The name Flageolet denotes an open flue stop of 2' or 1' pitch, rarely 1 1/3', usually a flute. It is usually made of cylindrical metal pipes, but has also been made of wood, particularly in Victorian England. Various sources have equated it with the Piccolo, Flautino, Sifflet, and Schwiegel; others sources maintain that it is (or should be) softer than the Piccolo. While Flageolet should properly be used for a stop imitative of the instrument of the same name, in practice it has been used for any high-pitched flute stop. Douglass dates it from the 16th century.

The name Petit is mentioned only by Wedgwood, who says: “Petit - (Fr.) Petit = small. 1 ft.; sometimes 2 ft. A Flageolet, at Ansprech.”

Variants

Examples

Osiris contains about 150 examples of Flageolet, ten examples of Flageolett, three of Flageoletta, and two of Flageolette. The earliest ones are given below. About one in six are at 1' pitch, the majority being at 2' pitch, and two at 1-1/3' pitch. No examples are known of Fistula Minima, Flautim (mentioned only by Audsley) or Petit (mentioned only by Wedgwood).

Flageolet 1', Bovenwerk; St. John's, Schiedam, Holland; Neijenhoff c1600.

Flageolet 1', Rugpositief; Cathedral-Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; Hocque 1622.

Flageolet 1', Grand Orgue; Basiliek, St. Hubert, Belgium; le Picard 1685.

Flageolet 1-1/2', Bovenmanuaal; Grote of St. Bavokerk, Haarlem, Netherlands; Müller 1738.

Flageolet 1-1/3', Bombarde; Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England; Nicholson 1981.

Flageolett 2', Manual II; Baden-Württemburg, Ochsenhausen, German; Gabler 1755.

Flageoletta 1', Manual III; Tuomiokirkko, Tampere, Finland; Kangasala 1929.

Flageoletta 2', Manual II; Viinikka Church, Tampere, Finland; Kangasala 1932.

Flageoletta 2', Organo Terza; St. Luke's Chapel, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, USA; Moller 1930.

Flageolette 2', Solo; Queensland Performing Arts Complex, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Klais 1982.

Flageolette 2', Svdllverk; Gustav Adolf, Sundsvall, Sweden; Grunland 1992.

Bibliography