devoted to performing music, both old and new, for the eighteenth century flute d’amore.
My fascination with the sound of the flute d’amore began when I was a student in Trevor Wye’s flute studio. One day he introduced his class to a lesser known member of the flute family, the flute d’amore. This flute, considered the mezzo voice of the flute family, falls between the regular flute and the alto flute. I was instantly intrigued by the softer, mellower sounds that it produced. It wasn’t until I began focusing on historically informed performance practice that I came across music for the flute d’amore. Composers in the 18th century, like Telemann, Graupner, Molter, and Roman, wrote for this unique instrument. Wanting to dig a little deeper and find out more about this eighteenth-century instrument and the music written for it, I commissioned German flute maker, Martin Wenner, to make a copy after Friedrich Haupt. The flute is in A and pitched at A=415.
Flauto D’Amore by Friedrich Haupt, ca. 1750
History
Originating in the Baroque era, the flute d’amore enjoyed popularity between 1750 and 1810. Known for its dark mysterious tone quality, these flutes were pitched in either A or Bb. Unlike the alto flute which has a wider bore in relation to its tube length, the flute d’amore is built with a similar ratio between bore diameter and tube length to the modern concert flute in C.
New Music for Flute D’amore!
Expanding the repertoire of music for flute d’amore, one commission at a time:
- Suite for Baroque flute d’amore and harpsichord (2018) by Eric Malmquist
- The Rose Cheek’d Laura (2018) by Eric Malmquist
for voice, flute d’amore, and harpsichord
- The Fair Singer (2018) by Eric Malmquist
for voice, flute d’amore, and harpsichord
- My Lute Awake (2019) by Eric Malmquist
for voice, flute d’amore, and harpsichord
- Obscure Sorrows Suite No. 1 (2022) by Ronnie Kuller
for flute d’amore, oboe d’amore, viola d’amore, and bass viol
