It is known that towards the end of the eighteenth century, flutes with eight keys, or double and alternate keyed flutes were preferred among musicians. Yet things were to change drastically with the Theobald BOEHM (1794-1881)1832 invention – the conical ring-key flute. Sadly, it was to become a beautiful instrument...
A four-part, boxwood flute by Martin METZLER (ca. 1755-1809), who made this instrument around the turn of the eighteenth century.Very little is known about Martin Metzler and his time in London. We do know that he rented dwellings in the area of Norton Folgate until about 1788. Martin Metzler was...
Stephan KOCH was born in Veszprém in Hungary on 12 April 1772. He was the son of the master turner, Christoph Koch and his wife Elisabetha. Stephan married Antonia Trost on 17 November 1799 and went on to have at least seven children. It seems that Stephan learnt the turning trade...
This elegant, German, Boxwood flute has ivory rings and a single brass key. We can date it to the late eighteenth century… perhaps around 1780. It was made by HAMICH. But who was HAMICH? A trawl through the New Langwill Index gives us quite a few matches… but it’s all rather...
Tebaldo MONZANI was born in Verona in 1762. He was the son of a merchant called Anthonio MONZANI and his wife Teresa. They had another son called Antonio who died in 1807. There is no information to be found on Monzani’s initial training or career as an instrumentalist in Italy. He...
A Hungarian in Vienna Johann ZIEGLER was born in Komárom in Hungary in 1794/5. Komárom is on the northern bank of the Danube River. Little is known about his early life and his beginnings in Vienna. We do know that he learnt his woodturning skills under the watchful eye of Stephan...
If you are interested in learning more about flute acoustics, we have an interesting article written by Jens Holger Rindel, a senior consultant at Multiconsult in Norway, senior researcher in Odeon A/S, Denmark, former Professor in acoustics at the Technical University of Denmark… and flutist! It was presented at the Baltic-Nordic...
A pitch pipe or pitchpipe is a small device that sounds one note or notes. It is used to establish the correct starting note or pitch reference for musicians or singers. Pitch pipes come in all shapes and sizes. Early pitch pipes Early pitch pipes looked very similar to a recorder, but...
We’ve all heard of apprentices and masters. The apprenticeship model is the journey towards mastering an art and becoming a master with the ability to teach others. But what is a journeyman? Read on to find out more about a journeyman’s life. Guilds Throughout history, most trades, such as carpentry, shoemaking or...
Very little is known about Ernst Robert LEIBL. It seems that he was born in Adorf in Vogtland, located in Saxony, Germany in 1871. Ernst Robert, or Robert LEIBL [which it seems he preferred] may well have been the son of Robert LEIBL. Robert LEIBL senior lived and worked for...
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!
Roughly serial numbers 1-102 c. 1810, 103-500 c.1811, 501-1000 c. 1814, 1001-1500 c. 1817, 1501-2000 c. 1821
