Flute, Oboe & Bassoon School

More than 15 young musicians are currently being trained at the Flute, Oboe and Bassoon School of the Lefkada Philharmonic Society.

Let’s take a look at some information about each of these instruments.

Flute

Flute (Italian: flauto, Greek: plagiavlos) is the name given to any wind instrument, the sound of which results from the impact of an air current on a thin edge. The impact creates turbines, which stimulate oscillations in the air tube of the instrument. Changes in the pitch of the sound produced are created by closing and opening the holes along the tube. Depending on the grip of the instrument, we can distinguish the elongated and the oblique flute (flauto traverso, Greek: sideways), which are presented in many variations in different cultures.

There are indications that flute instruments were used as musical instruments by Neanderthals as early as 50,000 years ago. In ancient Greece, a similar instrument was the “diavlos” depicted in many sculptures. Plagiavlos is depicted in Roman and Byzantine sculptures, and is widespread in the music of East Asia (references as early as the 9th century BC) and Western Europe (proven since the 12th century AD). The flute is particularly widespread in folk music of the Middle East and the Balkans. German archaeologists have unearthed flutes made of bird bones and ivory, which are at least 35,000 years old and are probably the oldest musical instruments in the world. From the Renaissance onwards, many paintings attest to the wider use of the plagiavlos in Europe.

In fact, the flute dominated Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the mid-18th century. From this time onwards the use of the sideflute was spread, which is used today as a perfect instrument of the orchestra. Until about the middle of the 17th century the pipe of the sideflute was single with cylindrical perforation. Then somebody, initially in France, “broke” the flute into three parts (split oblique 1780), the head, the middle part and the base. The head had a cylindrical perforation, while the other parts had an inverted conical one. The detachable sideflute type serves to accurately drill and correct the sound by inserting middle sections of different lengths.

The sideflute pipe usually had 6 holes until the 17th century. Caps and wrenches were originally installed by French manufacturers with the creation of the detachable type. During the 18th century the number of holes increased to 8 and since 1800 even more. In 1832 it was built by Th. Boehm a conical drill, in which the holes were arranged exclusively by acoustic criteria and not by handling. In 1847 followed the cylindrical slope with a parabolic drilling head and improved plugs, which is still used today. This original wooden instrument was once made of ivory, in the 19th century, and of glass. From the beginning of the 20th century, the sideflutes are made for use in the orchestra almost exclusively from metal (modern split flute) – some models are silver or gold!

Describing the evolution of the flute and other instruments in this application it is possible to assume that the instruments of the orchestra were improved in 3-4 stages by some competent instrumentalists and quickly took the final form we know today. In fact, hundreds of instrumentalists have been involved in shaping these instruments in over half a millennium, improving the flute, each one of them contributing one detail or building a new instrument, which other younger ones later improved.

Oboe

The Hobbois (pronounced French: Hautbois: oboe, German: Oboe: oboe) is a wind instrument with a double tongue mouthpiece, fitted to a bell-shaped ebony tube with a closed metal system applied to it. Its length is 60 cm and belongs to the Woodwinds. Its sound is expressive with a melancholy tone. It is somewhat difficult to handle, mainly because it takes a loud puff to let the air pass through the thin mouthpiece, making it difficult for the musician, if not blown properly. The name comes from the French haut bois (tall wood) that identified this instrument, to be distinguished from the bass of the same Fagoto family. It can also play very low and very high.

Bassoon

The fagotto (Italian: fagotto, Greek: varyavlos), is a wind musical instrument that belongs to the oboe family. It is first mentioned in the second half of the 16th century, however its modern form with a double tube is found from the 17th century. Its value was recognized by great classical composers mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries. It came from the old instrument called bobarta bass. From the 18th century it was used exclusively as a solo instrument. In the following centuries it underwent modifications and became an essential member of the orchestras, due to the wide range of sound colors it is able to produce. Its range exceeds three octaves and presents diversity in its sound, which is characterized as darker and melodic in the low and middle notes and louder in the higher ones. Its cheerful tone inspired many composers to use it, in order to give a comic impression. Its variant is the counter bassoon, or double bassoon, which is larger in dimensions, whose tube exceeds a total of 5 meters, and plays an octave lower.

It consists of a cone-shaped tube. It has a double tongue mouthpiece. This is the second deepest of the wooden wind instruments of the symphony orchestra, hence the name variavlos, while the most deep is the “contra bassoon”. It differs from the oboe in depth by two octaves. Its height reaches 1.3 meters, however the total length of its pipe, which is folded, extends to about 2.5 meters.

In its modern version, the bassoon is found in two distinct types: the German (or Heckel) and the French (or Buffet). The first is more common and consists of five open holes and 24 plugs. The second includes six open holes and 22 plugs. Although the first instruments were made from harder varieties of wood, maple is traditionally the preferred wood. Its parts are: 1. Double tongue 2. Spiral 3. Side 4. Base 5. Bass 6. Bell.