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CHAPTER VII.

THE PICCOLO: THE F FLUTE.

Piccolo—Orchestral use—Characteristics—Berlioz on its abuse—Its various registers—As used by great composers—Two piccolos—With cymbals, bells, etc.—As a solo instrument—Military varieties—The F flute.

The Flauto Piccolo, the highest pitched instrument of the orchestra, is a development of the earlier conicalThe
Piccolo
in the
Orchestra Schweitzerpfeiff, and to this day the conical bore is preferred to the cylinder bore, although some piccolos are made with the latter. The piccolo is in a sense a transposing instrument, as it sounds an octave above the written note. This is done in order to avoid numerous ledger lines. The compass of the instrument is said to extend to the C in altissimo,

but it is rarely used above the A (the top note of the pianoforte), though an occasional B may be met with in orchestral writings. I have never come across this top C in any piccolo part. As the instrument does not possess a tail-joint like the flute, its lowest note is D♮.

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