Flauto basso

As Printed on a Score

Labels the bass flute in C, usually on its own staff. The part is written in treble clef an octave above the sound. Watch the name in older English scores, where “bass flute” meant the alto flute in G; the key printed with it (in C, in G) shows which instrument is meant.

How Composers Use It

Sounds an octave below the concert flute, down to C3, with a soft, hollow, breathy tone that needs very light accompaniment and is often amplified in orchestral settings. It is a twentieth-century color, more at home in flute choirs, chamber music and film scores than in the standard orchestra. Write sustained or slow-moving lines in its low and middle registers, and check that a player and an instrument will be available.

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