The Story of the Flute

​

The Flute Player (pg ii, The Story of the Flute, 1914)
The Flute Player (pg ii, The Story of the Flute, 1914)

THE FLUTE PLAYER
(Meissonier)

​

The
Story of the Flute

By

H. Macaulay Fitzgibbon,
M.A., SEN. MOD. (T.C.D.),
AUTHOR OF
"The early English and Scottish Poets and their Works."


London
The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
1914

​

Preface.

This volume is the result of nearly forty years' loving study of the Flute and everything connected with it. In addition to the knowledge acquired by many years of orchestral and chamber music playing, hundreds of volumes have been consulted in the Bibliothéque Nationale of Paris, the British Museum, the Bodleian, Dublin University, and other Public Libraries.

Whilst availing myself freely of the labours of my predecessors in the same field, I have verified their statements as far as possible. I desire to thank the various flautists, European and American, who have supplied me with much valuable information.

In conclusion, I pray my readers to excuse any slips I may have inadvertently made; wishing them (in the words of old Quarles) "as much pleasure in the reading as I had in the writing."

H. MACAULAY FITZGIBBON.

Greystones,
November, 1913.

​

Contents.

  1. page
  2. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		xii
  3. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		xii
  4. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		xiii
  5. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		xv

  6. CHAPTER I.

    FLUTES OF THE ANCIENTS.

    Antiquity of the flute—Classic legends—Egyptian origin—The Arab “Nay”—Development—The Fipple—Fingerholes—Double flutes—Popularity amongst the ancients—Ancient players of note—Their position and costume
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		1

  7. CHAPTER II.

    FLUTE-À-BEC AND RECORDER.

    Beaked flutes—Recorders—Double and triple recorders—Popularity—Gradual decline—Flageolet and other early pipes
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		16

  8. CHAPTER III.

    TRANSVERSE FLUTE.

    Section I.—Was it known to the Greeks and Romans?—The Chinese—India—Early representations and references—The Schweitzerpfeiff—Virdung—Agricola—Prætorius—Mersenne's description—In England
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		23
  9. Section II.—Flutes with keys—The D♯ key—Hotteterre—The conical bore—Structure of early flutes—Tuning slides—Quantz's inventions—The low C keys—Further keys added—Tromlitz's inventions—Open keys—The eight-keyed flute—Capeller and Nolan's keys
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		34
​

  2. CHAPTER IV.

    BÖHM AND GORDON.

    Biographical—Revolution in the flute—Gordon—His flutes—Böhm—His flutes of 1831, 1832, and 1847—His publications—As a player—His compositions—Böhm's centenary—The controversy—Priority of inventions—Coche's attack—Clinton's views—Revival of the controversy—Rockstro's attack—Summary
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		47

  3. CHAPTER V.

    FLUTE AFTER BÖHM.

    Various patentees—Coche and Buffet—Ward—The Dorus key—Siccama—Briccialdi's lever—Carte's flutes—Clinton—Pratten—Rockstro—Radcliff—Other minor "improvers"
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		65

  4. CHAPTER VI.

    MILITARY FIFE.

    Early history, examples, and references—Arbeau's description—Introduced into the French army—Into the English army—Duties of military fifers—Their position—Temporary disuse—Re-instatement—The true fife—In opera
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		73

  5. CHAPTER VII.

    PICCOLO: F FLUTE.

    Piccolo—Orchestral use—Characteristics—Berlioz on its abuse—Its various registers—As used by great composers—Two piccolos—With cymbals, bells, etc.—As a solo instrument—Military varieties—The F flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		80
​

  2. CHAPTER VIII.

    ALTO AND BASS FLUTES.

    The true bass flute—Early examples—Alto flutes—Modern examples—The Flute d'Amour—Recent revival
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		87

  3. CHAPTER IX.

    CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FLUTE.

    Popularity of the flute—Its tone—Various registers—Its agility—Harmonics—Double-tongueing—The glide—Vibrato effect—Shakes and turns—Tremolo—Best keys—Hygienic aspect
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		92

  4. CHAPTER X.

    MUSIC FOR THE FLUTE.

    Early composers—Loeillet—Mercy—Blavet—Quantz—Classical composers—Flautist composers—Kuhlau—His successors—Good flute music—Taste of the public—Airs with variations—Doppler—Terschak—Modern school of flute composers—Flute and harp or guitar—Flute and voice
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		100

  5. CHAPTER XI.

    FLUTE IN THE ORCHESTRA.

    Introduction of the flute into the orchestra—The flute and piccolo as used by the great composers—Bach—His obligatos—Handel—His flauto-piccolo—Flute and organ—Gluck—Haydn—The Creation—Symphonies—Mozart—Disliked the flute—Symphonies—Serenades—Operas—Concertos—Beethoven—His famous flute passages—Weber—Meyerbeer—Piccolo passages—Italian operatic composers—William Tell overture—Mendelssohn—Midsummer Night's Dream—Symphonies—Oratorios—Schubert—Schumann—Use by modern composers—Berlioz—Flute and harp—Brahms—Dvořák—The Spectre's Bride—Cadenzas—Grieg—Bizet's Carmen—Sullivan—The Golden Legend—Coleridge-Taylor—Wagner—Tschaïkowsky—R. Strauss—Passages of extreme difficulty
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		115
​

  2. CHAPTER XII.

    FLUTE IN CHAMBER MUSIC.

    "The neglected wind"—Chamber pieces by great composers—Spohr's Nonett—Pieces for wind and pianoforte—For wind and strings—For wind alone—Larger combinations—For flutes alone
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		180

  3. CHAPTER XIII.

    FAMOUS FLAUTISTS.

    Section I.—Foreign players—Quantz—Frederick the Great—Royal flautists—Early French players—Hugot—Berbiguier—Tulou—Drouet—Furstenau—Doppler—Dorus—Demersseman—Ciardi—Briccialdi—Ribas—Terschak—Altes—Taffanel
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		186
  4. Section II.—British players—Early performers—Ashe—Charles Nicholson—Richardson—Clinton—Pratten—B. Wells—Henry Nicholson—Svendsen—Principal living flautists
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		206

  5. CHAPTER XIV.

    BRITISH AND FOREIGN STYLES COMPARED.

    Statistics—Style of performance—English, French, Italian, German—Böhm's opinion—Foreign players of note
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		216

  6. CHAPTER XV.

    WOMAN AND THE FLUTE.

    Suitability—Female players in classic times—More recent flautistes—English flautistes of to-day—American flautistes—Female composers for the flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		220
​

  2. CHAPTER XVI.

    FLUTE IN AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA.

    Early notices and players—Later players of foreign origin—Ernst—Introduction of the Böhm flute—Native American players—Kyle—Lemmone
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		225

  3. CHAPTER XVII.

    FLUTE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE—POET FLAUTISTS.

    Early English references—Chaucer—Flute and fife in Shakespeare—In the early dramatists—In the poets—References to the qualities of the flute—Epithets applied to it—Cowper—Longfellow—Other poets—Prose references—In modern novelists—Dickens—A weird flute story—Flute in American authors—Sidney Lanier—Other literary flautists—Legends
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		230

  4. CHAPTER XVIII.

    CURIOSITIES OF THE FLUTE.

    Flutes of curious materials—Walking-stick flutes—Ornamented flutes—Böhm's crutch—Ward's terminator—Various other inventions—The Giorgi flute—Automaton players—Dulon, the blind flautist—Rebsomen, the one-armed flautist—Hallet, the youthful prodigy—How to silence a flautist
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		252

  5. CHAPTER XIX.

    FLUTES OF ORIENTAL AND SAVAGE NATIONS.

    Oriental flutes—Chinese—Japanese—Effect of the flute on animals—Indian flutes—Nose-flutes—South American flutes—The love flute—Ancient prejudices—The Fathers and the Puritans
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		262
  6. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		275
  7. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		278
  8. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		281
  9. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		285

​

EXPLANATION OF SIGNS USED.

O = an open hole; ● = a closed hole.

The notes of the various octaves are expressed in the text thus: those of the first octave from the C below the treble stave to the B on the third line, inclusive, have one stroke thus—C′; those of the second octave have two strokes—e.g., C″; and those of the third octave have three strokes—e.g., C‴.


ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.

Page 2.—It has been suggested that the verb fluter or flauter preceded the noun, and that it represents a Low Latin flautlare = to sound the notes fa, ut, la; of this there is no evidence. (See Studies, September, 1913, p. 229.)

Page 34.—The passage cited from Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum is from c. ii., s. 116.

Page 66.—For "Ribcock" read "Ribock."

Page 78.—For "James I." read "James II."

Page 103, line 9.—Strike out the reference to Mozart's Concerto.

​

List of Illustrations.

  1. page
  2. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		Frontispiece
  3. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		4
  4. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		7
  5. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		8
  6. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		9
  7. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		9
  8. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		11
  9. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		13
  10. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		14
  11. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		17
  12. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		17
  13. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		18
  14. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		22
  15. Early Keyless Flutes:—
        Virdung’s Zwerchpfeiff
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		30
  16.     Agricola’s Schweitzerpfeiff
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		30
  17.     Prætorius’ Bass Querflote
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		30
  18.     Mersenne’s Fistula Germanica
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		30
  19. Early Flutes with Keys:—
        Hotteterre’s Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		31
  20.     Quantz’s Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		31
  21.     Tromlitz’s Five-keyed Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		31
  22.     The Eight-keyed Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		31
​
  2. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		36
  3. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		45
  4. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		51
  5. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		51
  6. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		68
  7. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		68
  8. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		68
  9. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		69
  10. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		72
  11. Bass Flutes:—
        Macgregor's Bass Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		89
  12.     Diderot's Bass Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		89
  13.     Modern Bass Flute
    ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		89
  14. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		181
  15. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		194, 195
  16. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		204
  17. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		214
  18. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		255
  19. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		255
  20. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		256
  21. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		257
  22. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		257
  23. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		260
  24. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		263
  25. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		263

​

List of Musical Examples.

  1. page
  2. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		33
  3. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		37
  4. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		75
  5. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		83
  6. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		84
  7. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		106
  8. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		116
  9. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		117
  10. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		121, 122
  11. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		124
  12. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		125
  13. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		126
  14. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		130
  15. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		131
  16. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		133
  17. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		133
  18. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		134
  19. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		134
  20. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		137
  21. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		139
  22. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		140, 141
  23. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		142
  24. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		143
  25. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		144, 145, 146, 147
​
  2. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		145, 146, 148
  3. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		146, 147
  4. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		149
  5. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		151
  6. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		152
  7. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		153
  8. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		155, 156
  9. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		157
  10. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		158
  11. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		159
  12. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		163
  13. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		164
  14. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		165
  15. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		166, 167
  16. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		168, 169
  17. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		169
  18. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		171
  19. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		171
  20. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		171
  21. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		172, 173
  22. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		175
  23. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		175
  24. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		176
  25. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		177
  26. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    		192

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1914, before the cutoff of January 1, 1930.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 82 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.