FLAGEOLET, in music, a kind of flûte-à-bec with a new
fingering, invented in France at the end of the 16th century, and
in vogue in England from the end of the 17th to the beginning of
the 19th century. The instrument is described and illustrated
by Mersenne,[1] who states that the most famous maker and
player in his day was Le Vacher. The flageolet differed from
the recorder in that it had four finger-holes in front and two
thumb-holes at the back instead of seven finger-holes in front
and one thumb-hole at the back. This fingering has survived
in the French flageolet still used in the provinces of France in
small orchestras and for dance music. The arrangement of the
holes was as follows: 1, left thumb-hole at the back near
mouthpiece; 2 and 3, finger-holes stopped by the left hand;
4, finger-hole stopped by right hand; 5, thumb-hole at the back;
6, hole near the open end. According to Dr Burney (History
of Music) the flageolet was invented by the Sieur Juvigny, who
played it in the Ballet comique de la Royne, 1581. Dr Edward
Browne,[2] writing to his father from Cologne on the 20th of June
1673, relates, “We have with us here one . . . and Mr Hadly
upon the flagelet, which instrument he hath so improved as to
invent large ones and outgoe in sweetnesse all the basses whatsoever
upon any other instrument.” About the same time was
published Thomas Greeting’s Pleasant Companion; or New
Lessons and Instructions for the Flagelet (London, 1675 or 1682),
a rare book of which the British Museum does not possess a
copy. The instrument retained its popularity until the beginning
of the 19th century, when Bainbridge constructed double and
triple flageolets.[3] The three tubes were bored parallel through
one piece of wood communicating near the mouthpiece which
was common to all three. The lowest notes of the respective
tubes were .
The word flageolet was undoubtedly derived from the medieval Fr. flajol, the primitive whistle-pipe. (K. S.)
- ↑ Harmonie universelle (Paris, 1636), bk. v. pp. 232-237.
- ↑ See Sir Thomas Browne’s Works, vol. i. p. 206.
- ↑ See Capt. C. R. Day, Descriptive Catalogue of Musical Instruments (London, 1891), pp. 18-22 and pl. 4; also Complete Instructions for the Double Flageolet (London, 1825); and The Preceptor, or a Key to the Double Flageolet (London, 1815).