The flute first began as a bone or wooden tube and later evolved to a reed type instrument with finger holes. Many primitive tribes used it.
In the Stone Age, the people bored through foot joints of reindeer to fashion a primitive pipe with penetrating notes. Bone flutes later progressed in Denmark to have finger holes.
Contrary to modern belief, the sound of primitive instruments was not used for aesthetic reasons, but to ward off evil spirits and hostile forces and to strengthen the forces of life. The flute was the instrument of the fertility spell in this respect. An example of this is a rock drawing showing the flute being played by a masked dancer shrouded in wild beast’s skin, making him a horrible diabolical creature.
Excavations in ancient Greek and Egyptian monuments have made many discoveries. In about 200 B.C., a flute was found which was designed to give the Dorian mode. There was also found the Phrygian flute, which was played by prostitutes to entertain their lovers.
At the time of the Middle Ages, the panpipes or “Syrinx Reeds” were used. They consisted of several tubes of different lengths with no finger holes, bound together and played at the open end very much like blowing across a soda bottle to achieve the sound. Although it was easy to make, it was difficult to play.
The recorder was about the first real step to the true flute. It is a long, hollow tube with finger holes and a blocked end, played vertically. Its upper end is beak-like, but blocked except for a narrow channel. Through that slit, air is directed in a flat stream against the sharp edge, setting up the vibrating air column and producing the sound. The recorder has several names. It is referred to as a blockflöte or schnabelflöte (German); flûte-a-bèc (French); and a “fipple-flute” (English).
Other discoveries include fragment of an ivory flute found at the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (1867). Its embouchure, though similar to that of the modern flute, produced a softer tone.
The Egyptian nay, used in times of the Pharaohs, is found among the natives today. It is an end-blown flute. The evolution of today’s embouchure is still unknown. It was first represented in an Indian bas-relief dating from the first or second century A.D.
One characteristic of all primitive flutes is the equidistance of the finger-holes. They remained within one millimeter even into the 19th century. It is affirmed that in the equally spaced holes, ancient Greek modes and major and minor scales are found.
The flute first made its appearance in Europe after having been a favorite instrument in India and China. The ivory flute found at Halicarnassus proves that Greece was the first European country to cultivate the art of making and playing the flute. Its use extended to Russia, Germany, Spain, and southern France, where it was used by the troubadours in the thirteenth century.
In 1511, Virdung gave the first detailed information. The flute at that time was a cylindrical tube with six equidistant finger holes. It had an embouchure and stopper, and was in one piece without joints. Held crosswise, it was given bass, tenor and descant fingerings by Virdung.
Seventeen years later, Agricola gave a more accurate fingering table. He too, developed it in three sizes: bass, in C; tenor, in G; and the descant in C, which developed into the present flute of today.
In 1620, Praetorius wrote of the three identical flutes, but a fifth higher. Marin Marsenne and Rafi (16th century France) should also be noted for similar variations made in the flute.
It is interesting to observe that in the early Christian era, the voice was preferred to an instrument for worship, since instruments were considered pagan. Therefore, the flute could only be preserved by the folk through tradition and an intuitive sense of form and balance.
The Relationship of Modes and Fingerings
“Agricola’s descant D flute was unconsciously made to sound, as its basis, the Greek Hypolydian mode. Cross fingerings produced the conventional Phrygian mode (from K. Schlesinger, “The Greek Aulos”). The scale of the ecclesiastical Phrygian mode consisted of e (1), f(1), g(1),a(11),b(11),d(11),e(11).
Agricola’s flute provided the Greek hypolydian, Phrygian, “The importance of cross-fingering is best realized in relation to the evolution of music when it is found used as a means of transition from one musical system to another, and indicates the contemporary existence in practice of both (Ibid).”
The previous statement shows that the flute maker of Agricola’s time was conscious of modal systems, and that he was being influenced by new major and minor diatonic scales because he used crossfingering as a way to transit, not only from Hypolydian to the Phrygian mode, but also to new diatonic scales.
During the following 300 years, attempts were made to revise the flute so that each note would play in tune. This was not possible with the equal spacing prevalent in the D descant flute. “Lipping,” or directing the air stream up or down was not sufficient. Between 1660 and 1832, necessary improvements were made. The bore of the tube was altered, and additional holes were added by the present ones, but were covered with closed keys to regulate them. The holes themselves were changed in diameter and the surrounding bore was enlarged or contracted. The complete reconstruction by Boehm in 1832 added the respacing of finger holes to permit the playing of the diatonic scale, and the replacing of closed keys by open ones to prevent overtones caused by an incorrectly closed hole. A D# key, which never played clearly, was also added to the freedom of the other notes.
The Transverse Flute in Early Form
The transverse flute was first given notice when Jacques Hotteterre wrote about the flute in its new form in 1707.
From 1637 until the early 19th century, box wood was used as the material for a flute, ornamented with ivory securing the joints, an ivory stopper, a silver or brass D# key, and produced a very sweet tone, although it absorbed too much moisture.
Ivory, too, was used, but produced an inferior tone. Jean Baptiste Loeillet, in 1705, first played the flute in its new form in England. Consequently, Bach and other great composers began to compose for it more so than for the recorder. Incidentally, the reason shy Mozart disliked the flute so intensely is now very obvious.
The recorder was still used in the orchestra as well as the transverse, but parts were indicated.
In the 18th century, the intonation of the flute was worked on. The middle section was divided into two parts, so that if the flute were too sharp, a joint would be added to lengthen it and therefore lower the pitch. If the flute was too flat, a shorter joint was used. When this device proved insufficient, Quantz developed a longer head joint and foot joint, which could be pulled out from the middle joint and adjusted. This was called the tuning slide and is still used today. Instead of a cork stopper, the screw stopper, consisting of a pin, which was threaded and stuck into the cork, was used, and it, too, is used today, but without the cork.
In about 1750, Richard Potter devised a means of numbering the gradations of the tuning slides and stopper to correspond with each other.
In 1770, cross fingering and its veiled notes that caused bad intonation were literally thrown out. This movement caused much opposition.
The “New Instructions for the German Flute”, included lengthening the flute to “c” by increasing the length of the foot joint. Cross-fingering to cover holes not needed for a particular note became obsolete with the invention of covering certain holes with keys, so that the player could close them at will. There were other keys, which, when an initial one was pressed, in turn triggered the closing of another hole at the other end of the flute. Springs were used to aid the keys. Thus, it can be seen how cross fingering and its consequent poor intonation were abolished, at least part of the way.
Between 1770 and 1882, improvements were made, but it is unknown by whom. However, it was through these that the one-keyed flute evolved its other keys. By the beginning of the 19th century, all eight keys were intact, but not arranged acoustically. The flutist literally had to be a contortionist to reach the correct fingerings and achieve good intonation, but the sound always suffered. It could not be rich and full and in tune because of the poor position of the keys.
The Flute as We Know it Today – Thanks to Boehm
Boehm, born in 1794, the son of a goldsmith, is responsible for the flute of today. The circumstances under which he came about reconstructing it, however, are quite unusual.
Boehm, who lived in Munich, had become a proficient flutist. He eventually became a professional, and in 1831 visited London, where he heard the performance of flutist, Charles Nicholson. Boehm was impressed to the point of amazement with the rich, full tone that Nicholson was able to achieve with the same flute that he, Boehm, played. Boehm discovered that this was caused by the enlarged holes of the flute. Whereas Nicholson’s fingers were large and could cover them sufficiently, Boehm’s fingers were thin and tapered and he couldn’t. This gave Boehm the initiative to make flutes. He began in 1828, his first improvement being similar to the flute of that time.
Boehm revised the flute completely. The entire position of the keys was rearranged to provide a chromatic scale. In order to avoid stretching fingers, he devised long axles, which connected the other hole at top, which may have been needed to play a note that also required a hole at the other end. To conquer the task of closing 13 holes with only 9 fingers, he invented a “ring” for a key, connected to a spring which could be pressed by the smallest fingers and still get the effect of the large hole. The axle, the key, and the correct placement were really quite a feat – but then, it must have been quite a feat to play the flute before these improvements!
Boehm played this flute in 1836, but although the improved tone was noted, flutists would not accept the change of fingerings. Nevertheless, in 1837, when the flute was exhibited in the Academy of Sciences in Paris, it was highly commended.
Additional Improvements
Because Boehm did not patent his flutes, other people made improvements on it. Buffet introduced the needle spring used today, and the clutch, which closed two keys simultaneously. After 1832, Godfroy, Buffet, and Laurent of Paris, and Rudall and Rose of London continued to perfect it.
In 1846, Boehm returned to improve the flute even more. This was the final revision, which is the basis of all modern flutes. It consisted of a cylindrical tube with a parabolic head, larger tone holes and keys instead of rings.
It was not really used, however, until the end of the 19th century, since accomplished flutists weren’t willing to learn everything in a new way. Germany stayed true to the old form of the flute for many years.
Later on, the Bb key was added, and eventually the piccolo, alto, bass, tenor and Eb flutes evolved.
There have been many improvements upon the original scale, first with Cooper, later with Deveaux.
Today there are so many different wonderful flute makers and models to choose from, it is a highly individual choice – a matter of preference in weight and head joints to achieve the tone quality desired by the player.*
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RECOMMENDED READING ON THE FLUTE
* BIBLIOGRAPHY
T. Boehm, The Flute and Flute Playing
K. Schlesinger, The Greek Aulos
Apel, Willi - The Harvard Dictionary of
Music
Flute Fever, History, Players and Music
Geiringer, Karl G., Musical Instruments
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
