Fig. 1. 19th century band flute found in Tarragona

This small 6-keyed band flute was given to my grandfather when he was a child and entered the city band in Reus. After many years and a restoration made by Mr. John Coppen, it can be played again. It has an inscription: “Juan Ayné. Tarragona“. Juan Ayné was not the maker, but an instrument and music shop from Barcelona. The shop’s site in Tarragona was located at the former Rambla de Sant Joan, 46, nowadays called Rambla Nova, on the second half of the 19th century (see fig. 4).

Mr. Jem Hammond, from Flute History Channel, explained that it is assuredly a french-made instrument by the style of it, probably intended for use in military bands. He also stated that these instruments weren’t normally expected to be played closed up, but using a slide (which mine has) to tune. He expected mine would play at A-435 diapason normal with the slide open – it is far more likely that a french instrument in this style was built for A-435; it might be able to be used closed up, but the scale won’t give its optimum intonation there.

A very similar Juan Ayné instrument can be found at the Museu de la Música de Barcelona (MDMB 255), dated 1870-1926 (Fig. 2). The lowest fingered note on both is a D, sounding E flat. They are called E flat band flutes but in transposition terms they are in fact in D flat.

I compared my Juan Ayné flute with a similar instrument: a parisian Jerôme Thibouville-Lamy flute from the same period kindly borrowed from Lluís Homdedeu collection (see fig. 5). The lowest fingered note on the Thibouville is D, sounding D (A-440 / 435). It would be called a D band flute, even it is an instrument in C terms of transposition.

As a curiosity, I must tell you that my grandfather never took playing the flute seriously and ended up being a percussionist. But the instrument stayed at home… and I found it being already a professional flutist… So I am happy I can play it again!

Fig. 2. Museu de la Música de Barcelona’s Eb (Db) flute, Ref. MDMB 255

Fig. 3. New Langwill Index of Wind Instrument Makers

Fig. 4. Juan Ayné’s shop ad at “El Correo de la Provincia”, 20/03/1892

Fig. 5. Jerôme Thibouville-Lamy, Paris, 82

Fig. 6. Ayné (up) and Thibouville-Lamy (down)