Flautist

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Flutist)

Image:Flute player.jpg A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays the flute.

1 Naming controversy
2 Notable flautists
3 References
4 External links

Naming controversy

The choice of "flautist" (from the Italian flautista, from flauto, and adopted due to 18th century Italian influence) vs "flutist" is the source of minor dispute among players of the instrument. "Flutist" is the earlier term, dating from at least 1603 (the earliest quote cited by the Oxford English Dictionary), while "flautist" is not recorded before 1860, when it was used by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Marble Faun. While the print version of the OED does not indicate any regional preference for either form, the online Compact OED characterizes "flutist" as a United States usage.Template:Fn

The US player and writer Nancy Toff, in her The Flute Book, devotes a page to the subject, commenting that she is asked "Are you a flutist or a flautist?" on a weekly basis. She compares OED, Fowler's Dictionary of Modern Usage, Evans' Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage, and Copperud's American Usage and Style: The Consensus, finding that only the American sources prefer "flutist", which also corresponds with her own personal preference.Template:Fn

[edit]