French flageolet – GODFROY, Frédéric Eléanor

Flageolets

This French flageolet was made by Frédéric Eléanor GODFROY. He was born in 1805 in Paris and was the eldest son of Clair Godfroy (1774-1841). He was a woodwind instrument maker from 1827 to 1844. The GODFROY family was active in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were initially in La Couture-Boussey and then in Paris. They were renowned makers of flutes, flageolets, and clarinets. It seems that at some point Frédéric Eléanor set up on his own.
The instrument has 4 toneholes on the front and two on the back. It is made from Boxwood and through ageing has acquired a lovely honey colour. The rings and oar-shaped beak are made of horn.  It is in excellent playing condition and pitched at A, a=440 Hz.

LIBRARY OVERVIEW

Keyed French flageolet – GODFROY

This keyed French flageolet was made by Frédéric Eléanor GODFROY. He was born in 1805 in Paris and was the... read more

Silver Boehm flute – RITTERSHAUSEN, Emil

This silver Boehm flute was made by the renowned Berlin-based maker Emil RITTERSHAUSEN. Carl Emil Cäsar RITTERSHAUSEN (1852-1927) worked for... read more

Flûte perfectionnée – NONON, Jacques

This Nonon “flûte perfectionnée” is a beauty, isn’t it? It was elaborated in deep-brown cocuswood with utmost care and precision.... read more

Silver-plated ‘Silberton’ soprano recorder

If you’re never seen a ‘Silberton’ or ‘Silverton’ all-metal soprano recorder before, then now’s your chance. Here is a fine... read more

Contrabass clarinet – PROF. ROMEO ORSI

Here we have a stunning contrabass clarinet made by the firm Prof. Romeo Orsi. Born in Como, Italy, Romeo ORSI... read more

Silver flute – WM. S. HAYNES

This gorgeous Wm. S. Haynes inline flute is crafted in solid silver and is also rare. Why rare? By consulting... read more

Oboe – KULOW, Friedrich

This palisander, keyed oboe was made by Friedrich KULOW (1853-1939).Friedrich Karl Hermann KULOW was born in Berlin in 1853, where... read more

Romantic flute – LUVONI, Ubaldo

This Viennese-style Romantic flute was not made in Austria, but in Milan, Italy by Ubaldo LUVONI (1798-1847). He was active... read more

Boxwood

Boxwood is a lovely wood and it’s hardly surprising that it remains quite a favourite among today’s woodwind instrument makers. Buxus sempervirens, known as European boxwood, or common boxwood, is a species of flowering plant. It is an evergreen bush really, rather than a tree. It takes a long time to grow and it is difficult to find completely straight trunks without knots to use for items such as flutes.

Boxwood has a uniform grain and is very dense and hard, which is why it was so popular for wood turning and instrument making in the 18th century. At that time many instruments were predominantly made from boxwood. Then several tropical hardwoods became popular during the 1800s as tonewood. People wanted to have furniture and also instruments made from exotic types of wood. So, boxwood lost ground to these newcomers to Europe.

There were also some disadvantages to boxwood: its tendency to warp and easily soil. This led to the ‘banana’ effect with flutes for example, as the wood warped over time.

The wood is naturally yellow in colour and can be left with a natural, polished finished. Boxwood then darkens over time to have a nice honey-yellow colour. It can also be stained using acid staining to give it an orange-brown or dark-brown colour, and in wooden flute construction, many makers use a violin varnish for the finish. This is an extremely arduous technique that requires expertise and precision.

Sadly, since around 2006, the spread of the box tree moth called the Cydalima perspectalis has led to huge losses of boxwood ‘trees’ that have taken hundreds of years to grow. It was sad to see forests of boxwood reduced to almost nothing.

Now it’s very rare and wonderful to see just one full grown 100+ year boxwood tree. So, when that happens – some people just can’t resist and have to hug it!

 

 

G-sharp key

Open/closed G-sharp key
The open G-sharp key was promoted by Theobald Boehm. So, G-sharp is fingered like a G on the modern-day flute and G is fingered like the modern-day G-sharp. The open G-sharp key mechanism avoids having an additional second G-sharp tone hole, which is not optimal in acoustical terms.
The closed G-sharp key is the regular mechanism on modern day instruments as well as traditional conical wooden more-keyed flutes. G-sharp is obtained by pressing the G-sharp lever. G is produced by pressing down all four fingers of the left hand.
Theobald Boehm’s open G-sharp was not successful in the end and is no longer used in flute-making, with some exceptions.