Carolingian Knochenflöte Müstair

The surreal Müstair Closter Museum, amongst many other treasures, hosts two bone flutes which have been dated to the carolingian period.

Müstair bone flute 98/21'659

This instrument was carefully measured and photographed by 3D Music Instruments and transformed into a 3D-model.

It is not clear if this flute was played as a recorder (block missing), as a small traverso (cork missing) or vertically with a „quena“ technique. All three methods produce sounds, but surprisingly enough its possibilities as a small traverso are maybe more interesting musically than one would expect. 

Riccarda Caflisch plays the 3D-printed copy with traverso technique during a presentation at the Müstair Closter Museum on August 10th, 2018.

The following gallery presents the original flute alongside its replica. 

© Ricardo Simian 2015 - 2025 - all rights reserved

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