Metzler flute - history?
Francis Sedgemore
On Saturday, I found an 8-key rosewood flute in The Folk Shop, Camden, London,
stamped:
"Metzler and Co, Limited, London"
There was no other information. I've asked the shop manager to try and find out
the flute's history, but I thought an enquiry to this group would be in order
too. I bought the instrument, BTW, as it was priced at only GBP270. I've never
seen an old 8-key flute sold for this little before, so I thought it would be
a good investment. The only problem with it is a large crack down the barrel.
With the crack sealed with insulating tape wound tight around the barrel, the
flute plays very well indeed, and has a very nice tone. All the (silver) keys
work fine, and there does not seem to be any leaking. The condition of the wood
(apart from the crack) is superb. The flute looks as though it has been very
well looked after, and is still in its original case.
The basic design is pretty much the same as a Rudall-Rose - i.e. medium to
large-sized tone holes, two body pieces, block mounts, etc. The fittings (and
keys) are in silver, and are wide'ish bands rather than hemispherical rings.
The keys themselves are sort of in between the Rudall-style saltspoons and the
more modern keys found on Pratten-type flutes. The bottom C and C# keys,
however, are not pewter plugs, but padded, like the others. Much better - they
actually work! Lastly, there is a screw-adjusting cork.
That's as detailed a description as I can give here. Does anyone out there know
anything about Metzler flutes? Hamilton's handbook has a short reference:
"1800-1930 Various addresses"
but's that's all. Any further information would be appreciated.
Francis
-----------------
Francis Sedgemore, Adran Ffiseg, Prifysgol Cymru, Aberystwyth SY23 3BZ,
CYMRU (Wales). tel: +44 (0)1970 621907; fax: 622826; email: kj...@aber.ac.uk
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Paul F. Wells
In article <4m1vkb$n...@infoserv.aber.ac.uk>, Francis Sedgemore <kj...@aber.ac.uk> says:
>
>On Saturday, I found an 8-key rosewood flute in The Folk Shop, Camden, London,
>stamped:
>
>"Metzler and Co, Limited, London"
>
>There was no other information. I've asked the shop manager to try and find out
>the flute's history, but I thought an enquiry to this group would be in order
>too.
>
The "New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments" has an article on Metzler
by Niall O'Loughlin. The firm was actually begun in London in 1788 by
Valentin Metzler, a German. His son George joined the firm c. 1816, after
which it became known as Metzler & Son. Apparently on Valentin's death.
c. 1833, it was renamed "G. Metzler and Co." Though this firm name is not
exactly as you give it, it may well be that your flute dates from after 1833.
For further info, you might want to try to locate a copy of Langwill's "An
Index of Musical Wind Instrument Makers," which has gone through numerous
editions. It's the Bible of this kind of thing and is the reference most
dealers will use in trying to date instruments. It seems uncommon in
libraries, at least in the States. Try to find the most recent edition
you can as new research seems always to be bringing new data to light.
BTW, I ran across a one-keyed, boxwood Metzler flute in Eb a year or so ago,
which I bought. It's a nice little instrument, but with much too small a voice
to be good for Irish session playing. My best guess is that it dates from
around the turn of the 19th century.
Best,
Paul Wells
Francis Sedgemore
pfw...@mtsu.edu (Paul F. Wells) wrote:
>The "New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments" has an article on Metzler
>by Niall O'Loughlin. The firm was actually begun in London in 1788 by
>Valentin Metzler, a German. His son George joined the firm c. 1816, after
>which it became known as Metzler & Son. Apparently on Valentin's death.
>c. 1833, it was renamed "G. Metzler and Co." Though this firm name is not
>exactly as you give it, it may well be that your flute dates from after 1833.
Hi Paul
Many thanks for you response. It's most informative. I shall indeed find and
consult a copy of the dictionary, and also Langwill's.
I managed to clean up the outside of the case the other day, and can now make
out the name and date of a previous owner (based in Marlbororough, England).
The date is 1894. Other than that, I have no more information.
Whatever, I think I've found a bargain for GBP270! The previous owner put the
flute into the London branch of Hobgoblin Music for sale on commission. I
gather that it had been sitting in a cupboard for years, and after a spring-
clean, he decided to off-load it, not knowing of its true worth, either musical
or financial.
I played the flute at my local session last night, for the first time. The
sound attracted some attention there. My Williams Rudall copy has a full,
reedy sound more like a Pratten, but the Metzler, although having large'ish
tione holes and having a reasonable volume, has a far more refined sound. It's
quite a difficult flute to play, not as responsive as the Williams, but it's
a fine instrument.
Regards, Francis
Pete McClelland
In article <4m5qal$e...@isdnlin.mtsu.edu>, "Paul F. Wells"
<pfw...@mtsu.edu> writes
>In article <4m1vkb$n...@infoserv.aber.ac.uk>, Francis Sedgemore
><kj...@aber.ac.uk> says:
>>
>>On Saturday, I found an 8-key rosewood flute in The Folk Shop, Camden, London,
>>stamped:
>>
>>"Metzler and Co, Limited, London"
>>
>>There was no other information. I've asked the shop manager to try and find out
>>the flute's history, but I thought an enquiry to this group would be in order
>>too.
According to Langwill's, Metzler became a limited company in 1893, so
your flute dates from 1893-5 if the address was 42 Gt Marlborough St, or
1895-1911 if the address is 40-43 Gt Marlborough St.
I am a little surprised that they were making this kind of flute so
late, you learn something new every day!
This reply is on behalf of John (manager at Hobgoblin's London Shop) as
I have access to this info and he would have had to ask me anyway.
--
Pete McClelland (at Hobgoblin)
Patrick Gillard
In article <lxeZABA1...@mcmail.demon.co.uk>, Pete McClelland
<Pe...@mcmail.demon.co.uk> writes
You couldn't tell me something about my flute could you?
It's an eight-key wooden flute by Jerome Thibouville-Lamy (in Lonfdon).
It's parallell bore rather thatn tapered bore and it's particularly loud
compared with other flutes. I've been told that it is Cocus wood.
Thanks
--
Patrick Gillard
Richard Moon
Lucky you - sounds like you've got a bargain. It seems to me
incredible that you can pick up a truly classic instrument from a
top London maker that's over 150 years old for a few hundred
pounds - when you consider that people pay thousands of pounds
for violin bows, 30 year old electric guitars (thy're only planks
of wood after all) and Boehm flute heads. I wonder how long it
will be before people catch on.
BTW The Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, London has a good
collection of flutes, including some Metzlers, they are not all
on show so might be as well to call them. They also have a
library which is open to the public if you want to do some more
research. If you like old instruments its worth a day out.
Richard Moon : rich...@dcs.co.uk
--
Richard Moon
DCS Information Systems Ltd
Tel ++44 (0) 1908 210 510
Fax ++44 (0) 1908 211 123
Francis Sedgemore
Pete McClelland wrote:
> According to Langwill's, Metzler became a limited company in 1893, so
> I am a little surprised that they were making this kind of flute so
> late, you learn something new every day!
> --
> Pete McClelland (at Hobgoblin)
Many thanks for the info Pete. After cleaning the box, I can now make
out a name and date written on it. The date is 1894. I am a quite
surprised how late the flute is. I would have guessed no later than
1870, given that most London companies had stopped making simple-system
flutes by this time. There is one clue as to the lateness of the instr-
ument though - that is the use of padded botton C and C# keys (instead
of those horrid pewter plug thingies). These actually work properly!
I'd like to have the flute properly valued at some point. In the long,
long term, I'm not sure whether I want to keep it. It plays very well,
though the high pitch is a bit of a problem. I can pull the tuning
slide out all the way, and it'll be in tune (in my local session) for
a while, but once it warms up a bit, I have to 'lip-down', and so lose
some volume and tone. Whatever, I shall probably keep it for a while,
at least until I get a decent, modern 6-key made for me. If anyone has
any idea as to the true value of the Metzler, please let me know.