Join us to the next seminar of the REM@KE Permanent Seminar Series with our third guest speaker, Robert Bigio, on Friday, May 22, starting at 17:00 CEST / 16:00 BST.

Reality and fiction in reproducing early flutes

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Abstract:

Instruments change, and instruments are changed. Should we reproduce a flute as it might have been when it left the maker’s workshop, or as it became after being played for some years? Did any changes that might have been made by a player improve the instrument? Was an antique flute that might be used as a model for reproduction considered a good instrument in its day? If that flute is in excellent condition, might it be because no-one played it, and perhaps that is because it might not have been a good instrument? If an antique flute is now in poor condition, might that be because it was such a good instrument that someone played it nearly to destruction? Perhaps we are looking at early instruments the wrong way?
The presentation will address two related matters: first, what we should be looking for when we measure an instrument; and second, how the study of early manufacturing methods can inform us about the design of flutes.

Invited speaker Bio:

Robert Bigio is based in London, where he makes and restores flutes and researches subjects related to the flute. He played the flute professionally for many years before setting up as a flute maker. He writes on flute history and flute making, with a particular interest in historical manufacturing methods and their relation to instrument design. Robert is the author of two books on the flute: Readings in the History of the Flute, a selection of monographs, essays, reviews, letters and advertisements from nineteenth-century London; and Rudall, Rose & Carte: The Art of the Flute in Britain, which was awarded the Nicholas Bessaraboff Prize by the American Musical Instrument Society.
Robert’s publications include contributions for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; the second edition of the Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments; Lexikon der Flöte; as well as many articles and reviews in journals and newspapers. He is now the editor of the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society.
To know more about Robert’s work, visit: www.bigio.com and www.robertbigio.com.

 

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Location

Zoom online meeting