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Bass flute: the flute in C an octave below the concert flute. In older English scores (Holst’s The Planets) bass flute means the flute in G, today’s alto flute.
Labels the bass flute, abbreviated B. Fl. or Bass Fl. Today it means the flute in C, written in treble clef an octave above the sound. In older British scores, notably Holst’s The Planets, Bass Flute is the flute in G now called the alto flute, written a fourth above the sound; the key given with the name settles which is meant.
Abbreviations: B. Fl., Bass Fl.
The modern bass flute in C sounds an octave below the flute, down to C3, soft and hollow; it needs a very light texture or amplification and suits sustained lines in chamber, flute-choir and film music. When you meet Holst’s bass flute, treat it as an alto flute part. Because instruments are scarce, cue its essential lines in another part, as Holst did.
Holst, The Planets, “Saturn”, first clarinet, m. 117: “In the absence of Bass Flute 1st Clar. will play the small notes.” — Holst’s bass flute, the flute in G, is cued in the clarinet part.
Bass Flute is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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