Traverso

The "traverso," also commonly known as "transverse flute" or "one-keyed flute," was the most popular model of the flute from the late seventeenth through the eighteenth century. It is made of wood and has one key, made of brass or silver. As was common in the eighteenth century, this particular instrument is tuned to A 415, which means that it sounds approximately a half-step lower than modern instruments. This excerpt demonstrates the traverso with the opening of the Allegro movement of Telemann's Fantasia No. 3 in A minor for solo flute.