Story of the Flute
the tones which it forced out of the instrument, performing the legato and staccato passages with the utmost perfection. The fingering was also perfectly accurate." Another mechanical flute-player is mentioned in Thomas Amory's Life of John Buncle, 1756; Buncle (probably Amory himself) is described as playing the German flute, which he always carried about with him in a long inside pocket of his coat. He met with this automaton at the house of a Mrs. Fitzgibbons at Clankford, near Knaresborough, in Yorkshire. Here is Amory's description:—
"In the apartment were two figures dressed like a shepherd and shepherdess. They sat on a rich couch, in a gay alcove, and both played the German flute. They moved their heads, their arms, their eyes, their fingers, and seemed to look with a consciousness at each other, while they breathed, at my entering the room, that fine piece of music, the 'Masquerade Minuet;' and afterwards several excellent pieces. I thought at first they were living creatures; but on examination finding they were only wood, my admiration increased and became exceedingly great, when I saw by shutting their mouths and stopping their fingers, that the music did not proceed from any organ within the figures. It was an extraordinary piece of clock-work, invented and made by one John Nixon, a poor man."
Several blind flautists have gained a considerable reputation. One named Joseph Winter lived about 1770. The most celebrated was Friedrich Ludwig
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