Flutes
i just got a new flute! Oh Boy!! I am currently the happy owner of some wonderful instruments, and as I am often being asked about my flutes I thought I would write a brief personal essay about each one, starting with my copy of a instrument by:
Bressan made by Rod Cameron after the flute in ebony and silver in the V. and A Collection in London. It was Katie Bircher who put the bee back in my bonnet about this flute. I had wanted to play a Bressan (fell for the sound...but who can resist such mighty, mighty charms?) 20 years ago, but quickly realized it wasn't going to work in the context of Musica Antiqua Koeln (I was just starting to play there...loud, louder, loudest!) and when the Palanca came along I knew what I had to do...But a few years ago Katie let me play her Cameron Bressan copy and I was hooked. I now have one of my own, with three middle joints, one at 392, one at 400 and one at 415. I used the 400 joint, which Rod kindly made at my request, to record the Blavet sonatas (oeuvre 2), because I am in an a = 400 phase. The pitch just sounds good to my ears....it always has actually, but now I can convince my fellow players to tune to me! The 415 joint was what I used in our soon-to-be released recording of Handel's Apollo and Daphne, and is very close to the original pitch of the instrument (a = 412, if I am not mistaken). The 392 joint is as yet virgin, because I just don't like 392...makes flutes sound 'tubby', in my opinion. Well, we all have our little quirks and mine is a = 400. This flute cost me a great deal of anguish. I knew as soon as I got it that it was a superb instrument, but an exceedingly demanding one: it wants to be played just so...stubborn as a mule. But when you get it right......Heaven! Colors! Diminuendo! Superb!
Here it is, displayed against the Wemyss tartan, in Rod's honour.
My boxwood, bone and silver Grenser (a = 415) made by Gerhard Kowalewsky is a copy of an early 19th-century instrument with only one key (Hooray! I personally HATE keys; they take all the fun out of flute-playing for me by doing the work that your lips have to do on a one-keyed flute...I feel an immediate loss of contact with the instrument once I start pushing keys...). I used this lovely, lithe and somewhat shy instrument to record the Mozart flute quartets - had the Wijne (see below) been available I would perhaps not have used such a late instrument to record this repertoire, but back in those days it was hard for me to find instruments that really inspired me: we have a much greater variety of excellent flutes to play at the moment! Anyway, you can read more about this instrument at Gerhard's site, just pop the link above...
I am often asked about traversi at a=440. Well, given my love of a=400 you can imagine that 440 is not my favorite pitch, but from time to time one needs a high-pitched instrument. Just last month I taught a course in Germany in which Telemann's Tafelmusik was performed by a mixed ensemble of modern and historical instruments; Simon Polak's copy of the Ehrenfeld Collection Kirst 
came in quite handy. It is a strong instrument that can make itself heard when modern strings are playing, is very well in tune and offers a wide range of colors and nuances. Simon makes these instruments at 430 and 440; if you are looking for a flute to play with modern instruments this is worth having a look at!
The new love of my life is the boxwood and ivory copy of an early 4-piece flute stamped Naust made by Fridtjof Aurin. The original is in Peter Spohr's collection, and I think this 
glorious flute is making quite a stir among traverso-players and builders... it is great! An early boxwood flute that works from top to bottom, and with fewer quirks than the Bressan, it is the answer to many a player's prayers. And, it is powerful enough for larger halls and orchestral work. I have two middle joints, one at the original pitch a = 400 (on which I just recorded the Telemann Fantasias) and one at a = 415, which I am playing for the first time in public tonight in the Concertgebouw! I will have more to say about this instrument once I get to know it better...but I am sure it will be pure praise. It has one very strange characteristic, though: low d is very low...
What can you say about a flute that you've played on with joy for almost 20 years? My (a = 415) copy of the Palanca
in the Spohr collection (made in hardwood and bone with a sliver key) by Gerhard Kowalewsky has a special place in my affections! It looks as worn as an antique, but still plays like a dream. We have been through a lot together...and my otherwise undeserved reputation for mistreating my instruments stems from the fact that this flute has proven to be indestructible! I don't need to say much about Palanca, as it has become a very popular instrument. I do think, however, that dating it to the second half of the 18th century is a mistake. When I first got my Palanca copy I took it to Alfredo Bernadini, who knows quite a lot about Palanca as an oboe-maker. Based on Palanca's oboe-career, Alfredo suggested that this flute must be from an early period in the maker's development: he was always a wee bit ahead of his time with inner and outer instrument-design. To base a late 18th-century dating of this flute on the fact that the mouth-hole is oval is a bit short-sighted: I have seen quite a few instruments whose mouth-holes have been enlarged or even plugged and re-drilled by unknown hands at a later date...Surely this Palanca is 1730-40, with a later embouchure-hole? By the way, I also have a theory that Palanca was Hawaiian. Type Francesco into the Hawaiian Baby Name machine in the link section and you shall see what I mean!
My copy of a flute by Tassi 
(the original is in the Eherenfeld Collection) made by Simon Polak at the original pitch (a = 400) is a dream come true. For years I wanted to have a copy of this instrument, and at last I found Simon was prepared to make one just for me (it's hardwood, ivory and has a silver key...he also makes them at lower pitch). I recorded the Blavet concerto on it, and Marion Moonen and I recorded 3 suites from Blavet's little books of recueils on matching Tassi instruments. Now, that was a fun recording session! The Tassi is just a gorgeous flute, one that works from top to bottom and with a good g# to boot! It is very elegant, both to see and to play, but robust enough for large ensembles. The original is probably a flute made for the Paris opera, where they played at low pitch till the cows came home (well, till the last performances of Lully in the 1770's), but you can read more all this it at Simon's site.......and hear some sound clips too (Kate Clark playing beautifully on a lower-pitched Tassi, a = 392).
An instrument I really am delighted to own is my copy of the Wijne (a = 415) in the Ehrenfeld Collection in Utrecht, which was made in fruitwood with a silver key 
by Simon Polak. I remember how, when I was 'unofficial curator' of the Ehrenfeld Collection (ok, the truth is I oiled the flutes twice a year cause I lived across the canal from the collection), I would look with longing at the original Wijne, wondering how it would have sounded if it had been in good condition (the original is broken and unplayable...Simon explains this all on his web site, just follow the link above if you'd like to know more). Anyway, one day I was in Simon's workshop so that we could fiddle about with the key on my Tassi, and there I saw the copy he had made of this lovely-looking and mysterious Wijne...oh! My heart beat a bit faster! I picked the flute up to try it out, and Simon looked skeptical. He was sure I wouldn't like the Wijne, as it has a very small mouth hole, and I guess he thinks I am full of hot air (just joking, Simon :-)). Anyway, I picked it up and was in love right away! It's a flute that wants to be approached gently, but will open up marvelously in your hands...the sound just pours out when you hit the right spot! I haven't recorded on this instrument yet, but hope to do so soon. A lovely, golden, limpid mid-18th-century flute.
Last update: Sunday, March 30, 2008