This company, later called Rudall, Carte & Co., built flutes to many designs by English inventors that combined various Boehm features--the cylindrical bore, the fingering, parts of the These were played in some German ensembles until after World War 1.Schwedler's 'Reform' flute is shown here. Founded as Rudall & Rose in 1822, Richard Carte (father of Richard D'Oyly Carte, of later Gilbert and Sullivan fame) joined the firm around 1850, and the company of Rudall, Rose, Carte & Co then became Rudall, Carte and Company in 1874.
PITCH Although New Philharmonic Pitch was introduced in 1896, the old High Pitch A=452 persisted for many years. Even during the 1920s the majority of Carte concert flutes was still being made at High Pitch.
But as modern pitch A=440 became established, the best Cartes were returned to Berners Street to have their mechanisms adapted to fit on new bodies. These transplants can be every bit as good as original modern-pitch Cartes. Nevertheless probably less than a quarter of Carte concert flutes are of practical use today. These are the magical flutes in which we specialise - each unique, with a character all its own. THE RUDALL CARTE FLUTEMAKERS The best craftsmen were given the job of making the finest flutes.
In most cases not much is known about these flutemakers, yet their names live on in the quality and individual styles of their work. There were Englishmen such as Christopher Holland, Harry West, Edwin Ounsted, Albert Atkins who specialised in piccolos, Fred Handke, and the Hindes father and son. Fine makers were coaxed from the Continent: Henri Schumacher originally from Strasbourg, Henri Nivarlet from Belgium, and the Parisian Eugene Goulliere. After the Berners Street workshop closed in December 1958, a younger generation of flutemakers that included Harry Seeley, Roger (Angus) Harris, Ewen McDougall, and Albert Cooper continued the tradition either working on their own or in Flutemakers Guild. WHICH CARTES ARE WORTH HAVING? With so many flutes bearing the name Rudall Carte, distinguishing the nuggets from the mud can be difficult.
It is worth bearing two facts in mind: firstly that Carte began making modern pitch flutes in 1903. Secondly that every flute made after the closure of the Berners Street workshop in December 1958 was overseen by the indifferent management of Boosey & Hawkes, whose attitude can be gleaned from the fact that it stamped the Carte name on dreadful cheap imported student flutes. So the flutes to seek and savour are those made or transplanted between 1903 and 1958.
Each was the work of a single craftsman. Most were made on cocuswood bodies, or Monel during the 1930s. A rare few flutes were hand-made completely in silver.
Carte continued to produce not only Boehm but also Radcliff, Guards', Old-System, and 1867-Patent flutes. Because each was individually made, each carries its craftsman's style. And there was room for different keywork configurations within a system's bounds, e.g.
The Brossa F#, a LH4 touch for Eb, or any of the alternatives to the Boehm system recommeded by Richard Rockstro. So every Rudall Carte is a world on its own. Ian Reynolds studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Gareth Morris, and spent most of his career performing full-time with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Having played a hand-made American silver flute professionally, on retirement in 2015 he bought Rudall Carte 4669 made by Nivarlet in 1911 to reacquaint himself with the wooden flutes on which he was trained. Evening Arthur I had to come out of retirement today to play a memorial concert for our former Head of Music, Guy Woolfenden, in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. Guy wrote fabulous flute parts and I spent most of the 1970s performing his scores every evening.
Holy Trinity is a huge space and although I`ve done lots of concerts there over the years and know the acoustic well I was a bit nervy about how the Rudall Carte would go on its first outing. I also only had a couple of days to practise after eight months off so was not match fit by a long shot. Anyway, I`m warming up and our oboist comes in and comes up to me and says that it sounds amazing at the other end of the church, which was a good start. The Nivarlet has a huge voice and is a great flute to really open up on.
There is an unfathomable depth to explore and my only regret is that I never had the chance to use it 'on the job' regularly and push it to the limits. My silver flute was all brightness and edge by comparison. The orchestra was composed of all of my former friends and colleagues who knew my playing intimately from days of old and everyone was very complimentary about the Nivarlet. They were also struck by how beautiful it looked and what a lineage it must have had – I introduced it by saying that Stravinsky was composing The Rite of Spring and World War I was still three years off when 4669 was made. The intonation was spot on and our oboist remarked on how well together everything was. I mentioned this before, but the intonation of that flute is what I expect it to be, based on the way Gareth Morris taught me to blow. My silver flute’s scale never seemed so logical and in twenty five years I was never quite as settled on it as I was on 4669 right from the start.
I`m rambling on a bit but I just wanted you to know that I think that your faith in the old Rudall Carte makers is not misplaced and these instruments are the best out there. I once said that 4669 is far and away the best flute I`ve ever played on, and nothing in my first road-test of it today has made me want to change my mind – quite the opposite!
Ann Unwin plays and teaches in north-east England. She used a modern Japanese flute before falling in love with a Rudall Carte wooden flute made by Atkins. Later she acquired further Cartes by Nivarlet and West, one of them an 1867-Patent system.
'I was taught at Cardiff University by Roger Armstrong (BBCWelshSO), a remarkably self-effacing gentleman and truly inspirational teacher who taught me how to think about playing instead of handing answers on a plate or creating a clone. This invaluable teaching gave me the skills that, many years later, allowed me to be open minded in my approach to Rudall Cartes.' Playing a Rudall Carte is a journey of discovery, a seeking out of what an instrument holds, and has made me think about flutes differently, opening possibilities that I didn't know existed. I need to work with these instruments in a way I never really did on my modern silver flute. I can’t impose my ideas. I am in a partnership and I have to be flexible.
The reward comes in subtleties of articulation and tone colour, and a depth and focus of sound that I find hard to replicate on silver. My Nivarlet, for instance, is a supple flute that leaps between registers very nicely and is easy to articulate on. Things that I can’t play well on other flutes (including silver) suddenly seem right and musical on him. This acceptance of the instrument’s character has enabled me to revisit technical exercises and studies and enjoy discovering what each of my Rudall Cartes is capable of. I only occasionally play on a modern silver flute now, but when I do it seems to lack soul and depth.
There’s something special, hard to quantify, about playing an old handmade instrument, the work of a great craftsman. They are beautiful to look at as well as to play. They are not big and brash, but speak with their own voices, and, after you play them for a time a bond develops. So, yes, these Rudall Carte flutes are great – I have learned so much from them! At the time it was a big surprise to fall in love with a Rudall Carte, but I have been rewarded with first one flute and then others that are a delight to pick up and are always interesting to play.
Restoration of a Rudall Carte. Download Visualization Key Led - Plugin Do Winamp V2.1 Full Free. It was sometime during the early part of this stamp that Godfroy started using serial numbers.
This Rudall Carte & Co. Subject: Date. The early logbooks of the Rudall (Rose, Carte, & Co.) company are lost, making exact dating of flutes made before 1869 somewhat speculative. Robert Bigio sheds much light on the company in his Rudall, Rose, & Carte but does not suggest specific dates for many early instruments.
The following lists provide reasonable estimates for dating these flutes. Dates, Names, & Addresses Date Company Name Address 1838 Rudall & Rose 1 Tavistock 1847 Rudall & Rose 38 Southampton by 1851 Rudall, Rose, & Co. 38 Southampton early 1852 Rudall, Rose, & Carte 38 Southampton July 1852 Rudall, Rose, & Carte 100 New Bond 1854 Rudall, Rose, Carte, & Co. 100 New Bond by 1855 Rudall, Rose, Carte, & Co.
20 Charing Cross by 1872 Rudall, Carte, & Co. 20 Charing Cross 1878 Rudall, Carte, & Co. 23 Berners St.
Metal Cylindrical Flutes Metal flutes with serial numbers use a letter code for the number, based on the word MUSICTRADE, where M=1, U=2, S=3, and so forth. Flutes built before about 1855 do not have numbers, though some pre-1855 flutes that later passed through the company for resale were given serial numbers at that time.
The phrase “Council and Prize Medals” is included on Carte 1851 model flutes made after about 1852 (flutes of the 100 New Bond period and beyond). Boehm and Rockstro models are not given this marking. Some 1867 models have this marking. Flutes with large foot holes appear around 1863 in response to the very large foot holes offered by Clinton in the 1862 London Exhibition. Flutes with all large holes appear about the same time and were marked 'Rockstro's Model' from 1864 on (according to Rockstro).
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