FLUTE, a wind instrument which in a variety of forms has been in constant use from the earliest ages, To Olympus the Phrygian has been ascribed the introduction of flute-playing into Greece, an art which was much encouraged in the later days of the empire. The Greeks employed professional flute-players in many of their religious ceremonies, and competitive trials of skill were frequent. The old English flute, called ↑hQ flute-à-bec, from the supposed resemblance of the mouthpiece to the beak of a bird, was played from the upper and wider end, had seven finger holes, and was made of various sizes, called treble, alto, tenor, and bass flutes respectively. This instrument continued in common use to about the middle of the 18th century, when it was gradually superseded by the modern horizontal {flauto traversa) or “German” flute. Handel was one of the first to introduce the new instrument into the orchestra, employing it for solos in The Ode on Saint Cecilia's Day (1739), notably in the air “The soft complaining Flute.” But the capacities of the traverso of Handel’s time were very limited in comparison with those of its modern representative, which possesses a workable compass of about three octaves from the low C in the treble clef, with all the chromatic intervals. Various systems of fingering have been introduced from time to time by the most eminent flautists and flute-makers, and concertos for the flute as a solo instrument have been composed with a view to exhibiting the powers of celebrated performers. In orchestral scores the flute part is generally placed at the top, and is written in the violin or G clef. The piccolo or octave flute, the E flat or tierce, the D flat or minor ninth (transposing piccolo), the flute d’amour, a minor third below the ...