The Double Flageolet - Made in England

Author(s): William Waterhouse

Source: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 52 (Apr., 1999), pp. 172-182
Published by: Galpin Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/842521
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 WILLIAM WATERHOUSE

The Double Flageolet-

made in England

THEdouble flageolet is that rare phenomenon: a musical instrument

invented in England that continued for half a century to enjoy
success both at home and abroad. Invented in 1805, over the next fifty
years it was manufactured not only in London and Dublin, but in
Germany and North America as well. Examples are to be found today in
every major collection of musical instruments. The leading expert on
duct-flute instruments, Hermann Moeck, wrote in 1974 that the double
and triple flageolet deserved a special study.1 An appreciation of the
instrument and of its genial inventor William Bainbridge has been long
overdue.
The standard double flageolet, which may be defined as a double
duct-flute with inverse conical bores, was made in two sizes: the smaller
model, sometimes referred to as 'Octave', is pitched in G, while the
larger or 'Tenor' is pitched nominally a fourth lower in D.2 The
instrument enables the non-expert to play straightforward tunes in two-
part harmony, requiring the fingers of a single hand only to service each
side. When the same fingers of each hand are used, intervals of a third are
produced. For example using index fingers alone, the RH flageolet
sounds the lower tonic (notated as g'), the LH the third above. The
available range is of nearly two octaves. Sixths are easily produced by
raising the lower note by one octave. Normally made of boxwood with
ivory fittings and keys of silver or brass, the instrument incorporates a
number of ingenious features (see Fig. 1):
* An ivory beak mouthpiece removes any problem of embouchure. It
inserts into a top joint that disperses the wind into six concentric
channels; the resulting resistance has the effect of 'dosing' the breath,
thereby concealing any shortcomings of breath control on the part of
the player.

1 HermannMoeck, 'Spazierstockinstrumente, Czakane,Englischeund Wiener

Flageolette', in Studia instrumentorum musicaepopularisIII (Stockholm, 1974),
p.162.
2 The pitch of some tenor models is sometimesfound to be a semitone higher
in E flat. It may be noted that minor differencesin the specificationof different
instruments, especially between those of makers other than Bainbridge, are
reflectedin the conflictingfingeringsto be found in variousfingeringcharts.

172
Fig.1. mm leftto right). (a) Tenor by WillaamBaanbridXe,
triple-flageolet
London)WilliamWaterhouse collection; byJohn
(1p)Tenordouble-fl<eolet
Stmpson,London}rony Binghm collection; by
(c)Ostavedouble-fl<eolet
WilliamBainbridgCLondon,TonyBinghamzllection;(d)Delecta
Harmoniaby Sxtt & Puffiis}LsndonJWilliamWaterhouse zllection.
Tosay
PSaotogruph: Bingham
173
* A second joint contains a circular cavity which accommodates a
removeable sponge to absorb moisture; this prevented problems resulting
from condensation that had been the bugbear of the earlier flageolet.
* The third joint is a stock incorporating a labium and plug assembly at
each side, each fitted with a manually operated shutter or 'wind-cutter' that
enables the player to close off either at will. By silencing the RH flageolet,
the LH pipe may then be played by both hands like a normal flageolet.
* Ivory studs are mounted between the finger-holes to guide the player's
fingers safely on to the holes: these can prove useful when the hand
position needs to be shifted.
* The pitch resulting from each finger-hole when it is the lowest closed,
and the key is operated is stamped at the side of each.
* Certain holes are part-plugged with ebony: these serve to tune the
scale to the desired intervals and to act as register holes.
* Each flageolet is voiced differently in order to enable wide intervals to
be played.
Music for either model was uniformly notated in G. The beginner was
taught first to master the principal scale in the form of a sequence of
thirds and sixths (see Fig.2). In this way he could render simple tunes
ready harmonized without any knowledge of harmony. In playing, the
role of each hand (whether playing upper or lower part) constantly
changes. Certain notes need invariably to be played on one particular
side; however once this principle is grasped, the fingering of many
passagesbecomes surprisingly easy.
The principle of the double woodwind instrument reaches far back
into antiquity. While the double aulos of ancient Greece consists
essentially of two separate instruments operated together, other models
feature a double windway contained within a single structure. Medieval
and Renaissance models of these were often depicted in paintings, and
examples dating from the mid-18th century survive made by such well-
known makers as Thomas Lot (Paris),3 Anciuti (Milan) and Christian
Schlegel (Basel); today these instruments are called Akkordflte, fllte
d'accord,'chord flute', 'double recorder' or 'parallel connected double
duct-flute'. Corresponding folk or ethnic models are prevalent to this
day, especially in Balkan countries. The earliest record of the double
flageolet in England comes from the diary of Samuel Pepys.4 On 20
January 1668 he reported a visit to his recorder maker Drumbleby:
he doth show me ... a fashion of having two pipes of the same note fastened
together,so as I can playof one and then echo it upon the other;which is mighty
pretty.

3See William Waterhouse, The New LangwillIndex (London, 1993) for

biographicaldetailson all of the makerscited here.
4 Samuel
Pepys(1633-1703),statesman,diplomatanddiarist.See Robert Latham
andWilliamMatthews(eds.),TheDiaryof SamuelPepys,ix, London,1976, p.30.

174
 I

This is unfortunately all the information that we have about this

intriguing instrument.

SCALE for BAINBRIDGE'S New Patent DOUBLE FLAGEOLET when

plydlng .ttts .
The psoualCherde or DcoblWNOte swhen playing DoubleNotes hsD2Sha"p Double half Tone.
in the Key of G with one Sharp.
I 1Ao 0 1 I 0 0o\\o
2 22001
2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
13 0 0.000 0 0 100.0 0 30 00a0 A.
4 010 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 &4 Ot
0 0) 0 1) 00 0 0 0 0 o-o 0 o0o0 0 P otO
0 otO 0000 (
0 0 ) 0 0 0 .0 0 0 0 G -0 o o4 otJo 00000100
F GA it C B C A B C A BIdE G,1IACj Q C]? A GB B D B
,.IIII : : : 1.
r r )1`i11 I.'UA
-II
6.1 J ) ~) 0i GpP'T 6 G EE B DEAD
9rr`,j F
I
G
G
rI G 'G.?I
A D E F 'GA P A D EA D
00 1 1 ?1 1 oI 0 1 It 0 I 101'111 1I0i * GI ~, ttI
P'~lu
lt.~:l D?bK G I~
00 .0 0 2 22.' 0 2 0 0 0 2 . 2 2 2 2 a 0 0
0 00 0 3 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 .4 0 ,J s a s s 0 o O o0
O 0 4 0 0' 0 0 0 0 0 4 -0 0/+ 0,0 4 0 0 a 0l+ 0
ise.
ed
fyu RightHed Tit.tebKey op foe his-stib
Keyup fur
tee./eMU 9 Ntotes.
tbesixe thexe I Notes. for these4is.(es.
r t _. 1
lr . _ . -- _- - _ - -

N.B. Trh. tipjwr Notes in the above Scale, form the Melody, ant thie Notes undefriteadt,are the Ac -
u.111p;,11ilncnt or second.
Tlht eiitarcs, aund Vjphsus 0, ie tlue Above Scale, represent the holes in the front of tile Flage-
oirt, the 0 %hcws which are to remniam copen. shen a Pigure occuirs, that hole must.be stopped.
tlbmerve the foitrtlt hole outeach. SPl:geolct is stopped with the Litie finger of eacht hritd.

Fig. 2. WilliamBainbridge,Bainbridge's Preceptor for the Patent Double

Flute & Double Flageolet (London,after1819), p.4.

At the end of the 18th century, England was arguably the most
advanced country in the world, with a middle and upper class disposing
of both leisure and money. Music-making flourished in the home, and
expensive drawing-room instruments like the harp and pianoforte were
coming into fashion. Among wind instruments, it was the flute that
enjoyed the greatest popularity. Its leading virtuoso Charles Nicholson
enjoyed the status and wealth of a pop-star of today. While large numbers
of gentlemen amateurs aspired to play it, there was evidently a market for
an instrument less demanding as regards embouchure and fingering that
would also be suitable for the fair sex. It was the London maker
Bainbridge, already a successful maker of the single flageolet, who
perceived that a revived double version might be marketed as a successful
novelty.
William Bainbridge was active in London as a woodwind maker from
about 1803 onwards. Having originally trained as a turner, he had earlier
played oboe, flute and flageolet at two London theatres. As maker, the
first instrument he specialized in was the flageolet. The 'English flageolet'
(or 'English flute') was a favourite instrument at this time; in 1803 he
patented a new model of 'octave flageolet'.5 By changing the fingering of

5BritishPatentNo.2693 (1803):Improvements
on theflageolet
orEnglishflute.

175
 the tonic from six to three fingers he avoided the necessity for fork-
fingerings. This not only made it easy to play, but also allowed for much
of the essential range to be played by the fingers of one hand only. The
following year the clarinet player John Parry6 capitalized on this by
performing on two of them at once fixed in a frame; shortly after even
playing in the same way on three. In 1805 he repeated these feats at
Covent Garden Theatre, where he played All's Well on two and Viva
Tutte on three to great applause. Following this, Bainbridge made a
double flageolet out of one piece of wood.7 In this earlier model both
windways were drilled in a single cylindrical body. A rare specimen
survives in the Spencer collection at Brighton,8 while an unsigned
painting attributable to the school of Sir Thomas Lawrence9 shows this
early type of double flageolet.
If Bainbridge had ever intended to patent his invention as a precau-
tionary measure, he appears to have been forestalled by the rival London
maker Thomas Scott. In December 1805 Scott was granted a patent for a
musical instrumentcalled a flageolette, English Flute, or an instrumenton the
flageolette principle, so constructedas a single instrumentthat two parts of a
musicalcompositioncan be played thereonat the same time by one person.10
Together with the blind organist and composer John Purkis, he formed
the partnership 'Scott & Purkis' to manufacture and market the new
invention. In the tutor that appeared shortly afterwards, they gave the
instrument the fanciful name 'Delecta Harmonia' and claimed that all
awkwardattemptsto producesimilar effectsby uniting twoflageolets are by this
instrumentsuperseded.1Their 5-keyed instrument in boxwood and ivory
has twin-bores drilled within a single cylindrical body (see Fig.l). A
number of its features were derived from earlier improved flageolet
models, such as a 'wind-distributor' system to dose the wind supply, the
sponge chamber to de-humidify the breath, the ivory studs to guide the
fingers and the note-names engraved on the keys to identify them. The

6John Parry(1776-1851); formerlyclarinettistin a militaryband, 1807 until

c.1810 in London as performerand teacherof the double flageolet;his Exercises
andDuetts... for Bainbridge's DoubleFlageolet(Londonc.1810) was one of the first
tutors to be publishedfor the instrument.He was later active also as composer,
singerand music critic.
7 See John Parry, 'On Flageolets' in The Harmonicon,(1830) p.199; also
[Sainsbury],A Dictionary of Musicians, ii (London,1824), s.v. Parry.
8 Illustratedin
Anthony Baines, Europeanand AmericanMusicalInstruments,
(London, 1966), No.446.
9 Collection of Hermann Moeck, Celle; reproducedin William Waterhouse,
'DasDoppelflageolett- madein England'in Tibia1/95.
10British Patent No.2995 (1806): Instrumenton the flageoletteprinciple,so
constructed . . . thattwoparts. . . canbeplayedthereon
at thesametime.
11John Purkis,Scott& Purkis'sDelectaHarmoniaorPatentDouble-Flageolet ... a
complete Tutorfor theaboveInstrument(London,c.1806), p.1.

176
principal flue has six fingerholes in front, and one behind for LH thumb.
As in Bainbridge's model of 1803, the uppermost hole of the main flue is
partially plugged with ebony to give a three finger doh. This, being only a
small aperture, also serves as speaker-hole. His fingering chart recom-
mends a rather complex system of fork fingering. The other three
uninvolved fingers (LH 5, RH 1 and 5) are used to manipulate the
second flue; a key for RH little-finger activates it by an ingenious push-
rod device running up inside the bore operating a valve higher up; this
leaves one thumb hole and two keys each for RH thumb and LH little-
finger. Although the authors claim that to learn to play this instrument well
will be found very simple and within the power of the humblest performer, the
fingering is confusing and lacks logic compared to that of Bainbridge's
model.
In spite of the march stolen on him by Scott, Bainbridge continued
with his own improvements. By around 1806 he had developed his
standard model of double-flageolet on which all future models by him
and his imitators were to be based. Designed, like Scott's model, for the
amateur market, it proceeded to outstrip its rival in popularity, quickly
becoming fashionable amongst players of both sexes alike. As early as
1807 John Parry was able to support himself by teaching the new
instrument. There started to be published numerous tutors for it,12 as
well as a quantity of music. To quote a typical advertisement:
the complex appearenceof that fashionableand beautifulinstrumentthe patent
double flageolet has preventedmany from venturing to learn it: but Mr Fraser
. . pledges himself that any Lady or Gentleman,taking 12 lessons from him
(3 per week) shall performwith good taste and style, even though they should
not havehad anypreviousknowledgeof music.
In addition to its use as a solo instrument, it was:
unrivalledas an accompanimentto the voice or harp.13
Over successive years, Bainbridge made minor modifications and
improvements to the design, furnishing his earlier basic seven-key model

12The following tutors survive today: Anon., Complete Instructionsfor the

Improved Patent Double Flageolet (London, c.1826). Bainbridge & Wood, The
Preceptor,or a key to the Double Flageolet,for learningthat Fashionableand Sweet-toned
Instrument (London, c.1810). William Bainbridge, Bainbridge'sPreceptorfor the
Patent Double Flute & Double Flageolet(London, after 1819). John Briggs, Briggs'
Introductionto the Art of Playing on the Patent Double Flageolet(London, c.1816). F
Egan, The Single & Double Flageolet Preceptor. . . dedicatedto Mr Bainbridge
(Dublin, 1817/20). John Parry, Exercises & Duetts, with the fingering accurately
marked, composed and expressly arrangedfor Bainbridge'sDouble Flageolet .
(London, c.1823). John Simpson, John Simpson'scompletePreceptorforthe Improved
Patent Single & Double Flageolet (London, c.1829). See also Barra Boydell, 'The
Flageoletin Ireland:Aspectsof the Repertoire,the Instrumentand its Makers'in
Irish Musical Studies (Dublin, 1990).
13EdinburghAdvertiser,31 January 1818.

177
with optional extras. Closed keys were added to each flageolet to obtain
an improved range of chromatic notes; two new keys mounted on the
stock extended the compass of the LH flageolet up to (and beyond)
written d" while a foot-joint added to the RH pipe enabled it to
descend a third lower to b. In time the more expensive instruments had
up to 16 hall-marked silver keys (including wind-cutters)14 and were
supplied in a handsome wooden casket. Most of the music Bainbridge
and his imitators had published earlier for the instrument was
unsophisticated, consisting largely of popular tunes of the day designed
for amateur use. However using the more developed model of
instrument, fitted with extra keys, it became possible for more complex
music to be performed by the expert. Later tutors included such material
(see Fig.3), while the student was encouraged to play not only in the
home key of G major but also in the keys of C, F, D, A, B flat and G
minor.

of Modulation on
13
DIVERTI M ENTO to shew the extent
the Double FlaIreolet.

J' K el .1
fJ 4 'if

'
_l ? ~'"'
l IF,J1
&1 , [", I
riA

<1 ?' r&teip

LS ^i^
Sj>,zblSU
nf\fs?B\^ffia^r:

Fig. 3. John Parry,Exercises & Duetts (London,c. 1823), p. 15.

14A price list in Simpson's Preceptor(c.1829) offered for sale 'Tenor Double
Flageoletsfor playingSolos and Duetts' in boxwood with 12 silverkeys @ 5gns,
do. brass@ ?3 10s, 10 silver keys @ 4gns, do. brass@ ?2 12s 6d, 'Plainer
Instrumentswith fewerkeysfrom/1-2'. 'OctaveDouble Flageolets'in boxwood
with 12 silverkeys @ 4gns, do. brass@ 3gns, 10 silverkeys @ 3gns, do. brass@
?2 10s.

178
 The fashionable success enjoyed by his flageolet models caused them
to be widely copied by other makers in both London and Dublin.15
Bainbridge made several vain attempts to retain his monopoly. In 1810
he sued a rival maker Charles Wigley unsuccessfully for having pirated
his patent flageolet. In 1817 he sued John Briggs, a former workman
who had recently published a tutor for what he called 'the Patent Double
Flageolet', which plagiarized both the fingering chart and the music
from his own Preceptor.The judge referrred the case to an expert, who
subsequently ruled against him. Bainbridge bitterly complained about
this adverse judgment in a pamphlet adressed to the Lord High
Chancellor.16 Counterfeits of his instruments were made and sold; one
signed with the highly suspicious maker's mark 'Banebrigs, London' is
reported.17 The fact that Scott's model remained the only double
flageolet ever to have been granted a patent did not inhibit Bainbridge
and his imitators from marking their products 'Inventor, Improved
Patent'. The fame of the instrument also spread abroad. Although he
took the precaution of patenting it in France,18 they were copied by a
number of foreign makers, mainly German.19 A contemporary drawing
and fingering chart is preserved in Markneukirchen, presumably to serve
as a guide for local Vogtland makers; a double flageolet is depicted on the
illustrated Preiscourant
of I. Kimpffens Sohne, dealers active in Neukirchen
around 1830. The innovative G6ttingen maker Streitwolf devised a
variant model of his own for which he published a fingering chart.20
Heinrich Christian Eisenbrandt, who migrated from Gottingen to
Baltimore, manufactured the instrument in the US.
Following the success of his invention, Bainbridge developed two
further models. After his 'flute-flageolet', patented in 1807,21 which was

15Signed instrumentsby the following makers are reported. In London:

WilliamBainbridge,Bainbridge& Wood, John Briggs, Clementi & Co., Henry
Hastrick,Henry Hill, T. Garlick,HenryJournet, Metzler & Co., Henry Potter,
John Simpson and John Turner. In Dublin: Wilkinson & Corcoran, Isaac
Dollard,AndrewEllard.
16 William
Bainbridge,A Letterto the RightHonourable LordEldon,LordHigh
Chancellor ... respecting
theInvasionof the Copy-Rightto his Bookof Instructions,
&c
&c(London, 1819).
17 Sold in 1969 at Sotheby's,London.
18
Reported in AMZ, xxi (1819), p.446.
19Signedinstrumentsby the followingmakersarereported:Germany:Gerhard
Hanniecke (Oldenburg), Jacob David Helwert (Stuttgart),Johann Andreas
Mollenhauer (Fulda), Reichel (?Germany),Carl August Schaufler(Stuttgart),
Julius Streker(Miilhausen/ElsaB).USA: Heinrich ChristianEisenbrandt(Balti-
more).
20G. Streitwolf,Tabelle nebst14 Uebungsstiicken
fur dasDoppel-Flageolet (Hanover
c.1830)
21 BritishPatentNo.3043 on theflageolet
orEnglishflute.
(1807):Improvements

179
a regular flageolet blown in the traverse position, he invented in 1819 the
'patent double flute-flageolet'22 (see Fig.4). In this instrument the two
separate tubes are connected together by a junction-piece. Here, in order
to operate the wind cutter, he devised an ingenious key mounted on the
near tube that the player was required to operate with his lip (surely a
unique employment for this member). The frontispiece of a tutor shows
the instrument used in conjunction with a regular octave double flageolet
(see Fig.5).

Fig. 4. Doubleflute-flageoletby WilliamBainbridge,London,

William Waterhousecollection.
Bingham.
Tolny
Photograph:

In the mid 1820s Bainbridge introduced his triple (or trio) flageolet; as
we have seen, the idea for this had originally come also from John Parry.
This tour de force of ingenuity adds to the double flageolet a third pipe
working on the principle of the ocarina which is operated by the
otherwise unoccupied LH thumb. Its four closed keys sound dohlto sol at
the lower octave,23 while a fifth key operates the wind-cutter. The
double converts into a triple by replacing the upper three joints with a
thick joint with ivory mouthpiece into the side of which the third pipe,
made up of two joints, is connected. This is fitted at the base with a
wooden foot supporting the instrument, the base of which is serrated to
avoid slipping (see Fig.1). Compared to the double flageolet, examples of
which are still comparatively common today, instruments of the triple
variety- which were only produced by Bainbridge and his successor

22 British Patent No.4399

(1819): Improvementson the doubleand singleflageolet,
or Englishflute.
23 When
opened simultaneouslyin differentcombinationsa part-chromatic
rangeof nearlyan octave (dohto si) can be obtained.

180
 1. rTO. p

44..
4 'ka
~~~L'
V o8~~~I
o

cC ~ I-

Fig. 5. 'Novelty!A Quartettofortwoperformers':Titlepage of

Bainbridge's Preceptor for the Patent Double Flute &
Double Flageolet (London,after 1819).

Hastrick24- have always been something of a rarity. At the Van Raalte

sale held in 1927 at Brownsea Castle, one by Hastrick fetched /7. 15s.
This was a considerable price for those days; by comparison, at the same
sale a two-key oboe by Denner fetched no more than 32. 2s. 6d.
Bainbridge had from 1808 to 1821 been in partnership with John
Wood as 'Bainbridge & Wood'.25 After his death in 1831, his widow
Harriet succeeded him briefly as proprietor; in 1835 the business was
taken over by Henry Hastrick, who remained in business until 1855. By
this time the demand for these instruments had evidently declined, at any

24 A
triple flageolet signed by Andrew Ellard (fl. Dublin 1818-1845) and a
second (windcap only) signed Wilkinson & Corcoran (fl. Dublin early 19th
century)is reported.
25 Bainbridge also published an interesting pamphlet Observationson the causeof

Imperfectionsin Wind Instruments,particularlyof German Flutes . . . also remarkson

Oboe,Clarionet,& BassoonReeds(London, 1823); in this he claimsto haveplayed
all of them professionallyand made reeds'for severalof the first-rateprofessional
performers'.About this time he also introducedhis 'Patent ChromaticAlbion
Flute',anothervarietyof flageolet.

181
rate in their country of origin, though they continued to be made in
small quantities abroad.26
The considerably large number of Bainbridge double flageolets that
survive today, most of which have remained in surprisingly good playing
order, bear testimony to their remarkable creator. William Bainbridge
was the earliest wind-instrument maker who possessed the all-round
abilities required to launch and market a product such as this successfully,
combining single-handed as he did the diverse skills of inventor,
manufacturer, performer, teacher, author and publisher. His double
flageolet is still able today to offer challenges and rewards to anyone who
will take the trouble to master it.

An earlier version of this article appeared in Tibia 1/95 (Celle, 1995),

pp.337-343 as 'Das Doppelflageolett - made in England'. The author
wishes to thank the editor Dr Sabina Haase for permission to re-publish.

26 A tutor
by Jul. Streker, Schule zur grundlichen und schnellen Erlernung des
is dateableto after1870.
(Miilhausen/ElsaB)
Doppelflageolets

182