Story of the Flute
and have not been generally adopted. The climax of tinkering was reached by Mr. James Mathews, aOther Minor
"Improvers" Birmingham amateur, whose flute had no less than twenty-eight keys! The tube was of gold, the keys of silver, and the head-joint of ivory, with a perfectly square mouth-hole. In fact, the whole instrument was "be-divelled," to use the expression of one who saw it. Mr. Mathews was a very fine player and an enthusiast. He founded the Birmingham Flue Trio and Quartett Society in 1856, of which Joseph Richardson was president till his death in 1862. The society possesses a magnificent library of flute music, including a Quartett specially written for it by Antonio Minasi.
After all, with the possible exception of Mr. Carte's 1867 Patent Flute, Böhm's own model is still the best:
The music, winding through the stops, upsprings
To make the player very rich."
—Mrs. Browning, Casa Guidi Windows.
72
