Flute
The English and French word for the German Flöte.
What it means
Flute is the English designation, and flûte the French, for the German Flöte. In scores the term stands for the transverse flute, unless an addition indicates otherwise. Important additions are flûte traversière for the transverse flute, flûte à bec for the recorder, and flûte piccolo or simply piccolo for the small, octave-transposing flute. In English, recorder means the recorder, while flute alone stands for the transverse flute — a distinction that is important when reading scoring indications.
Musical use
The transverse flute belongs to the woodwind instruments, although modern instruments are mostly made of metal; what matters is tone production by an airstream broken at the edge of the embouchure hole. It is not transposing and sounds as notated, with a range of about three octaves from middle C. Its sound is soft and restrained in the low register, round in the middle register, bright and assertive in the high register. In the orchestra it takes on melody, figuration, and tonal brightening; as a solo instrument it has a repertoire that extends from the Baroque to the present.
Performance practice
The tone arises from the interplay of lip opening, direction of air, and air speed; strength does not help, accuracy does. Practise long notes and the change of octave without a change of fingering to gain control over the air angle. Expect high air consumption, especially in the low register, and plan breathing places musically. The intonation wanders with dynamics: quiet notes sink, loud ones rise — balance this through the lip position, not through the head joint. Warm the instrument up before you tune. Clean it inside after every playing and keep the delicate mechanism free of bends.
Bear in mind that scoring indications in French and English sources are easily misunderstood: a piece for flûte à bec is not intended for transverse flute, and vice versa. Check the addition before you take on a part. For music of the eighteenth century it is worthwhile to occupy yourself with the traverso, whose unequal key colours belong to the style. In the orchestra, coordination with the oboe is important, because both often colour the same line; settle articulation and vibrato together.