Les flautes de vidre del Museu de la Música de Barcelona (1839-1844)

Authors

  • Montserrat Gascón

Abstract

Paris, 1806. Claude Laurent, a Parisian watchmaker, patented an instrument that captivated musicians and aristocrats alike throughout Europe: a flute of glass and silver, occasionally with stone incrustations, which delighted even Napoleon Bonaparte and the Czar of Russia Alexander I. The genius of his flute was not limited to the material used to make it, however, but also involved the fact that, in order to integrate the mechanism within the glass, Laurent devised a system for attaching the keys which is still used today in the making of wind instruments. Barcelonas Music Museum possesses two flutes by Laurent, the purchase of which was recorded in 1944, although no further data are available which could help to explain their arrival in the city. The restoration of one of these flutes offered me the chance to give several concerts with such a very special instrument and this paper is the result of my interest in learning more about this quite fascinating but as yet little known and studied aspect of flute history.

Published

2017-03-21

Issue

Section

Articles