NMM 3573. Flute by J. Heinrich Grenser, Dresden, ca. 1796-1806. A professional instrument by one of the greatest flute makers at the time of Beethoven, built of ebony with ivory ferrules and four silver keys. Three corps de rechange (interchangeable middle joints of differing lengths) allowed the player who traveled a lot to match the pitch, not then universally standardized, that was in use in the community where he was playing. Stamped with the crossed Saxon swords that was Grenser's trademark through 1806.
Simple system flutes, without the extra joints, and often with only a single key, became a popular amateur instrument, played by men, particularly in England, through much of the 19th century. Berlioz, when he was about ten years old, learned to play the flute, and in 1819 is said to have acquired one with eight silver keys (then the standard, but still a simple system). In 1826, then 23 years old, he still toyed with the idea of becoming an orchestral flute player, but in 1834 was calling the flute "the most idiotic instrument of all." Years later (1860), he wrote that the well-known flute solo in Beethoven's Leonora overture (#3) was "unworthy of the rest." Rawlins Fund, 1985.
Source: André P. Larson, Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution & Romance 1789-1848, with essay by John Koster, exhibition catalog, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, September 12-November 2, 2003 (Vermillion: National Music Museum 2003), p. 40.
