The flute - History

The flute is a musical instrument
of the woodwind family. Unlike
woodwind instruments with
reeds, a flute is an aerophone or
reedless wind instrument that
produces its sound from the flow
of air across an opening.
According to the instrument
classification of Hornbostel–
Sachs, flutes are categorized as
edge-blown aerophones.
A musician who plays the flute
can be referred to as a flute
player, a flautist,[1] a flutist, [2]
or, less commonly, a fluter. [3][4]
[5][6] The term flutenist, found
in English up to the 18th century,
is no longer used. [7]
Aside from the voice, flutes are
the earliest known musical
instruments . A number of flutes
dating to about 43,000 to 35,000
years ago have been found in the
Swabian Alb region of Germany .
These flutes demonstrate that a
developed musical tradition
existed from the earliest period
of modern human presence in
Europe. [8][9]
Etymology
The word flute first entered the
English language during the
Middle English period, as floute,
[10] or else flowte, flo(y)te, [11]
possibly from Old French flaute
and from Old Provençal flaüt, [10]
or else from Old French fleüte,
flaüte, flahute via Middle High
German floite or Danish fluit.
Attempts to trace the word back
to a Latin root have been
pronounced "phonologically
impossible" or "inadmissable".
[11] The first known use of the
word flute was in the 14th
century. [12] According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, this
was in Geoffrey Chaucer 's The
Hous of Fame, ca. 1384.