Flautone Italian Flûton French Gross Flûte Douce French?

Listed only by Audsley, who says:

The name given by the Italian organ-builders to a large-scaled, flute-toned stop, yielding a smooth and somewhat subdued voice. The pipes of this stop are either open or covered, according to the ideas of the builder, or, probably according to the stop-apportionment of the divisional Organ in which it is placed. The Flautone in the North Organ in the Cathedral of Milan is of metal with a covered wooden bass, while that in the Choir of the Organ in the church of San Gaetano, Florence, is a metal stop of 8 ft. pitch, the pipes of which are apparently open.*

Audsley's entry ends with a footnote:

“A la pédale, les Italiens l'emploient sous le nom de Flautone, Flûton, ou gross flûte douce. Celle de huit-pieds, qui est la plus usitée, chante admirablement les adagios en solo ou en choeur, mais seule à la main; il ne faut pourtant pas trop augmenter le nombre des parties, la confusior s'y jetterait, et adieu l'effet instrumental.” - Regnier.

This footnote translates as follows:

In the pedal, the Italians employ it under the name of Flautone, Flûton, or gross flûte douce. The eight-foot stop, which is most used, admirably sings the adagios in solo or chorus, but only in the manuals; one however should not increase the number of the parts too much, it would be thrown into confusion, and good-bye to the instrumental effect.

In his entry for Dolzflote (also known as Flûte Douce), Audsley quotes Seidel as saying: “Im Pedal soll diese Stimme zu 16' unter dem Namen Flautone vorkomen.” (“In the pedal this stop appears at 16' under the name Flautone.”)

Compare with Flautonne.

Bibliography