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833

Cahusac

No serial number.

London, England

Stamp: (curved)CAHUSAC/196 /STRAND/LONDON stamped on headjoint; CAHUSAC/LONDON on all other joints.

Marks: No marks under keys.

Manufacture Date: Made c.1790? This address was used from at least 1780 to around 1810. The construction of the flute suggests it was made during the early, but not too early, days of the keyed flute in London.

Hallmarks:

Comments: This is a very interesting flute, with a handsome profile. It is of historical, and possibly performance, interest. The tuning slide is lovely, although impractical, and was supplanted by Potter's more successful design.

Material: Boxwood with ivory trim and silver keys.

System: 5-key, C# foot. Head and barrel designed with unusual attempt at a tuning slide, sort of like Quantz.

Condition: This flute was restored some years ago. A new "ivory" ring on the heartpiece and similar crown were provided. The springs all look original. The embouchure and tone holes are lovely. Midjoint tenon lowered a few mm to raise the pitch.

Pitch: The pitch is c. A=433-440, with the tuning slide.

Sounding Length: Sounding length is 55.4 cm.

Measurements:

Weight: 278

Case: In old but not original case.

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833.full

The 196 Strand address was used by the Cahusac family for many years. Our dating of c. 1790 is based on the construction of this instrument. The embouchure, seen above, is perfect and lovely. At 9.5 x 9, it is reminiscent of earlier flutes.

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833.01

This sweet flute descends to C#, which was uncommon but not rare. In the early days of the C foot makers had difficulty finding strength in the lowest notes. The C# foot was an excellent compromise.

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833.02

The English preferred their G# on the midjoint, resulting in this very short, straight key.

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833.03

The open-standing C# key on the footjoint shows the early technology in keywork.

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833.04

The short F key, especially in the early days, was difficult to build. The curve of the body, the space available for a spring, and the need to keep the touch low enough for easy use all added to the challenge.

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833.05

Cahusac was clearly involved with the struggle to make a working English flute with adjustable tuning, which Potter pre-empted with his successful sliding metal tubes. This flute with the tuning slide patterned after Quantz, and the one added key on the foot, was the state-of-the-art outside of Potter's shop. The midjoint tenon has been lowered a few millimeters, as seen below the red thread.

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833.06

Although the inspiration for this slide is clearly Quantz, nonetheless Cahusac has made the design his own. The point of Quantz's slide was to put the gap in the bore from tuning closer to the embouchure. Quantz's tenon is attached to the barrel, not the head, placing his gap in a different position. Cahusac seems to want to replace the extra midjoints; Quantz simply augmented them.

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833.07

The cork screw extends through the cap, making the adjustment easy to measure. The top of the cap is replaced, but the screw sections are original (both male and female).

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833.08

Here we see the inside of the cork screw. The female section remained, and was grafted into the new crown.

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833.09

In spite of the shortened midjoint this flute still plays with the compressed sweetness of the 18th century.

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833.10

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833.11

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833.12

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