U.Va.'s Rob Turner Plays James Madison's Glass Flute

June 11, 2000 -- Dolly Madison loved social occasions and was known for her hospitality. She and President James Madison entertained a constant stream of guests and dignitaries, both at the President's House and later at Montpelier, Madison's home near Charlottesville. An evening with the Madisons often would have included music, usually provided by the guests themselves.

Rob Turner, instructor in baroque flute and recorder at the University of Virginia's McIntire Department of Music, has recreated what could have been such an evening's entertainment on his new CD, "Mr. Madison's Crystal Flute." The CD was recorded in the Madison's dining room at Montpelier -- "A perfect place to record," said Turner. "I wanted to create a sense of the time and place with the recording."

On "Mr. Madison's Crystal Flute," Turner plays a lead crystal flute owned by Madison and made in 1813 by Claude Laurent in Paris. A clockmaker who turned to making flutes, the innovative Laurent patented his flute-making techniques, including the use of glass for the body of the flute and a mounting system for keys that pioneered the way keys are still mounted on almost all woodwinds today.

Prized for their superior musical qualities as well as objects of art, it was common for European heads of state to own a Laurent glass flute. The list of European nobility and royalty who owned Laurent glass flutes includes: Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland; Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain; Franz I, Emperor of Austria; Louis XVIII Bourbon; and Napoleon I. Madison's flute may be one of a pair originally made for Napoleon.

Until recently it was thought that Lafayette presented the flute to Madison, possibly on a visit to Montpelier in 1824. A letter from Laurent to Madison, found in the Madison Papers at the Library of Congress, documents that Laurent himself sent the flute to Madison. A silver ring

between the head and middle joint is inscribed "A S E Président Madison des Etats Unis (to his Eminence President Madison of the United States).

Turner, however, was no stranger to the Madison flute. It is one of 17 crystal flutes by Laurent in the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection in the Library of Congress, the largest collection of flutes in the world. A flute maker himself, Turner has been studying and restoring flutes in the collection for 25 years. In 1998 he played the Madison flute at the opening of the "Discovering Madison" exhibit celebrating Montpelier's reopening.

Not much is known about James and Dolly Madison's musical preferences, although the Library of Congress has a collection of bound sheet music for piano and vocal music with piano accompaniment that belonged to Dolly. Lacking such an historical reference for flute music associated with the Madisons, Turner chose typical early 19^th-century salon music for flute and guitar. The program features solos and duos for flute and guitar composed by French flutist Louis Drouet and two guitarists, Ferdinando Carulli of Italy and Francesco Molino of Spain. The composers were respected virtuosi in Paris during the two decades following the creation of the Madison glass flute.

Guitarist Frank Wallace accompanies Turner, playing an 1854 guitar made by Manuel Gutierrez of Seville. Wallace, a composer and full-time performer, is a distinguished player of early guitars, vihuela da mano and lute, who performs medieval and renaissance music with his ensemble, LiveOak. Turner and Wallace's first performance together was as part of "Flute Fest" in 1998 at the Library of Congress.

This is the second CD of historical music for Turner. His 1997 CD, "Music in the Age of Jefferson," a collection of pieces by composers represented in Thomas Jefferson's music collection, was recorded in the Dome Room of the Rotunda at U.Va. Designed by the University's founder, Thomas Jefferson, one of the original uses of the Dome Room was a place for musical performances.

Turner feels that the support of preservation is important. His recording company, PDI Recordings, Inc., returns over 10 percent of gross revenue from the sales of these CDs to preservation: at Montpelier, through the Friends of Montpelier Fund, and at the University of Virginia, through Historic Preservation at the Office of University Development.

For more information or interviews, contact Rob Turner at (804) 977-5547.

Contact: Jane Ford, (804) 924-4298

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: please contact the Office of University Relations at (804) 924-7116. Television reporters should contact the TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.
SOURCE: U.Va. News Services

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