hi
most of the boosey–pratten flutes we come across today are what i consider low end models, although they may be great playing flutes, the keys and mounts are of low end nickle and the wood is certainly not a selected piece,
it seems most of their flutes were made of this cheaper low end material to cater to the middle and lower income people of the day,
i once owned a boosey & co pratten perfected flute which had beautiful silver mounts and keys and was made of a choice cocuswood, it also had a beautiful sweet tone even though it had power to spare, i sold that flute in 1986 and now i wish i had’nt, I have played quite a lot of boosey pratten flutes in the past few years and also quite a number of copies and find them to be plenty loud but with what i call a dry sound and with no sweetness,
Did boosey & co make their upper end models on special order and were there so few made that we dont come across that many today.
john
i own 4 pratten flutes: 2 Hudson and 2 Boosey
All 4 have the non-Hudson keys; none are sterling (except that all have just two rings that are sterling while the others are not: the upper flush ring of the barrel and the foot ring…must have been a Hudson trademark as it appears on all of them).
The cocus wood on all is a fine selection, so I’m not sure I’d agree with the notion that they are low end. I suspect low-cost is more like it, with the German silver keys (i’ve never seen nickel, but of course mine are very first models, c.1852-58 )
It’s been my feeling (not substantiated by anything other than thought) that these flutes were student flutes, for those who took lessons with Pratten or whomever, keeping them affordable while not sacrificing musical quality. Like Rudall, it was probably required to own one of their flutes (as it seemed to be for Nicholson) to study under them. Rudall, you will recall, had them made by Mr. Willis before he met Mr. Rose.
Boosey flutes catered more to the military bands rather than the concert or parlor players.
It was their 9key model (extra thumb touch for the upper C) that was listed first, followed by the 8key variety.
There are not that many silver-keyed Prattens around. Any that I’ve seen were of the Hudson-key variety, where the cups screw into the shanks. ( I own a very early Siccama of this type, but none else). The Boosey-Pratten flutes with the silver keys were also quite elaborate of rings and lip plates, making me believe they were, indeed, custom made by Hudson himself.
Too, don’t forget that Boosey made about 300 flutes in their first year of flute production. How many were 8key and how many were not is something I’ve not heard an answer.
So there are not that many around, for sure, either of silver or otherwise seeing as so many Pratten’s Perfected flute models existed (from 8key up to 17 key in concert pitch…and 5 key boxwoods in F as you well know!).
In the past 5 years I have seen only three Boosey-Pratten flutes up for sale in any public venue and two Hudson-Pratten flutes, making them even less likely to be parted with by their owners.
Rudalls however, there are many (including one on Ebay right now!)
Hi David i think the main reason owners-players hold on to pratten flutes is first they are good playing flutes and like you mentioned there are not that many for sale, i also think the fact that Matt Molloy plays one gives some people the idea that this is the best flute to play, actually Matt did most of his playing and recording with the Bothy band on a Rudall & Rose flute.
about the nickle-silver (german silver) quite a number of well known makers used it, Wylde, Fentum, Clementi etc, but those makers also did some fine silver keywork on their more expensive models,
Most of the french makers did the same, I believe it may be to reach the main stream that they made a less expensive flute, and this meant staying in business.
I think you’re right about Molloy popularizing the Boosey flutes, with his later work although the Rudall was one of his earlier loves. That influence clearly had to be from Tansey whose Rudall is now legendary.
Every Clementi-Nicholson that I’ve seen was of sterling keys, but the later Clementi & Co flutes – after Thos Prowse had left on his own and took the Nicholson name with him – were German Silver…but the flutes weren’t as grand as the Nicholson models.
I’ve seen a few later Wylde flutes that were of German Silver, but I believe the majority I have seen were of sterling. I can’t speak to Fentum as I’ve probably seen only a couple (same as Bilton).
Of course Molloy plays his Boosey interchanged with his Olwell.
A matter of taste. Besides, Matt has huge hands anyway!
We do know that there were at the least 7000 Rudalls made/sold of the simple system variety (8keys or their variants with long foot joints or upper E trill, etc)…seeing as the highest number so far is 7403…and lowest is 437…
but I don’t believe there were nearly that many Pratten’s Perfected flutes in the 8key (or 9 as they made several) style. Hudson we know produced about 640 of the flutes (although I’ve heard of at least one flute serial numbered in the 800s…I have not seen proof as yet, though). The highest-numbered Hudson-Pratten thus far – #641 – was of the 9key variety. It has yet to surface following its auction sale in 1974.
The Boosey-Pratten flutes are more of an anomaly to track as the 8key flutes were numbered in the same index as the F flutes, the piccolos, the fifes, the multi 17keyed flutes, etc, etc.
Someday we may know how many flutes they made following a close analysis of the company books that exist.
This topic keeps coming up and I’ve responded once already to a similar question, but I have a Boosey & Co. Pratten’s Perfected with 10 sterling “Hudson”-type keys, including a short C and a long B-flat that runs right along the long C.
It has the original head-joint in excellent condition, and a much better replica head-joint made by Pat Olwell; it’s not for sale.
The flute is marked:
Boosey & Co.
24 Holles Street
London
8445
R.S. Pratten’s Perfected
I have photos if anyone’s interested.
I’d love to see some pics…
Sven
My personal experience has been that a modern head-joint by Pat Olwell or Chris Wilkes is noticeably superior in tone, tuning, and playability to the original head-joint on a Boosey or an R&R.
Booseyflute wrote:
My personal experience has been that a modern head-joint by Pat Olwell or Chris Wilkes is noticeably superior in tone, tuning, and playability to the original head-joint on a Boosey or an R&R.
I would agree with that; Chris Wilkes did a marvelous job on the replacement head he made for my Boosey..
sorry to digress…i have a wilkes hj which came with a flute i recently bought. the hj fits on one of my rudalls like a charm. that is partly why i bought the flute.
i’m as guilty
i have an Olwell head on one of my Rudalls (which originally had a Patent Head that was terribly heavy). It’s marvelous.
Pat’s also “tweeked” a few original embouchures for me (notably one of my Hudson-Prattens), and the results were equally as impressive.
Booseyflute, i don’t think we’re saying these Pratten special models didn’t exist, just that there are not that many of them for some reason. I suspect it was an economic thing.
Heck, Andrew Pickering in england has one of the nicest type Boosey-Pratten flutes with the Hudson keys. His is an 8key while yours seems to be a 9 (or 10?).
Too, Mickey Zekley of Lark fame owns Boosey #4600, a stunning presentation flute.
So they’re out there, but not in large volume.