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History of the (Flute) World, Part I

© Karen Stafford

Nothing in playing instruments is neater than being able to get a hold of an older instrument and trying to make music out of it. I have a great admiration for musicians who had to play Baroque, or even bone, flutes. These instruments were not easy to play musically, or in tune...thus the advent of the present-day key system perfected by Theobald Boehm.

This method of blowing across an opening to make a sound was most likely first discovered when some unknown ancient noticed the sound produced when wind blew across a hollow reed. This unknown ancient most likely thought "Cool!" (or the equivalent in his language), broke the reed off, and played with it. Primitive flutes were found in Egyptian tombs and depicted in drawings. The oldest known discovered flute, however, is thought to be this Neanderthal flute, discovered by paleontologist Dr. Iven Turk, made from a bear's femur. It had four known holes: two intact and two broken.

The most famous ancient flute (or flute-like) instrument is the Pipes of Pan, or panpipes. Greek mythology has it that the ancient god Pan pursued a nymph named Syrinx. When he finally caught her, she turned into reeds, so he fashioned an instrument from them. (Source: My Complete Story of the Flute by Leonardo de Lorenzo.)

The first flute to make an appearance during "modern times" was the fipple flute, otherwise known as the recorder in English. The term "recorder" came from the phrase "to record," which meant to warble or sing like a lark. The recorder, however, was different from the fipple flute because it had 8 holes, with the hole in the back for the thumb.

There were terms to differentiate between the recorder and the horizontally-held flute. The recorder was termed as the "common flute" or flauto, and the German-styled transverse, horizontal lip flute was known as transverso. By the time the orchestra was "revamped" by Haydn, the transverse flute remained.

But, where did this side-held flute come from? This is a mystery. The earliest mention in writing of this flute comes from Guillaume de Machaut, who was a Provencal poet, musician, and composer. The transverse flute is thought to be of German or Swiss origin. Early transverse flutes were usually made out of boxwood with a round mouthhole. There were no holes for accidentals; it was pitched only for whatever major diatonic scale it was made.

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