Fife – George Miller

Fifes

Let’s go back in time to 1778…England was under the reign of George III and in the midst of the American Revolutionary war. Amongst the fighting on the battlefields, the shrill, high sound of a fife could be heard…

Here we have a unique and extremely rare fife. A fife is a cylindrically bored transverse flute. It is normally made in one piece or sometimes two and tends to have six tone-holes. So, what makes this one so rare?

Miller stamp on fife
Image of a fife

This boxwood fife features a stamp that reads G. MILLER/LONDON and includes a five petaled rose on a stem. This stamp was also used for the first clarinets made in England (which still survive today) by George MILLER around 1765-1790. Later, he started to use the mark of the unicorn. Two now famous clarinets made by George Miller are held in the Bate collection. They were portrayed in the painting The Sharp Family, John Zoffany (1779-1781) http://www.18thc-cities.paris-sorbonne.fr/Zoffany-s-Sharp-Family.html. It depicts the musical pastimes of the Sharp family, who in the 1750s played chamber music on the Thames.

There are only two other fifes known to exist by this same maker according to Phillip Young (4900 Historical Woodwind Instruments: Young, Phillip T, 1993). The fife must have been made in the early days of Miller’s career, around 1770 as the year 1778 is engraved on one of the ferrules. Furthermore, the initials of its owner, a certain M.H. are engraved on the both the upper and lower ferrules.

It seems that Miller was perhaps of German origin and trained other Germans who came to England to work in the instrument making business, such as ASTOR or CRAMER. These makers went on to use the unicorn stamp on their instruments.

This is a C fife that plays at a=415 Hz. A truly lovely and playable piece of history!

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E. Rittershausen, Berlin

One of the beautiful stories of mythology tells of the way the first musical instrument was suggested. As the story runs, as Orpheus was walking along the shores of the sea, his foot struck a reed that had been cast up by the waters, and had dried in the sun. The reed gave forth a soft, sweet sound as it was made to vibrate by the stroke of Orpheus’ foot and the result was the lyre or hand-harp of the ancient Egyptians. A similar story, and probably the same one adapted to the wind instruments, is that of Lucretius which says that “the simple flute had its origin from the breathing of western winds over certain reeds,” and thus was suggested the musical pipe, or simple tube, which has developed into one of the most fascinating of instruments.

The most elaborate and beautiful collection of flutes ever displayed in the United States, and probably in the world, was seen by visitors to the German section of the Columbian Exposition. The display was that of E. Rittershausen, of Berlin. It was arranged in a large, square glass case, and consisted of flutes made of various woods, of Ebonite and of sterling silver. The Rittershausen flutes are the standard of the world, and have received the indorsement of the best performers upon this favorite instrument. Until 1832 the flute was not regarded as a perfect instrument. In that year Theobald Boehm, of Munich, brought the instrument to such a degree of perfection as to make it one of the most prominent of orchestral and solo instruments. The Rittershausen flutes are made exactly upon the Boehm system, and with such wondrous skill and delicacy of workmanship as to have long since become the favorite of discriminating flutists. It is, in fact, the instrument universally referred to when the Boehm flute is desired.

Like the illustrious Boehm, Mr. Rittershausen is also a virtuoso as well as a manufacturer, devoting his entire faculties to the production of a perfect flute. By his own practical skill he is enabled to appreciate the many details and requirements in the construction of such an instrument as is demanded by the most fastidious virtuoso. This, it will readily be seen, is an invaluable consideration in the selection of a flute by a skilled performer. And in the rapid progress of musical culture of America, there are many lovers of the beautiful instrument who are its admirers and enthusiastic students at the present time.

Living in the musical city of Berlin, Mr. Rittershausen is thrown in personal contact with the greatest flutists of Europe, thereby receiving many suggestions from them that are of incalculable benefit in the manufacture of his instruments. The Rittershausen factory is located at 107 Bergmann street, Berlin, and its product has been famous from the establishing of the present business in 1870. Each year adds largely to the number of Rittenhausen-Boehm flutes in use in America, and they have received the highest testimonials from the most famous composers and performers in this country as well as those abroad. The American representative of the Rittershausen flutes is Mr. Carl Fischer, No. 6 Fourth Avenue, New York.

Musical Instruments at the World’s Columbian Exposition – Frank D. Abbottt, Charles A. Daniell – 1895 – P. 200