-system instrument; later in New York Andersen sat next to Boehm’s pupil Carl Wehner (1838–1912), who played a wooden Boehm flute with an open G key. In the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, William Barge (1836–1925), playing a Meyer flute, sat next to Maximilian Schwedler, who played on a ‘reform’ flute of his own design (see below). Many hybrid instruments, combining features of both the Boehm flute and old conical flutes, appeared in the second half of the 19th century; such instruments may have been developed as a result of reluctance among professional players to adopt an unfamiliar instrument, or sometimes in the belief that a new design represented a perfect compromise between the old system and the Boehm flute. Among the hybrids were Rudall, Rose and Carte’s ‘Council & Prize Medal’ flute of 1851, Richard Carte’s model of 1867, models designed by R.S. Rockstro and John Radcliff (1842–1917), Briccialdi’s flute of 1870/71, ‘Pratten’s Perfected’, made by R.S. Pratten (1814–62) and instruments by Thibouville, Abel Siccama (1810–65), John Clinton (1810–64), Tulou/Nonon and Giorgi. Of these, only the Carte model of 1867 and a version of it with a closed G key known as the ‘Guards’ model’ achieved popularity; in Great Britain and its colonies the Carte model of 1867 was the most widely used after Boehm’s cylindrical flute until well into the 20th century. As well, makers including Clinton (‘Equisonant’ flute), Cornelius Ward and Siccama (‘Diatonic flute’) subjected Boehm’s designs to various, sometimes eccentric, alterations and additions.

In 1885 Maximilian Schwedler (1853–1949) of Leipzig, an opponent of the Boehm flute, created the ‘reform’ flute – a conical-bore instrument based on Meyer’s design. Like Meyer, he considered the conical bore and the combination of open and veiled notes as essential to the character of the flute. However, his instruments, mostly made for him by Carl Kruspe (1865–1929), took into account the demands of contemporary scores. The innovations he introduced from 1885 until his last reform of about 1916 were: the raised-side (Seitenerhöhte) embouchure-hole, a touchpiece for F, a Tulou-like cross F mechanism, and, about 1900, a metal headjoint with ebonite embouchure plate to replace the metal-lined wooden one. Schwedler’s best known models were those of 1889 and 1911. His last model, made in 1923 by M.M. Mönnig (1875–1949), was dubbed by Hindemith the ‘six-cylinder flute’ on account of its ample volume and advanced technology. His instruments never achieved the popularity of the Meyer flute and were played almost exclusively in Germany and the Balkans. In 1886 Brahms praised Schwedler’s playing of the solo in the fourth movement of his Symphony no.4; other compositions written for the reform flute include Carl Reinecke’s Concerto op.283 (c1908), dedicated to Schwedler, and probably the compositions of Sigfried Karg-Elert, dedicated to Tillmetz’s pupil Carl Bartuzat (1882–1959). Schwedler took part in the first performance of Saint-Saëns’s Tarantelle for flute, clarinet and orchestra (1893). He was one of the first to rediscover the forgotten repertory of the 18th century and the 19th: in 1901 he and Barge’s pupil Oskar Fischer performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no.4 on reform flutes; for Peters of Leipzig he edited Bach’s solo Partita (to which the organist Gustav Schreck (1849–1918) added a piano part in 1918) and six Sonatas (1910–24), and Mozart’s Flute Quartets (1924).

By the end of World War I most Germans had overcome their reservations and were playing wooden Boehm-system flutes; English flautists played the Carte model of 1867, an instrument by Radcliff or a Boehm flute of silver, wood or ebonite. Most French players after 1860 used metal instruments of the modified Boehm system. Of these three ‘national schools’, the German and English players concentrated on tonal power while the French cultivated finesse in tone production and colour. Paul Taffanel and his student Louis Fleury gave new impetus to flute playing in France at the turn of the century by creating a new culture of pedagogy, playing style and repertory, which included the hitherto mostly unexplored flute music of the past 200 years. The flute methods written by Henri Altès (1906) and by Taffanel and his student Philippe Gaubert (1923) were still widely used at the end of the 20th century. Players of the French school favoured instruments by the firms of Lot, Claude Rive (fl 1877–95) and Auguste Bonneville (fl 1858–67). Outstanding solos from this period were Debussy’s Prélude à l’après midi d’un faune (1892–4) and Syrinx (1913) for solo flute, the latter written for Fleury.

Around the turn of the century, German- and French-style flutes and flute playing were transmitted to North America. The French style became dominant, and the recordings, teaching and concert tours of French performers hastened the change from wooden Boehm-system flutes to silver flutes such as those made by Louis Lot. American firms founded by W.S. Haynes and V.Q. Powell began to make French-style flutes in the USA in the first decade of the century. These have set the standard both in the USA and, from the 1930s, in Japan, where Koichi Muramatsu began to make flutes inspired by Haynes and Powell. After World War II these and other American and Japanese makers added low-priced models to their lines while the few remaining French makers primarily made instruments for professional use.

Flute, §II, 4(iii): The Western transverse flute: 1800 to the present

(d) The modern Boehm 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. Taffanel’s axiom ‘le volume est peu de chose et le timbre est tout’ had been reversed.

The French Boehm-system flute best fulfilled all these requirements. The instrument is modelled after Lot’s, with closed keys, five of them perforated; it is made of silver, silver alloy or gold, occasionally ebonite (predominantly in Great Britain), German silver or platinum. The bore is slightly wider than earlier models (19 mm) and a key for b is standard, as is a closed key for G. Since the late 1980s, occasionally the head joint is made of wood. Changing pitch levels and tone ideals led to larger embouchure-holes and a revision of Boehm’s Schema by Albert Cooper (b 1924) and others. The resulting redefinition of the flute’s sound through an increase in overtones differentiated it from earlier models. Such revisions led to the modern multi-purpose flute and a related playing style.

Following World War II, broadcasts and recordings made the polished and evocative playing of René le Roy (1898–1985) and J.-P. Rampal (1922–2000) available to a large international public. These players were exponents of the Taffanel school, passed down by his students Adolphe Hennebains (1862–1914), Gaubert and Marcel Moyse (1889–1984). Moyse’s 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. Ibert’s Concerto (1932–3) was written for Marcel Moyse and Hindemith’s Sonata (1936) for Gustav Scheck. Varèse’s Density 21·5(1936) was written for a platinum flute (21·5 is the density of that metal) made by Powell for Georges Barrère, who had earlier played the first performance of the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. Honegger’s Danse de la chèvre (1926), Jean Rivier’s Oiseaux tendres (1935) and Martinů’s Trio for flute, cello and piano (1944) were composed for Le Roy and Poulenc’s Sonata (1956) for Rampal. Prokofiev’s 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 Varèse’s Density 21·5, Boulez’s Sonatine (1946), written for Rampal, Messiaen’s Le merle noir (1951) for flute and piano, Jolivet’s Cinq incantations (1936) for solo flute and Suite en concert (1965), Maderna’s Musica su due dimensioni (1952, rev. 1963) for flute and tape and Berio’s Sequenza I (1958) for solo flute. Notable works of the late 20th century include Ferneyhough’s Unity Capsule (1975–6) for solo flute, Cage’s Ryoanji (1983–5) for small ensemble, written for Robert Aitken, and Boulez’s …explosante-fixe… (1991–4). Flautists such as Severino Gazzeloni (b 1915), Aurèle Nicolet (b 1926), Istvan Matúz (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.

Although a few women such as Cora Cardigan, Edith Penville and Winfred Gaskell (Liverpool PO) had played professionally in the early decades of the 20th century, the flute remained essentially a masculine instrument until the 1950s, when women began to occupy principal positions in orchestras and to make their mark as soloists. Among the first to achieve prominence were Doriot Anthony Dwyer (Boston SO) and Elaine Schaffer (Dallas SO); they were followed by many others. Prominent women soloists have included Susan Milan, Irena Grafenauer, Kirsten Spratt, Andrea Lieblenecht, Paula Robison and Carol Wincenc on the modern flute and Lisa Beznosiuk on historical flutes.

Makers have also been inspired to experiment with the instrument. As early as 1948 the British-born flautist Alexander Murray began a series of experiments in collaboration with the makers Elmer Cole and Albert Cooper, and, in 1967, with Jack Moore. In 1972 Greta Vermeulen invented a Flûte à coulisse, which has a trombone-like slide instead of tone holes. Developments of the late 20th century include the Matúz-Nagy ‘Multiflute’ developed by Matúz, and the Oston-Brannen Kingma system ‘Quarter-tone C flute’ developed by Eva Kingma and Bickford Brannen, both for extended techniques such as multiphonics. A carbon-fibre flute with magnets instead of needle springs was developed in Finland by Matti Haekoenen and Matti Hellin and new alto, bass and lower flutes, such as the ‘Grossbass’ made in 1981 by Christian Jaeger for Max Hieber, have been introduced. The open-hole (perforated key) alto flute was the result of a collaboration between the Dutch player Jos Zwaanenburg and the makers Dick Kuiper and Eva Kingma; the latter also applied this idea to her bass flutes. At the end of the 20th century Kotato & Fukushima of Japan was making a range of flutes from the piccolo down to a sub-contra bass with a range to C.

Flute, §II, 4(iii): The Western transverse flute: 1800 to the present

(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 18th-century 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.

Flute

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Waterhouse-LangwillI

YoungHI

bibliographies and other reference works

A. Goldberg: Porträts und Biographien hervorragender Flöten-Virtuosen, -Dilettanten und -Komponisten (Berlin, 1906/R)

D.C. Miller: Catalogue of Books and Literary Material Relating to the Flute and other Musical Instruments (Cleveland, 1935/R)

J. Pellerite: A Handbook of Literature for the Flute (Bloomington, IN, 1963, 3/1978)

F. Vester: Flute Repertoire Catalogue (London, 1967)

T.E. Warner: An Annotated Bibliography of Woodwind Instruction Books, 1600–1830 (Detroit, 1967)

J. Bowers: ‘A Catalogue of French Works for the Transverse Flute, 1692–1761’, RMFC, xviii (1978), 89–125

B. Pierreuse: Flûte littérature: catalogue général des oeuvres éditées et inédites par formations instrumentales (Paris, 1982)

F. Vester: Flute Music of the 18th Century: an Annotated Bibliography (Monteux, 1985)

S.M. Berdahl: The First Hundred Years of the Boehm Flute in the United States, 1845–1945: a Biographical Dictionary of American Flutemakers (diss., U. of Minnesota, 1986)

I. Gronefeld: Die Flötenkonzerte bis 1850: ein thematisches Verzeichnis (Tutzing, 1992–4)

Bibliography of Flute Methods Books (Hudson, NY, Folkers & Powell, A. Powell) [on-line database, 1992–]

instruction materials

J. Hotteterre: Principes de la flûte traversière ou flûte d’Allemagne (Paris, 1707/R, 6/1728/R, 7/1741; Eng. trans., 1968, 2/1983)

J. Hotteterre: L’art de préluder sur la flûte traversière (Paris, 1719/R)

M. Corrette: Méthode pour apprendre aisément à jouer de la flûte traversière (Paris, 1740/R), later edns, incl. 1780/R; Eng. trans., 1970)

J.J. Quantz: Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen (Berlin, 1752/R, 3/1789; Eng. trans., 1966/R, 2/1985)

C. Delusse: L’art de la flûte traversière (Paris, c1761/R, 2/?1763/R)

J.G. Tromlitz: Ausführlicher und gründlicher Unterricht die Flöte zu spielen (Leipzig, 1791/R; Eng. trans., 1991)

J. Gunn: The Art of Playing the German-Flute on New Principles (London, c1793/R)

F. Devienne: Nouvelle méthode théorique et pratique pour la flûte (Paris, 1794/R, later edns, incl. 1795, 1800/R; Eng. trans. in W. Montgomery: The Life and Works of François Devienne, 1759–1803 (diss., Catholic U. of America, 1975)

J.G. Tomlitz: Über die Flöten mit mehrern Klappern (Leipzig, 1800/R; Eng. trans., 1996)

T. Monzani: Instructions for the German Flute (London, 1801, 3/?1814)

A. Hugot and J.-G. Wunderlich: Méthode de flûte du Conservatoire (Paris, 1804/R)

C. Nicholson: Nicholson’s Complete Preceptor, for the German Flute (London, c1816)

A.E. Müller: Elementarbuch für Flötenspieler (Leipzig, c1815); Eng. trans. in M.S. Lichtmann: A Translation with Commentary of August Eberhardt Müller’s Elementarbuch für Flötenspieler (DMA diss., Boston U., 1982)

A.B.T. Berbiguier: Nouvelle méthode pour la flûte (Paris, c1818)

G. Bayr: Practische Flöten-Schule (Vienna, 1823)

A.B. Fürstenau: Flöten-Schule (Leipzig, c1826)

L. Drouët: Méthode pour la flûte (Antwerp, c1827; Eng. trans., 1830/R) [in Fr., Ger.]

T. Lindsay: The Elements of Flute-Playing (London, 1828)

J.-L. Tulou: Méthode de flûte progressive et raisonnée adoptée par la comité d’enseignement du Conservatoire (Mainz, 1835, ?2/1851/R; Eng. trans, 1995)

P.H. Camus: Méthode pour la nouvelle flûte Boehm (Paris, 1839)

A.B. Fürstenau: Die Kunst des Flötenspiels (Leipzig, 1844/R)

A. Struth: Theoretisch-praktische Flötenschule (Leipzig, c1850)

S. Winner: Popular Method for the Flute (Philadelphia, 1854)

H. Altès: Méthode pour flute: système Boehm (Paris, 2/c1880–89)

V.-C. Mahillon: Hints on the Fingering of the Boehm Flute (London, 1884)

O. Langey: Practical Tutor for the Flute in Four Systems (London, c1889/R, 2/1965)

R. Tillmetz: Anleitung zur Erlernung der Theobald Böhm’schen Cylinder- und Ringklappen-Flöte, mit konischer Bohrung (Leipzig, 1890, ?2/1898)

M. Schwedler: Katechismus der Flöte und des Flötenspiels: ein Lehrbuch für Flötenbläser (Leipzig, 1897/R, 3/1923); Eng. trans. in J.R. Bailey: Schwedler’s ‘Flute and Flute Playing’: Translation and Study of Late Nineteenth-Century German Performance Practice (DMA diss., Northwestern U., 1987)

H. Altès: Methode complète de flûte (Paris, 1906)

L. De Lorenzo: L’indispensibile: a Complete Modern School for the Flute (New York, 2/1911)

M. Moyse: Enseignement complet de la flûte (Paris, 1921)

P. Taffanel and P. Gaubert: Méthode complète de flûte en huit parties (Paris, 1923, 2/1958)

F.B. Chapman: Flute Technique (London, 1936, 4/1973)

H.-P. Schmitz: Flötenlehre (Kassel, 1955, 2/1965; Eng. trans., 1966)

B. Bartolozzi: New Sounds for Woodwind (London, 1967, 2/1982)

M. Gümbel: Neue Spieltechniken in der Querflöten-Musik nach 1950 (Kassel, 1974)

R. Mather: The Art of Playing the Flute (Iowa City, 1981–9)

W. Richter: Bewusste Flötentechnik (Frankfurt, 1986)

G. Morris: Flute Technique (Oxford, 1991)

general

S. Virdung: Musica getutscht (Basle, 1511/R; Eng. trans., 1993)

M. Agricola: Musica instrumentalis deudsch (1529/R, enlarged 5/1545; Eng. trans. of 1529 and 1545 eds., 1994)

P. Jambe de Fer: Epitome musical des tons, sons et accords, des voix humaines, fleustes d’Alleman, fleustes à neuf trous, violes, & violons (Lyons, 1556); repr. in F. Lesure: ‘L’Epitome musical de Philibert Jambe de Fer (1556)’, AnnM, vi (1958–63), 341–86

M. Praetorius: Syntagma musicum, ii (Wolfenbüttel, 1618, 2/1619/R; Eng. trans., 1986, 2/1991)

P. Trichet: Traité des instruments de musique (MS, c1630–40), ed. F. Lesure, AnnM, iii (1955), 283–387; iv (1956), 175–248

M. Mersenne: Harmonie universelle (1636–7/R; Eng. trans. of the bks on insts, 1957)

J.H. Lambert: ‘Observations sur les flûtes’, Nouveaux mémoires de l’Académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres (Berlin, 1775), 13–48

W.N. James: A Word or Two on the Flute (Edinburgh, 1826/R)

G. Weber: ‘Klappen für C'' und B' auf der Flöte’, Caecilia: eine Zeitschrift für die musikalische Welt, ix (1828), 120–24

J.A. Clinton: A Theoretical & Practical Essay on the Boehm Flute, as Manufactured by Messrs Rudall & Rose (London, 1843)

A.G. Badger: An Illustrated History of the Flute (New York, 1853)

T. Boehm: Die Flöte und das Flötenspiel in akustischer, technischer und artistischer Beziehung (Munich, 1871/R; Eng. trans., 1908/R)

T. Boehm: An Essay on the Construction of Flutes (London, 1882/R)

R.S. Rockstro: A Treatise on the Construction, the History and the Practice of the Flute (London, 1890/R, 2/1928/R)

E. Thoinan: Les Hotteterre et les Chédeville: célèbres joueurs et facteurs de flûtes, hautbois, bassons et musettes des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Paris, 1894/R)

C.T. Giorgi: La nostra musica i suoi difetti (Milan, 1899)

W. Altenburg: ‘Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Alt- und Bassflöten’, ZI, xxii/8 (1901)

H.M. Fitzgibbon: The Story of the Flute (London, 1914, 2/1929)

F. Sconzo: Il flauto e i flautisti (Milan, 1930)

E. Preussner: Die musikalischen Reisen des Herrn von Uffenbach (Kassel, 1949)

D. Vinci: Appunti sulla storia e letteratura del flauto (Bologna, 1950)

L. De Lorenzo: My Complete Story of the Flute: the Instrument, the Performer, the Music (New York, 1951/R, 2/1992)

H. Kölbel: Von der Flöte: Brevier für Flötenspieler (Kassel, 1951, 2/1966)

F. Demmler: Johann Georg Tromlitz (1725–1805): ein Beitrag zur Entwicklung der Flöte und des Flötenspiels (Berlin, 1961/R)

L.E. Gilliam and W. Lichtenwanger: The Dayton Miller Flute Collection (Washington DC, 1961)

H. Hickmann: Ägyten, Musikgeschichte in Bildern, ii/1 (Leipzig, 1961)

M. Wegner: Griechenland, Musikgeschichte in Bildern, ii/4 (Leipzig, 1963)

M. Byrne: ‘Schuchart and the Extended Foot-Joint’, GSJ, xviii (1965), 7–13

K. Ventzke: Die Boehmflöte: Werdegang eines Musikinstruments (Frankfurt, 1966)

P. Bate: The Flute: a Study of its History, Development and Construction (London and New York, 1969, 2/1979)

J.M. Bowers: The French Flute School from 1700 to 1760 (diss., U. of California, Berkeley, 1971)

J. Godwin: ‘The Renaissance Flute’, The Consort, no.28 (1972), 71–81; summary in American Recorder, xiii (1972), 71–2

L. Meierott: Die Geschichtliche Entwicklung der kleinen Flötentypen und ihre Verwendung in der Musik des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts (Tutzing, 1974)

R. Meylan: La flûte (Lausanne, 1974; Eng. trans., 1988)

J. Gärtner: Das Vibrato unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Verhältnisse bei Flötisten (Regensburg, 1974, 2/1980; Eng. trans., 1981)

Flutist Quarterly: the Official Magazine of the National Flute Association (1975–)

R. Dick: The Other Flute: a Performance Manual of Contemporary Techniques (London, 1975/R)

G. Scheck: Die Flöte und ihre Musik (Mainz, 1975)

B. Thomas: ‘The Renaissance Flute’, EMc, iii (1975), 2–10

J.M. Bowers: ‘New Light on the Development of the Transverse Flute between about 1650 and about 1770’, JAMIS, iii (1977), 5–56

J. Coltman: ‘The Acoustics of the Flute’, Physics Today, xxxi/11 (1978), 25–32

A. Smith: ‘Die Renaissancequerflöte und ihre Musik: ein Beitrag zur Interpretation der Quellen’, Basler Jb für historische Musikpraxis 1978, 9–76

J.M. Bowers: ‘“Flaüste traversienne” and “Flûte d’Allemagne”: the Flute in France from the Late Middle Ages up through 1702’, RMFC, xix (1979), 7–50

D.H. Förster: ‘Die Flöte im frühen 19. Jahrhundert’, Tibia, iv (1979), 222–30

F. Puglisi: ‘The Renaissance Flutes of the Biblioteca Capitolare of Verona: the Structure of a “Pifaro”’, GSJ, xxxii (1979), 24–37

N. Toff: The Development of the Modern Flute (New York, 1979, 2/1986)

K. Ventzke: ‘Kristallglasflöten im 19. Jahrhundert’, Tibia, iv (1979), 397–9

J. Braun: ‘Musical Instruments in Byzantine Illustrated Manuscripts’, EMc, viii (1980), 312–27

A. Cooper: The Flute (London, 1980, enlarged 2/1984)

P. Spohr: ‘Traversflötenbau vor 1750 und heutige Aufführung der Querflötenmusik des 18. Jahrhunderts’, Die Wechselwirkung von Instrumentenbau und Kompositionsweise sowie Editionsfragen der Frühklassik: Blankenburg, Harz, 1980, 9–18

J. Voorhees: The Classification of Flute Fingering Systems of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Buren, 1980)

N. Delius: ‘Quantz’ Schüler: ein Beitrag zur Genealogie einer Flötenschule’, Tibia, vii (1982), 176–84

C. Dorgeuille: L’école française de flûte, 1860–1950 (Paris, 1983, 2/1994 as L’école française de flûte, revué et augmenté; Eng. trans., 1986)

P. Thalheimer: ‘Flauto d’amore, B-flat Tenor Flute und “tiefe Quartflöte”: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der tiefen Querflöten im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert’, Tibia, viii (1983), 334–42

C. Addington: ‘In Search of the Baroque Flute: the Flute Family, 1680–1750’, EMc, xii (1984), 134–47

V. Di Gregorio: ‘Il traversière di Assisi, con alcune osservazioni sulla prima fase del flauto traverso barocco’, Flauto dolce, nos.10–11 (1984), 48–51

L. Ehlich: ‘Zur Ikonographie der Querflöte im Mittelalter’, Basler Jb für historische Musikpraxis, viii (1984), 197–211

R. de Reede, ed.: Concerning the Flute: Ten Articles about Flute Literature, Flute Playing, Flute Making and Flutists (Amsterdam, 1984)

C. Addington: ‘The Bach Flute’, MQ, lxxi (1985), 264–80

M. Castellani: ‘Il Solo pour la flûte traversière di J.S. Bach: Cöthen o Lipsia?’, Flauto dolce, no.13 (1985), 15–21

N. Journot: La flûte traversière renaissance (diss., Centre de Musique Ancienne, Geneva, 1985)

N. Toff: The Flute Book: a Complete Guide for Students and Performers (New York, 1985, 2/1996)

H.M. Brown: ‘Notes (and Transposing Notes) on the Transverse Flute in the Early Sixteenth Century’, JAMIS, xii (1986), 5–39

N. Hadden: ‘The Flutes of the Accademia Filarmonica, Verona’, Musick, ix/4 (1988), 7–11

F. Puglisi: ‘A Survey of Renaissance Flutes’ GSJ, xli (1988), 67–82

J. Swack: The Solo Sonatas of Georg Philipp Telemann: a Study of the Sources and Musical Style (diss., Yale U., 1988)

H. Wurz: Querflötenkunde (Baden-Baden, 1988)

Traverso: Historical Flute Newsletter (1989–)

R.L. Marshall: ‘The Compositions for Solo Flute: a Reconsideration of their Authenticity and Chronology’, The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach: the Sources, the Style, the Significance (New York, 1989), 201–25

J. Montagu: The Flute (Princes Risborough, Bucks., 1990)

B. Haynes: ‘Beyond Temperament: Non-Keyboard Intonation in the 17th and 18th Century’, EMc, xix (1991), 617–27

J.M. Bowers: ‘Mozart and the Flute’, EMc, xx (1992), 31–42

K. Lenski and K. Ventzke: Das goldene Zeitalter der Flöte: die Boehmflöte in Frankreich, 1832–1932 (Celle, 1992)

B.M.H. Schneeberger: Die Musikerfamilie Fürstenau: Untersuchung zu Leben und Werk (Münster, 1992)

J. Solum: The Early Flute (Oxford, 1992)

T. Giannini: Great Flute Makers of France: the Lot and Godfroy Families, 1650–1900 (London, 1993)

T. Giannini: ‘Jacques Hotteterre le Romain and his Father, Martin: a Re-Examination based on Recently Found Documents’, EMc, xxi (1993), 377–95

L.E. Miller: ‘C.P.E. Bach’s Sonatas for Solo Flute’, JM, xi (1993), 203–49

L. Boehm: Festschrift anlässlich des 200. Geburtstags von Theobald Boehm (Munich, 1994)

A. Powell: ‘Science, Technology and the Art of Flutemaking in the 18th Century’, Flutist Quarterly, xix/3 (1994), 33–42

P. Thalheimer: ‘Das grosse Querflötenensemble: Tradition, Besetzungspraxis und Repertoire’, Tibia, xix (1994), 169–78

M. Kirnbauer and P. Thalheimer: ‘Jacob Denner and the Development of the Flute in Germany’, EMc, xxiii (1995), 82–100

A. La Berge: ‘The Oston-Brannen Kingma System Flute’, Flutist Quarterly, xx/4 (1995), 88–90

A. Powell and D. Lasocki: ‘Bach and the Flute: the Players, the Instruments, the Music’, EMc, xxiii (1995), 9–29

J. Swack: ‘Quantz and the Sonata in E major for Flute and Cembalo, bwv1031’, EMc, xxiii (1995), 31–62

A. Powell: ‘The Hotteterre Flute: Six Replicas in Search of a Myth’, JAMS, xlix (1996), 225–63

A. Powell: ‘The Tromlitz Flute’, JAMIS, xxii (1996), 89–109

P. Guidi: The Jazz Flute (Wormerveer, 1997)

J. Zhang and others: ‘Oldest Playable Musical Instruments Found at Jiahu Early Neolithic Site in China’, Nature (23 Sept 1999), 366–8

N. Hadden: ‘The Transverse Flute in the Middle Ages and Renaissance: Sources, Instruments, Technique’, Cambridge Companion to the Flute, ed. J.M. Thomson (Cambridge, forthcoming)

A. Powell: ‘Flute Tutors: Records of the Methods, Taste and Practice of Earlier Times’, Cambridge Companion to the Flute, ed. J.M. Thomson (Cambridge, forthcoming)