User:Lhund/Western concert flute

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Various Baroque Flutes and Recorders in the Berlin Museum of Musical Instruments

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During the Baroque period, the transverse flute was redesigned. Now often called the traverso (from the Italian), it was made in three or four sections or joints (the head, upper-body, lower-body and foot joint). Additionally, the traverso was made with a conical bore from the head joint down. This conical bore design gave the flute a wider range and more penetrating sound without sacrificing the softer, expressive qualities. The head joint of the traverso contains one embouchure hole in which air is blown through. Additionally, the two body pieces (upper-body and lower-body) each contain three equally sized finger holes. There is one key on the baroque flute and it is on the foot-joint. This key is usually made out of metal. The traverso, on the other hand, was made with a variety of materials including various types of wood, most often boxwood, as well as ivory and metal. While very few flutes remain from the Renaissance and Medieval eras, many Baroque flutes have been preserved.

In addition to the change of materials used to make baroque flutes, this era often led to a change in the role of the flute within the ensemble. During the Renaissance and Medieval eras, the flute was often only used in ensembles and group performances, however with the onset of the Baroque era, the traverso began to take on a role as a soloist.

In the Baroque era, composers began to write more music for the flute such as operas, ballets, chamber music, and even solos. The first written work for the solo traverso was a piece written by Michael de la Barre entitled “Pièces pour la flute traversiere avec la basse-continue” in 1702. Other notable baroque flute composers include, Praetorius, Schütz, Rebillé, Quantz, J.S Bach, Telemann, Blavet, Vivaldi, Hotteterre, Handel and Frederick the Great. Aside from the composition of new music, several books were published during this time that dove into the study of the Baroque flute. In 1707, Jacques Martin Hotteterre wrote the first method book on playing the flute: Principes de la flûte traversière. The 1730s brought an increase in operatic and chamber music feature of flutes. The end of this era found the publication of Essay of a Method of Playing the Transverse Flute by Quantz.

When compared to the modern flute, the Baroque flute requires less airflow, and produces much softer, mellower sounds: often blending in with other instruments in the orchestra.Additionally, when compared to the modern flute, the baroque flute requires the player to adjust with each note in order to make sure it is in tune. More adjustments are needed when playing notes outside of the D major scale. The flutist can change this pitch through small adjustments in the mouth and by turning the flute towards or away from the player.This need for continued adjustment was alleviated with the creation of more Modern flutes.

With the onset of the Romantic era, flutes began to lose favor: symphony orchestras rather featured brass and strings. However, with the onset of the 21st century, there has been a rise in the popularity of the Baroque flute, most notably led by flutist Barthold Kuijken, and others such as Frans Bruggen, Emi Ferguson, Peter Holtslag.These baroque flutists can also be seen performing in popular Baroque Orchestras that travel the world performing music using instruments from this period, as well as mimicking the style of music during this era.