To date all our articles about the Powerhouse Museum’s collection have focussed on flutes. Although these are in the majority, it’s time to redress the imbalance and briefly mention the piccolos that are also represented. This article gives an overview and checklist of what piccolos are in the collection to date, some of which will be discussed in more detail in later issues of Flute Focus.

There are currently twelve piccolos in the collection ranging from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth. They were made in a variety of places including England, France, USA and Australia. In terms of construction they are mainly examples of wooden piccolos and, as with the flutes, some are associated with famous Australian performers.

Despite the museum’s long history collecting instruments (it acquired a Dizi or Chinese flute in 1884 for example) it was not until 1976 that the first piccolo entered the collection (PHM No. H9272). This was a simple system F piccolo (5 keys) made by Henry Potter and Company, London. The address marked on the instrument dates it to between about 1904 and 1950 (Gift of EA & VI Crome, 1976). Piccolos such as this were commonly played in English military fife and drum bands.

Another piccolo from the same donors (PHM No. 88/469) has an interesting connection to Australian musical history. This is a simple system E flat piccolo (6 keys) marked F. Courture & Co. of Paris, and was probably made some time between 1880 and 1920. According to the donors it was used by Dave Kaye, who was a member of Her Majesty’s Theatre Orchestra, in the last performance of “La Boheme” featuring Dame Nellie Melba at Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne on Saturday afternoon 27 September 1928. This was possibly used for the eight bars played by the back stage piccolo.

Five of the piccolos in the collection were part of the personal collection of Australian flautist Leslie Barklamb (1905-1993). These include two E flat piccolos (6 keys), the makers of both being anonymous. The first (PHM No. 93/117/24) appears to date from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, while the second (PHM No. 93/117/25) is possibly a student model or an adapted instrument and may date from the 1930s.

Three other instruments donated by Leslie Barklamb in 1992 were made by the famous London firm Rudall Carte. While two of these are made with a Radcliff system and pitched in D flat possibly indicating their use in military bands (PHM Nos 93/117/27 & 93/117/28), the third is made with Carte’s 1867 system and constructed of ebonite (PHM No. 93/117/26) rather than cocus wood as the two others are.

The past principal flautists of the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras are also represented. Two piccolos owned by Richard Chugg (1902-1963), Principal Flautist with the MSO from the late 1920s until his untimely death in 1963 were made by Rudall Carte and date from the period from 1913 to about 1925. Again one of these is a Radcliff system. The instruments were donated to the museum by the Chugg family in 2007. (PHM Nos. 2007/157/6 & 2007/157/7).

Neville Amadio (1913-2006) was Principal Flautist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. A piccolo owned by him is the only all- metal one in the collection. It was possibly made by Gemeinhardt, in Elkhart, Indiana, USA, between 1940 and 1970 and was

donated the museum by Mrs Hilda Amadio in 2007. (PHM No. 2007/84/11).

Last, but far from least, is the subject of last issue’s article, Australian flute maker Clewin Harcourt. He made a Boehm system piccolo to low C (2005/173/9), a very rare instrument to be made by an Australian maker. Harcourt also owned a piccolo by French maker Isadore Lot (2005/173/10). (Both gifts of Nicola Coles (née Wilson) in memory of Clewin Harcourt (1870-1965), 2005).

A brief list of all the piccolos in the collection is as follows;

H9272 Piccolo, five keys, F, Henry Potter, London, c1904-c1950

88/469 Piccolo, six keys, E flat, F. Courture & Co., Paris, [1880-1920]

93/117/24 Piccolo, six keys, E flat, maker and origin unknown, late 19th – early 20th century

93/117/25 Piccolo, six keys, E flat, maker and origin unknown, c.1930

93/117/26 Piccolo, 1867 system, Rudall Carte & Co Ltd, London, late 19th – early 20th century

93/117/27 Piccolo, Radcliff system, in D flat, Rudall Carte & Co Ltd, London.

93/117/28 Piccolo, Radcliff system, in D flat, Rudall Carte & Co Ltd, London.

2005/173/9 Piccolo, timber / silver, Clewin Harcourt, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, [1913-1960]

2005/173/10 Piccolo with case, timber / metal / fabric, Isadore Lot, France, 1900-1930

2007/84/11 Piccolo, metal, and case, possibly made by Gemeinhardt, [Elkhart, Indiana, United States of America], 1940-1970

2007/157/6 Piccolo, Radcliff system, cocus wood & metal, Rudall Carte, London, 1913.

2007/157/7 Piccolo, cocus wood & metal, Rudall Carte, London, [1915-1925]

Overall shot of a piccolo owned by Neville Amadio, possibly made by Gemeinhardt, [Elkhart, Indiana, United States of America], 1940-1970. (2007/84/11 Photo: Jean-Francois Lanzarone, Courtesy Powerhouse Museum, Sydney).

Overall shot of a piccolo made by Clewin Harcourt, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, [1913-1960]. (2005/173/9 Photo: Marinco Kojdanovski, Courtesy Powerhouse Museum, Sydney).

Michael Lea is Curator of Music and Musical Instruments at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia and is a member of the International Committee of Musical Instrument Museums and Collections (CIMCIM). He is currently working on several research projects including a collaboration with the University of New South Wales Physics Department involving historic & contemporary flutes. www.powerhousemuseum.com

Danielle Eden is a graduate of the University of London, Royal Academy of Music and the Sydney conservatorium and hosts respectively a doctorate, masters and performance degrees. She has presented numerous papers on the history of the piccolo and flute development in the UK, Australia and US. In 2002 she was made an associate of the Royal Academy of Music. She is currently on the staff of the University of Sydney specialising in creative arts. www.powerhousemuseum.com