A comparison of the baroque and modern flutes.
a comparison of the baroque and modern flutesA comparative study of the use of the barqoue and modern flute in composition, with specific reference to ¡V Sonata IV for flute and continuo by J.S Bach, and Sonata for flute and piano by HindemithThe baroque, or transverse flute is of great interest to me, mainly because of my own flute playing experience. Since listening to a concert which included both a modern orchestra and a baroque orchestra playing together in a specially written composition, and separately, I have considered the baroque flute a much softer and more beautiful instrument, in construction and sound. It is because of this interest that I have decided to carry out my investigation upon the difference between the
two flutes, particularly in composition. Firstly, I plan to study the development of the baroque flute, as it is my main focus for this project, and what its capabilities were for composition. Then I will compare the flutes, using the pieces I have chosen, one written for a baroque flute, and one for a modern flute. From this investigation, I hope to be able to draw some conclusions about the better of the two flutes. At the moment I prefer the baroque flute to the modern flute, and I would like to prove that it is indeed the better flute. ...
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two flutes, particularly in composition. Firstly, I plan to study the development of the baroque flute, as it is my main focus for this project, and what its capabilities were for composition. Then I will compare the flutes, using the pieces I have chosen, one written for a baroque flute, and one for a modern flute. From this investigation, I hope to be able to draw some conclusions about the better of the two flutes. At the moment I prefer the baroque flute to the modern flute, and I would like to prove that it is indeed the better flute. History of the baroque fluteThe earliest record of a flute is in a ninth century BC Chinese poem ¡¥Shih Ching¡¦, but the first pictorial evidence of a transverse flute did not appear until the second century BC, on an urn in Italy. The recorder was the predecessor of the transverse flute, but gradually, the flute became the more dominant instrument. During the baroque period (between about 1650 ¡V 18th century), four main flutes were in use. These were the treble, the alto, the tenor and the bass. Each was pitched a perfect fifth apart (apart from the alto and tenor, which were very similar), and had a range of about two octaves. The bass flute was usually replaced by a sackbutt in wind ensembles, as it had a small range and a weak sound. The baroque flute ¡V which later was developed into the Boehm flute, was in fact the descendent of the tenor flute. This was noted to have the range of the early female voice in 1619,¡§Certain instrumentalists are of the opinion that the pitch of the transverse flute (and the recorder) is that of a true tenor. Yet if one plays this note against an organ pipe, then it is in fact a true treble¡¨ The material used to make the transverse flute in the 17th and 18th centuries was boxwood, but ivory or ebony flutes were also available. Quantz (more to come on Quantz)was an important person in the development of the baroque flute, as a flautist and author of flute instruction books and flute music. In 1660, he added the Dƒq key, because the 7th hole was too far from the 6th for fingers to reach with ease. The most obvious change in the 17th century was the shape of the flute. In the 16th century it was cylindrical, and by the 18th century, it had become more or less conical. (More to come on this impact)The addition of more keys was a slow process, as many professional players resisted the change. The reasons for resistance were that the keys make more slurs impossible, they leak, and although they were useful for solos, the orchestral parts written for the flute were too easy to require them. By the beginning of the 19th century, flutes only had six keys and eight finger holes. The flute was still made of wood, with the keys being of brass. However, within 20 years, in 1820, two more keys had been added. Hotteterre played a large part in the development of the transverse flute, and in 1707, published his book ¡¥Principles de la Flute Traversiere¡¦. In this he showed how to distinguish between enharmonic notes. He showed how notes with a flat are actually higher than those enharmonic equivalents with a sharp. He based intervals on compromises, his octave only had twelve notes, rather than using the pureness of the major 3rds in all keys, as had been done before him.
