These names have been used for soft flue stops of various tones and constructions. Both wood and metal have been used; in metal, the pipes have been made cylindrical, conical, or inverted conical. Williams dates Flauto Dolce from the late 16th century. Most sources consider these names to denote unimitative flute stops, and Maclean states that it is generally akin to the Melodia. Sumner, however, calls the Dulzflöte or Dulcianflöte; "a dulciana with outward taper and quiet string tone", and Skinner writes: "The Flauto Dolce and Flute Celeste are not flutes in the strict sense. They represent muted strings." Skinner goes on to describe it as having slender, tapered pipes with small mouths, slightly stronger than a Dulciana, and becoming a Dulciana in the upper octave and a half. Audsley provides a drawing of one form of this stop, reproduced here, calling it the "cylinder-lipped flute", having a depth equal to 5/6 of its width, and a cut-up rather more than 1/3.

Dolcan is considered a synonym by Bonavia-Hunt and Wedgwood, but others consider it a separate voice. Some sources also list Tibia Angusta as a synonym. Wedgwood considers Flauto Doris, Flauto Douce, Flauto Dulcio, and Flauto Dulcis to be synonyms. Maclean considers Flauto Amabile and Flauto Amoroso to be synonyms for Flauto Dolce, but considers Flûte Douce to be synonymous with Lieblichflöte and Flûte d'Amour.

Variants

Examples

Dulzflöte 8', manual; Dorfkirche, Stontzsch, Germany; Schmieder 1731 (restored 1935).

Süssflöte 4', Manual III; Smetana Hall, Prague, Czechoslovakia; Voit/Tucek 1912. This is the only known example of this name.

Sound Clips

See the Sound Files appendix for general information.

Bibliography