Edit Page
↤ Back to index

Dulzflöte German

Dolce Flute English

Flauto Dolce Italian (Primary)

Flötedouce German

Flute Dolce English/Italian

Flûte Douce French

Süssflöt[e] German

Dolzflöte German

Dulceflöt German?

Dulcianflöte German

Dulzfloit German?


Description:

These names have been used for soft flue stops of various tones and constructions. Both wood and metal have been used; in metal, the pipes have been made cylindrical, conical, or inverted conical. Williams dates Flauto Dolce from the late 16th century. Most sources consider these names to denote unimitative flute stops, and Maclean states that it is generally akin to the Melodia. Sumner, however, calls the Dulzflöte or Dulcianflöte "a dulciana with outward taper and quiet string tone", and Skinner writes: "The Flauto Dolce and Flute Celeste are not flutes in the strict sense. They represent muted strings." Skinner goes on to describe it as having slender, tapered pipes with small mouths, slightly stronger than a Dulciana, and becoming a Dulciana in the upper octave and a half. Audsley provides a drawing of one form of this stop, reproduced here, calling it the "cylinder-lipped flute", having a depth equal to 5/6 of its width, and a cut-up rather more than 1/3. Dolcan is considered a synonym by Bonavia-Hunt and Wedgwood, but others consider it a separate voice. Some sources also list Tibia Angusta as a synonym. Wedgwood considers Flauto Doris, Flauto Douce, Flauto Dulcio, and Flauto Dulcis to be synonyms. Maclean considers Flauto Amabile and Flauto Amoroso to be synonyms for Flauto Dolce, but considers Flûte Douce to be synonymous with Lieblichflöte and Flûte d'Amour.


Variants:


Examples:

Flauto Dolce: 90. Flûte Douce: five dozen. Dulzflote: 3@8', 4@4'. Dolce Flute: 4@8', 2@4'. Flute Dolce: 4@8', 3@4'. Flötedouce: 4. Dolzflote, Dulceflöt (mentioned only by Williams), Dulcianflote (mentioned only by Sumner), Dulzfloit (mentioned only by Williams): none.

Dulzflöte 8', manual; Dorfkirche, Stontzsch, Germany; Schmieder 1731 (restored 1935).
Süssflöte 4', Manual III; Smetana Hall, Prague, Czechoslovakia; Voit/Tucek 1912. This is the only known example of this name.

Sound Clips:

-

Flauto Dolce 8', Swell
Kellogg Auditorium, Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
Aeolian-Skinner, 1933,
St. Anne:
This page was last last built on June 24, 2020
Original site compiled by Edward L. Stauff. For educational use only.