Thanks to traveling minstrels, audiences all over Europe were soon reacquainted with the instrument. Often accompanied with a drum, the flute was often used in a military context but was also played at court. The transverse flute found in Europe during this period was a single piece of wood, featured six finger holes and was often known as the “fistula Germanica” (German Flute) to distinguish it from the more popular recorder. It is thought to be reintroduced to Western Culture during the Middle Ages thanks to the Byzantine Empire via Asia and made its initial appearance in Germany and France. Middle Ages and the Renaissance: drums and consortsĪfter the fall of the Roman Empire and the onset of the Dark Ages, the transverse flute all but disappeared from Europe until the 11th Century. A Chinese version of the transverse flute known as the Chi flute dating back to roughly the same time period of the Etruscan’s has also been discovered. Transverse Flutes are found in Etruscan iconography dating back to the 4th Century BC and were known to be used by the Romans. These early versions of the flute were almost all end blown like the modern recorder while the modern flute used today is a side-blown (transverse) instrument.
Instead, it was the distant precursor of the oboe, the aulos, which was the instrument that was most often favored among those in high standing in Greek society. However, the upper echelons of Greek Culture considered this version of the flute as an instrument for the common man holding it in scant regard. The Ancient Greeks were also known to have developed rather sophisticated early flutes which featured six finger holes and were blown from the upper end. 9000-year-old flutes made out of wing bones of cranes have been discovered in China and the cross flute has been mentioned in ancient Indian Literature as back as 1500 BCE. The Egyptians and Sumerians were thought to be the first to add three to four regular finger holes and the Sumerians were also first to mention the instrument in cuneiform tablets dating back 4600 years. While dating back to prehistory, the tradition of the flute continued with the rise of the first civilizations in both the Far East and the Fertile Crescent. These first known flutes were end blown like a modern day recorder, had as many as five holes in them, and one even featured a v-shaped mouthpiece made out of a piece of vulture bone. Primitive flutes made of bone dating back nearly 40,000 years have been discovered in both Germany and China, making the flute one of the oldest known wind instruments. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FLUTE Stone Ages and Early Civilizationsįlutes are one of mankind’s oldest and most popular instruments that have been with us since long before the dawn of civilization.
0 kommentar(er)
