History of the Flute Timeline

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known use of the word 'flute' was in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Hous of Fame, c. 1380. The word itself entered English usage during the 14th century.

Geoffrey Chaucer's poem The Hous of Fame, written around 1380, contains the earliest citation of the word 'flute' according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Image source: The House of Fame

The term 'fluter', one of several now virtually obsolete English words for a flute player, was in use from the 15th through the 19th centuries before falling out of favor.

'Flutenist', another now virtually obsolete English term for a flute player, was used during the 17th and 18th centuries before disappearing from common usage.

The word 'flutist' dates back to at least 1603, the earliest quotation cited by the Oxford English Dictionary. It remains the preferred term for a flute player in American English.

During the 18th century, the Italian word 'flautista' (itself from 'flauto') was adopted into English as 'flautist', like many musical terms entering England since the Italian Renaissance.

In 1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne used the term 'flautist' in his novel The Marble Faun, helping cement the Italian-derived term in English literary usage.

Image source: The Marble Faun

Usually starting from d1, wooden transverse flutes were played in European classical music mainly during the period from the early 18th century to the early 19th century, forming a core part of Baroque and Classical repertoire.

Image source: Western concert flute

Throughout the 19th century, baroque flutes were gradually marginalized by the louder, mechanically improved Western concert flute, leading to a decline in the use of earlier wooden designs.

From 1832 to 1847, Theobald Boehm evolved the size and placement of tone holes, the key mechanism, and the fingering system used to produce the notes in the flute's range, greatly improving the instrument's dynamic range and intonation over its predecessors.

Image source: Theobald Boehm

Prior to later developments, the South Indian flute had only seven finger holes, with the fingering standard developed by Sharaba Shastri of the Palladam school at the beginning of the 20th century.

After being marginalized in the 19th century, baroque flutes were again played from the late 20th century as part of the historically informed performance practice movement in classical music.

Image source: Historically informed performance

In 1998, Avinash Balkrishna Patwardhan developed a methodology based on Bharata Natya Shastra Sarana Chatushtai to produce perfectly tuned flutes for the ten 'thatas' currently present in Indian Classical Music.

The flute was featured on local currency in 2001, reflecting its cultural significance and honored place in the heritage of the region that issued it.

In 2004, an 18.7 cm flute with three holes, made from a mammoth tusk and dated to 30,000–37,000 years ago, was found in the Geißenklösterle cave near Ulm, in the southern German Swabian Alb — one of the oldest known musical instruments.

Image source: Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave

In 2008, a flute dated to at least 35,000 years ago was discovered in Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany. It ranks among the oldest confirmed musical instruments ever found.

Image source: Venus of Hohle Fels

The discovery of the 35,000-year-old flute from Hohle Fels cave was published in the journal Nature in August 2009, bringing international scientific attention to the find.

Image source: Nature (journal)