Soon after I started playing the flute, I learned about Anna bon di Venezia (b. 1738 - d. after 1769), an Italian composer and performer. She inspired me to look for women in 18th century British North America who may have studied or composed for flute. I kept coming up short and eventually enlisted the help of a very enthusiastic librarian at the Library of Congress. Still nothing.
It turns out in the time period I was looking at the flute was considered a masculine instrument, hence very few ladies to be found. There's a well-debunked myth that women did not play the flute because holding it exposed their elbows. Apparently, the flute being masculine was just 18th century vibes.
The Flute in British North America
The flute became popular in British North America in part because of the expansion of the wealthy and middle class. Listening to and playing the flute was seen as an acceptable way for young men to develop their artistic taste. Public concert series became more common and accessible and music masters traveled the colonies teaching both the transverse flute (or German flute) and the common flute (or English flute) to gentlemen students. King George III led his subjects by example, being known to have played the transverse flute.
The common flute or English flute resembled what we would call a 'recorder.' It was in 1706 that the new transverse flute was played on stage in London. This version of the flute would first appear in Boston in 1740 and exploded in popularity throughout the colonies. It was a highlight of public performances and served as entertainment at social gatherings and between acts of plays from Boston to Williamsburg. It was not long before the flute was so popular, only the violin was more common. Some wealthy gentlemen even turned their walking sticks into flutes.
Flute-adjacent fifes were also common in the colonies. Primarily for military use, fifers worked with drummers to send orders to troops on the battlefield. Their high pitch could be heard over the sounds of battle for as far as one mile. Fifes also provided music for ceremonies and helped with morale on long marches
The Women's Game
As is common in women's history, there were plenty of ladies doing what was seen as men's activities, including playing the flute. Often they gained access to the flute through their families, being born into or marrying into a musical family. Of course, this could work in reverse as well with some women abandoning their musical pursuits when they entered into non-musical marriages. Convents and orphanages sometimes provided music education that could include the flute. In fact, Anna bon di Venezia joined the Ospedale, a combination convent, music school, and orphanage known for its all-female ensembles. Anna was able to attend the music school under the patronage of her grandfather.
Anna would join her family in service to the court of Bayreuth, where she wrote sonatas that are still being performed today. Wilhelmine von Bayreuth was the oldest sister of Frederick the Great and with his support, was able to learn music in secret. She wrote several flute sonatas and accompanied her brother in his music performances. Anna Amalia, the Princess of Prussia, was another of Frederick the Great's musically inclined sisters. He gifted her a flute in the 1740s. She too composed for flute and her Flute Sonata in F Major survives today.
While most women were participating in musical performances at private entertainments, they did sometimes perform in public venues. The Concert Spirituel was a concert series based out of the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It held performances on religious holidays when other music venues would be closed. Mademoiselle Taillart would become the first woman to perform at the Concert Spirituel on November 1, 1735. (She played the flute, which she learned from her father Pierre Evrard Taillart.) Johanne Sophie Mudrich would also play the flute at the Concert Spirituel on Christmas Eve 1779.
Many of these women learned the flute from husbands and male family members, but where did these men learn to play? In the American colonies, young gentlemen might learn from private tutors or music masters teaching in taverns and inns. In European court society, Johann Joachim Quantz was the quintessential music master. Quantz began his music studies with the oboe, but began specializing in the flute around 1719. He would enter the service of Frederick the Great, and by extension our ladies Anna bon di Venezia, Anna Amalia, and Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, in 1741. During his tenure with Frederick the Great, Quantz composed and performed music and began making flutes.
Have a Listen
I'm still working my way through Quantz' essay, On Playing the Flute: The Classic of Baroque Music Instruction. Interestingly, most of it is devoted to musical taste and playing a variety of instruments. In fact, it seems only about 50 pages of the original 334 are flute-specific. Still, there are nuggets about the flute that remain true for playing a modern flute and I love being immersed in 18th century writing.
Perhaps the flute was considered a masculine instrument, but this is a space for women's history, so I leave you with a lovely recording of Anna Bon di Venezia's Sonata
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