The flute has changed in the course of the 19th century as has no other musical instrument. From a conical wooden flute with only one key the flute gradually developed into a cylindrical metal flute with a complex key system – the Boehm system. In the course of this development many different types of flute existed simultaneously.
The technique of playing the German flute (or simple system flute) differs from that of the Boehm flute especially in the use of fingerings. For one note several different fingerings can be used in order to simplify passages or to adjust the intonation. One could also produce different effects according to the different tone colours of the fingerings.
Anne Pustlauk has devoted herself to the simple system flute and its performance practice in the context of an artistic doctorate. The results can be heard on this recording.