Morning journal and courier., 1886-10-27

Musical Instrument with a History
The Evolution of an Instrument of
the Anctents.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER:
Very few persons who have heard the rich
musical tones of the flute in the hands of a
skilled performer aware of the important
place this beautiful instrument has occupied
in musical history from the days of the
cient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans down
to the present time. With the march of civ
ilization it has kept pace until the rude pipe
of the ancients has developed into master
piece of mechanical art and inventive genius.
We are indebted to the history of the an
cient Egyptians for the information that the
only musical instruments used by them were
the flute, Tyre, or harp, and trumpet. No
celebration of pomp and ceremony was con-
sidered complete by them without the aid
of the music produced by performers upon
these instruments.
The most skilled performers received re-
wards for their public performances more
than equal to the most extravagant salaries
now given to italian opera singers, and were
consequently equally luxurious in their style
of living. Amabaens, the harper, whenever
he appeared on the stage paid an Attic
talent (nearly 81 900 of our present money
for his performance, and Xenophon in the
following passage gives striking picture of
the manners of those performers: eff, " he
says, "a bad performer on the flute wishes to
it? He must initiate the great flute players in
all those circumstances that are extraneous
to the art itself, and principally as they are
remarkable for spending great sums in rich
furniture and for appearing in public with
great number of servants, he must do the
same"
Human nature is the same in all ages;
there are few modern arts or professions in
which the same method of gaining distinc-
tion is not resorted to. Thus we see that the
f1utist of ancient times was a parsonage of
no little importance, although his instrument,
which consisted of a long cane tube blown
from the end and having six holes which
were manipulated by three fingers of each
hand was a sorry affair, indeed in comparison
with the magnificent instrument invented by
Boehm which we are accustomed to hear
nowadays. Owing to the faulty construction
of the flute it was considered the black sheep
of the orchestra until Joseph facet, in the
year -, invented several keys which en-
ab1ed the performers to make the semi-tones
in concert tune, instead of resortlng to faulty
lingering and consequently producing yelled
and false intonation.
The advantages of this Improvement were
soon apparent, as the flute was at once given
a more prominent part in the orchestra and
composers began to write more elaborate and
beautiful passages for the instrument. Still
many imperfections were discoverable to
even the amateur in art, and not until Pro-
feSSOr The0bald BOehm OF Munich, Germany,
invented the instrument called after him
the flute as near perfection as it is possible
for wind instrument to be. Boehm dis
covered that if the holes were made larger,
covered by keys instead of the fingers, and
the bore cylinder instead of conical that the
performer could not only attain wonderful
degree of facility in execution but produce
quality of tone at once rich and powerful, at
the same time capable of the most exquisite
shadings of expression; while the information
is so near perfect that duets, trios
and quartettes of Boenm flutes
in the hands of a good performer
will produce most enhancing harmony. Great
composers, recognizing in the tones of the
flute the near approach to the soprano voice,
have given it one of the most important
places in the orchestral score of grand opera,
while all who have heard the symphonies of
Beethoven and Mendelssohn, as we'll as other
great works of orchestral composers, as rem
dered by Theodore Thomas and other large
orchestras, cannot fail to notice and enjoy
the many beautiful passages given to the
flute.
The popularity of this most musical of
instruments is fast increasing. Its beauty
as solo instrument with an accompaniment
upon the piano or guitar renders it most
fascinating instrument for the parlor, fact
that is appreciated by many music-loving
amateurs for the comparatively small amount
of practice necessary to produce good results
renders it peculiarly fitted for those who study
music for the love of the art alone.
CHARLES T. HOWE.