Besson Cocus 8-Key Pratten-Style Flute, D

A genuinely lively instrument. The embouchure is cut generously and well, and the flute rewards that with a crisp, responsive character across the registers. There is real power here: this is the kind of flute that holds its own in a session. The intonation is quite good, requiring very little corrective input from the player to stay in tune. Like most Victorian-era English flutes, this one was likely voiced for a higher pitch standard than A=440, but it plays comfortably at modern pitch with the head joint extended approximately 18 mm. The tuning, energy and projection remain completely intact at that setting.

The body is turned from cocus wood and has eight keys; all function well, including the foot keys. The key mounts and general construction are consistent with English workshop practice of the late 19th century. A hairline crack in the barrel and headjoint have been expertly sealed. The tenons have been re-corked, new pads fitted, and the head cork replaced, leaving the flute in solid playing condition throughout.

About the Maker

The Besson company was formed in 1837 by Gustave Auguste Besson, and in 1857 he moved to England where he built a large factory in London. Following Gustave-Auguste Besson's death in 1874, the company remained Besson in England. The firm was established in London and destined to become famous throughout the world for the excellence of its instruments. Besson is best remembered as a brass instrument house, and it is not certain when Besson started making woodwinds in London; surviving advertising material from the 1880s does show flutes among their offerings, suggesting the firm sold or produced simple-system woodwinds alongside their celebrated brasswind in the years around this instrument's likely date of manufacture. Robert Sydney Pratten was associated with the largest-bore models; he designed his own simple-system flute in 1852 and had them made by Boosey & Co. in 1856, powerful instruments with a larger bore and tone holes than Rudall and Rose. The Besson instrument here shares those broad Pratten-style proportions, and the playing character reflects it.