Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 45
Scan 45
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
6 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 25. See the scan on archive.org.
1No. 44 is a most interesting specimen of these very early instruments. In the following century the finger-holes were much increased in size, those of the flute described by Mersenne varying from .266 to .444 inch in diameter. Probably with a view to improving what are termed "fork-fingerings" the holes were afterwards reduced in size. Those of the Monzani flute, No. 65, vary from .18 to .36 inch. The size was again increased by the celebrated Nicholsons, father and son, the largest hole (that for f'#) of the Nicholson flutes being often .45 inch in its exterior diameter. The best modern concert-flutes, in the writer's opinion, have equal-sized holes (with the exception of the highest three) of .64 inch. The main advantage of this increase and uniformity is the preservation of perfect intonation in the several octaves.
3In the times when Mersenne, Hotteterre and Quantz wrote, 1636 to 1752, the compass of the flute was considered to extend for about two octaves and a half; we have now three octaves of good notes, with a few higher sounds of inferior quality of tone.
5About the year 1660 the first step was taken in the direction of rendering the flute a chromatic instrument. This was the addition of a seventh finger-hole, giving d'#, governed by a closed key which was opened by the little finger of the right hand. The name of the inventor of this key is unknown, but no great ingenuity had been exercised in its application to the flute, as similar keys had long previously been applied to other wind-instruments. We are told by Quantz that about the year 1722 the flute was lengthened in order that c'# and c'## might be obtained. The holes for these notes were governed, as at present, by open keys. No. 50 is an early example of a flute with the c'# key. The well-known keys for f##, g#, and bb were coming into use at a period not far removed from 1774. The precise dates of their invention cannot be determined, but there is certain evidence that they were made in London by Richard Potter, the grandfather of the renowned Cipriani Potter, before the above-mentioned year. It is also proved by Dr. J. J. H. Ribock, a German doctor of medicine, that these keys were made, at a period before the year 1782, by Tromlitz of Leipsic and by Kusder of London, the maker of the two hautboys numbered 178 and 179. The long key for f## was invented by Tromlitz before the year 1786. The
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