Manufacturer: Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (1814-1894).
Dimensions of conical bore: ~19 mm > ~11 mm.
Length of useful air column: ~58
The first two teaching positions for instrumental music at the Athens Conservatoire were those of the Violin and the Transverse Flute, which were taught by Federico Bolognini (d. 1893) and Panagiotis Aktypis (d. 1886), respectively. The selection of these two instruments, according to the poet Georgios Drosinis, followed the two pillars of Greek music, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. In the spirit of this romantic idea, three historic flutes were donated to the Conservatoire, which were found kept in an armoured box. Two small documents, a note and a card, highlight the need for further research more than they reveal concrete information, as they correspond to two of the three flutes. However, the conclusions that we can safely draw can be verified by the Historical Archive of the Athens Conservatoire, and allow us to touch upon their history.
The older of the two documents, bearing a barely legible signature (possibly: S. Kyriakidis?), includes a main inscription in ink and a later diagonal note in pencil. The original ink inscription informs us, firstly, that one of the flutes explicitly belongs to the Athens Conservatoire, and secondly, that it was temporarily placed for safekeeping in this particular secure vault on 6 March 1936. The date supports a connection between the contents of the note and the Louis Lot transverse flute.
The first surname mentioned in parentheses in the document is that of "Papageorgiou", clearly referring to Nikolaos Papageorgiou (1883-1936), professor of the School of Flute of the Athens Conservatoire. The second name, with which the parenthesis ends, is "P. Karapanos", revealing to us Pyrrhos Karapanos, a member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Conservatoire since 1881.
The unexpected passing of Papageorgiou in 1936 leads us to conclude that this rough note was drafted to justify the presence of his valuable flute in the vault of the Athens Conservatoire as a, for reasons of decency, temporary deposit. Yet it also informs us about the ownership of the instrument, which appears not to have belonged to the esteemed professor himself, but rather to the Athens Conservatoire, through the benefaction of Pyrrhos Karapanos. Thus, the loan of the instrument ended with it being posthumously returned.
This certainty is confirmed six years later, in 1941 – just as hastily and on the same small slip of paper – by a different, later hand, which writes diagonally in pencil above the original text. With emphasis, the name of Papageorgiou is crossed out. In alignment with the name "P. Karapanos" and just above it is written the word "Donation". Then, turning the paper diagonally, the still-unknown signatory hastily notes the handing over of Papageorgiou’s instrument to his student, Spyridon Mangos. It was February 1941, just sixty days before the German troops invaded Athens. More research is required to determine whether the hand that signed, taking the instrument to protect it from possible destruction, was that of Mangos himself.
The handwritten note in ink reads:
This flute / belongs to the Athens / Conservatoire. (Papageorgiou / (P. Karapanos) – and is placed in this vault / temporarily for safekeeping. 6 March 1936 [Signature barely legible, “S. Kyriakidis”?]
and diagonally in pencil, hastily:
delivered / to Mr Maggos / on 28 Feb. 1941 [Signature illegible]
The second document is a card from the writer Dionysios (Nysis) Messinezis (1902-1992), with his name and mailing address “Ioannou Messinezis 2”, in Aigio. From this it becomes clear that one of the flutes (perhaps the older Ziegler) belonged to Lykourgos Messinezis (1840-1910), grandson of the member of Filiki Etaireia and revolutionary fighter Leon Messinezis. The flute was given to Menelaos Pallandios as a gift to the Athens Conservatoire by Nysis Messinezis, grandson of Lykourgos.
The handwritten note on the card reads:
To the Director of the Athens Conservatoire / Academician Mr Menelaos Pallandios / I offer this old flute for the / Conservatoire’s Music Archive. It belonged to my grandfather / Lykourgos Messinezis (1840-1910), / grandson of the revolutionary fighter of 1821 / Leon Messinezis. Warm regards, / Nysis
This second document may also refer to the Sax flute. However, based on its estimated date of manufacture (see Sax flute description), it is possible to assume – somewhat more confidently than for the Ziegler – that it could have been acquired at the end of the 19th century.
The three transverse flutes were kept in a secure safe, a fact which demonstrates the intent of both donors and recipients to preserve them as valuable historical artefacts tied to the history of the Athens Conservatoire. Despite the passage of time, they remain in good condition to this day.
Documentation: Historical Archive of the Athens Conservatoire.
Detailed Reports of the 25th Anniversary of Nazos, 1915, Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece.
A graduate of the Flute and Clarinet Schools of the Brussels Conservatoire, Antoine Joseph Sax, known as Adolphe, was apprenticed from an early age in the most renowned musical instrument workshop in the city – the workshop founded by his father Charles Sax (1791-1865) in 1815, as the official supplier to the Belgian Court and military. In contrast to his father, who also specialised in transverse flutes, Adolphe would later become famous for the wind instrument that came to bear his surname: the saxophone.
At the age of 28, he decided to establish his own workshop in Paris. It is in this workshop that the present flute was crafted, as indicated not only by the maker’s signature but also by the discreet branding on the middle joint, which names Paris as the place of manufacture.
This transverse flute, conically bored and made of ebony, extends – like all flutes of this length – the natural scale of D major by two tones downward, following the standard layout of the Meyer system (Heinrich Friedrich Meyer, 1814-1897), prior to the innovation introduced by Böhm (Theobald Böhm, 1794-1881). Thus, the instrument features 8 keys, with C as the lowest note in its range. Its estimated period of manufacture is between 1842 and 1894. A noteworthy characteristic of this instrument is its refinement – both in construction and in sound.
Bibliography: Lyndesay G. Langwill, An Index of Musical Wind Instrument Makers, 1977.
Manufacturer: Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (1814-1894).
Dimensions of conical bore: ~19 mm > ~11 mm.
Length of useful air column: ~58
The first two teaching positions for instrumental music at the Athens Conservatoire were those of the Violin and the Transverse Flute, which were taught by Federico Bolognini (d. 1893) and Panagiotis Aktypis (d. 1886), respectively. The selection of these two instruments, according to the poet Georgios Drosinis, followed the two pillars of Greek music, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. In the spirit of this romantic idea, three historic flutes were donated to the Conservatoire, which were found kept in an armoured box. Two small documents, a note and a card, highlight the need for further research more than they reveal concrete information, as they correspond to two of the three flutes. However, the conclusions that we can safely draw can be verified by the Historical Archive of the Athens Conservatoire, and allow us to touch upon their history.
The older of the two documents, bearing a barely legible signature (possibly: S. Kyriakidis?), includes a main inscription in ink and a later diagonal note in pencil. The original ink inscription informs us, firstly, that one of the flutes explicitly belongs to the Athens Conservatoire, and secondly, that it was temporarily placed for safekeeping in this particular secure vault on 6 March 1936. The date supports a connection between the contents of the note and the Louis Lot transverse flute.
The first surname mentioned in parentheses in the document is that of "Papageorgiou", clearly referring to Nikolaos Papageorgiou (1883-1936), professor of the School of Flute of the Athens Conservatoire. The second name, with which the parenthesis ends, is "P. Karapanos", revealing to us Pyrrhos Karapanos, a member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Conservatoire since 1881.
The unexpected passing of Papageorgiou in 1936 leads us to conclude that this rough note was drafted to justify the presence of his valuable flute in the vault of the Athens Conservatoire as a, for reasons of decency, temporary deposit. Yet it also informs us about the ownership of the instrument, which appears not to have belonged to the esteemed professor himself, but rather to the Athens Conservatoire, through the benefaction of Pyrrhos Karapanos. Thus, the loan of the instrument ended with it being posthumously returned.
This certainty is confirmed six years later, in 1941 – just as hastily and on the same small slip of paper – by a different, later hand, which writes diagonally in pencil above the original text. With emphasis, the name of Papageorgiou is crossed out. In alignment with the name "P. Karapanos" and just above it is written the word "Donation". Then, turning the paper diagonally, the still-unknown signatory hastily notes the handing over of Papageorgiou’s instrument to his student, Spyridon Mangos. It was February 1941, just sixty days before the German troops invaded Athens. More research is required to determine whether the hand that signed, taking the instrument to protect it from possible destruction, was that of Mangos himself.
The handwritten note in ink reads:
This flute / belongs to the Athens / Conservatoire. (Papageorgiou / (P. Karapanos) – and is placed in this vault / temporarily for safekeeping. 6 March 1936 [Signature barely legible, “S. Kyriakidis”?]
and diagonally in pencil, hastily:
delivered / to Mr Maggos / on 28 Feb. 1941 [Signature illegible]
The second document is a card from the writer Dionysios (Nysis) Messinezis (1902-1992), with his name and mailing address “Ioannou Messinezis 2”, in Aigio. From this it becomes clear that one of the flutes (perhaps the older Ziegler) belonged to Lykourgos Messinezis (1840-1910), grandson of the member of Filiki Etaireia and revolutionary fighter Leon Messinezis. The flute was given to Menelaos Pallandios as a gift to the Athens Conservatoire by Nysis Messinezis, grandson of Lykourgos.
The handwritten note on the card reads:
To the Director of the Athens Conservatoire / Academician Mr Menelaos Pallandios / I offer this old flute for the / Conservatoire’s Music Archive. It belonged to my grandfather / Lykourgos Messinezis (1840-1910), / grandson of the revolutionary fighter of 1821 / Leon Messinezis. Warm regards, / Nysis
This second document may also refer to the Sax flute. However, based on its estimated date of manufacture (see Sax flute description), it is possible to assume – somewhat more confidently than for the Ziegler – that it could have been acquired at the end of the 19th century.
The three transverse flutes were kept in a secure safe, a fact which demonstrates the intent of both donors and recipients to preserve them as valuable historical artefacts tied to the history of the Athens Conservatoire. Despite the passage of time, they remain in good condition to this day.
Documentation: Historical Archive of the Athens Conservatoire.
Detailed Reports of the 25th Anniversary of Nazos, 1915, Historical Archive of the National Bank of Greece.
A graduate of the Flute and Clarinet Schools of the Brussels Conservatoire, Antoine Joseph Sax, known as Adolphe, was apprenticed from an early age in the most renowned musical instrument workshop in the city – the workshop founded by his father Charles Sax (1791-1865) in 1815, as the official supplier to the Belgian Court and military. In contrast to his father, who also specialised in transverse flutes, Adolphe would later become famous for the wind instrument that came to bear his surname: the saxophone.
At the age of 28, he decided to establish his own workshop in Paris. It is in this workshop that the present flute was crafted, as indicated not only by the maker’s signature but also by the discreet branding on the middle joint, which names Paris as the place of manufacture.
This transverse flute, conically bored and made of ebony, extends – like all flutes of this length – the natural scale of D major by two tones downward, following the standard layout of the Meyer system (Heinrich Friedrich Meyer, 1814-1897), prior to the innovation introduced by Böhm (Theobald Böhm, 1794-1881). Thus, the instrument features 8 keys, with C as the lowest note in its range. Its estimated period of manufacture is between 1842 and 1894. A noteworthy characteristic of this instrument is its refinement – both in construction and in sound.
Bibliography: Lyndesay G. Langwill, An Index of Musical Wind Instrument Makers, 1977.