The previous owner found this
flute,
black with tarnish, in a vintage instrument shop in Philadelphia.
During restoration, this beautiful silver instrument slowly emerged.
  LEFT:
Note the "backward" layout of the non-Briccialdi thumb
keys.
Closing the upper key only give B natural, adding the lower gives Bb,
opposite
but more logical than the standard Boehm flute. The 1867 system
fingering
also sounds an open D without added trill keys. RIGHT: Note the Dorus (normally open) G#. All left hand fingers down gives a G, lifting the little finger gives G# -- again, backward from the modern fingering, yet again, more logical in that the more fingers down, the lower the note. This system also allows a truer E3 to sound without added mechanism of split-E or high E facilitator. |
    RIGHT: The logic of the open G# doesn't carry through to include an open D# -- too many objections from the old fogies, no doubt. Note the elegant, flowing R4 touches for D# and C#. ABOVE: The close-up "clamshell" shows the cradle supporting the low C roller hidden beneath the C# touch. |
Tiny
letters "C.D.I." are engraved on the back of the barrel. I was
naturally
curious if this might be the maker's initials, or perhaps a coded
serial
number. Eventually Mark Norman came to the rescue and let me know that
when Rudall Rose Carte and Company began making metal flutes, they did
indeed use a simple code based on the word "MUSICTRADE" with M=1, U=2,
S=3 etc. So "C.D.I." represents metal flute #594. They apparently
became
bored with the code or found it too cumbersome when they reached four
digit
numbers....
The
1867 Patent flute is in some respects superior to the Boehm flute that
has become standardized today. A major drawback is the increased
complexity of the mechanism. However, once it is properly set up,
it is very robust and stable, requiring minimal adjustment -- almost,
but
not quite, exactly unlike the Windows 98 operating system.
Images © J.
W. Sallenger