The Flute Through the Years
The Middle Ages & Renaissance
1320- one piece, wooden flute about 2' long and in the key of 'D' is created
1511- 'Zwerchpfeiff' were created, which were narrower, and had about 6 holes
1636- 'Flute Allemands' were created in the key of 'D' and 'E', and made out of wood
17th and 18th Centuries
1670- the first 3 piece flute appears in famous orchestras in France
1720- middle joint is divided into 2 pieces, and an extra 2 keys are added so that more notes can be produced
1722- 1782- many other keys were added such as C#, G#, B-flat, F, and C
19th Century
1808- Fredrick Nolan incents open holes, and connects keys to each other
1822- flute becomes thinner, and keys are adjust by the Nicholsons
1827- Rudall and Rose's 8-keyed flutes become very popular, and in high demand
circa 1830- Beethoven begins to use flutes in his symphonies
Developments (The Boehm Era)
1810-1832- Boehm becomes interested in the flute, and starts to perfect the instrument by building his own models and fiddling around with the keys and springs to produce different sounds for the individual notes
1834- The Boehm flute becomes very popular in Germany, and France
1846- Boehm tries experimenting with metals to build his flutes, and decides on silver because of the tone quality (Boehm was the main inventor of the modern flute)
1847- Boehm flutes are shipped to different countries, and become and official instrument
1878- Boehm perfects his silver model of the flute, and the instrument is used in famous orchestral scores such as Brahms, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky
The 20th Century (Modern Developments)
1948+ - helpful changes to the flute are made, such as improving the tone, and sound by stabalizing
- new types of flutes are created such as the Ring Flute, invented by James Johnson in 2005
1320- one piece, wooden flute about 2' long and in the key of 'D' is created
1511- 'Zwerchpfeiff' were created, which were narrower, and had about 6 holes
1636- 'Flute Allemands' were created in the key of 'D' and 'E', and made out of wood
17th and 18th Centuries
1670- the first 3 piece flute appears in famous orchestras in France
1720- middle joint is divided into 2 pieces, and an extra 2 keys are added so that more notes can be produced
1722- 1782- many other keys were added such as C#, G#, B-flat, F, and C
19th Century
1808- Fredrick Nolan incents open holes, and connects keys to each other
1822- flute becomes thinner, and keys are adjust by the Nicholsons
1827- Rudall and Rose's 8-keyed flutes become very popular, and in high demand
circa 1830- Beethoven begins to use flutes in his symphonies
Developments (The Boehm Era)
1810-1832- Boehm becomes interested in the flute, and starts to perfect the instrument by building his own models and fiddling around with the keys and springs to produce different sounds for the individual notes
1834- The Boehm flute becomes very popular in Germany, and France
1846- Boehm tries experimenting with metals to build his flutes, and decides on silver because of the tone quality (Boehm was the main inventor of the modern flute)
1847- Boehm flutes are shipped to different countries, and become and official instrument
1878- Boehm perfects his silver model of the flute, and the instrument is used in famous orchestral scores such as Brahms, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky
The 20th Century (Modern Developments)
1948+ - helpful changes to the flute are made, such as improving the tone, and sound by stabalizing
- new types of flutes are created such as the Ring Flute, invented by James Johnson in 2005