A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Flute-work
FLUTE-WORK. Under this head are grouped all the flue-stops, of whatever kind, shape, or tone, that are not classed as Principal-work, or Gedact-work, and it also includes various modifications of these two classes of stops. [Flue-work.] Thus when the 'scale' of the pipes of a cylindrical stop is reduced below the proportion essential to secure the broad and full Diapason tone, and the sound becomes delicate as in a Dulciana, or crisp as in a Gamba; or when it is increased beyond the Diapason scale, and the tone becomes thick or less resonant as in the Block-flöte, the stop becomes a member of the 'flute-work.' Also, if the covers of the pipes of a closed metal-stop be punctured, and a narrow tube—in Germany called a reed, in France a chimney—be inserted, the stop then becomes a member of the flute-work under the name Rohr-flöte, Flûte à cheminée, or 'Metal stopped-Diapason (or Flute) with chimneys.' A unison cylindrical stop will be occasionally met with labelled as a member of the flute-work. All stops the pipes of which taper upwards, as the Spitz-flöte and Gemshorn; all three- or four-sided open wood pipes, as the Hohl-flöte, Clarabella, Wald-flute, Oboe-flute, and Suabe-flute; and most string-toned stops, as Salicional and Viol d'Amore,—are members of the Flute-work.
The invention of the conical, the string-toned, and the other stops classified as flute-work, dates back no farther than the commencement of the 16th century.[ E. J. H. ]