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Principles of the Flute, Recorder and Oboe
Jacques Hotteterre
This slim treatise is one of the founding documents of woodwind playing: Jacques-Martin Hotteterre's Principes de la flûte, first published in Paris in 1707 and here in modern English translation as Principles of the Flute, Recorder and Oboe. Hotteterre “le Romain” came from the famous French dynasty of wind-instrument makers and players who helped reshape these instruments at the court of Louis XIV, and his book is the first serious method for the baroque transverse flute, with parallel guidance for recorder and oboe. It covers posture, fingering, tonguing, and—most valuably—the ornaments that give French baroque music its character. For early-music players and anyone curious about how this repertoire was actually performed, it's an irreplaceable primary source: short enough to read in an evening, detailed enough to study for years.
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The author
Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (c. 1674–1763), called "le Romain," belonged to a celebrated family of French instrument makers and wind players attached to the court of Louis XIV. His family's redesign of the flute, oboe, and bassoon helped create the baroque woodwinds, and he was among the most admired flutists of his day.
The book
Originally published in Paris in 1707 as Principes de la flûte traversière, this is the first substantial method for the transverse flute, with sections on the recorder and oboe. This twentieth-century edition presents a modern English translation, making Hotteterre's guidance on breathing, articulation, and ornamentation available to contemporary players.
How to read it
As a primary source, not a modern tutor. Its value lies in showing how the music of its period was meant to be shaped—especially its detailed treatment of appoggiaturas, trills, and other ornaments—rather than in systematic pedagogy.
For more context
Read alongside Quantz's On Playing the Flute and the broader literature on baroque performance practice.
Sources
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Jacques Hotteterre
- Publisher
- Praeger Publishers
- Place of publication
- New York
- Year
- 1968
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Music
- Location
- Maine