Jacques-Martin Hotteterre

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (1674–1763), known as le Romain, was a French flautist, composer, and wind-instrument maker. His influential treatises codified techniques and ornamentation for French Baroque woodwinds.

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Baroque flute: A wooden transverse flute used in Baroque music, typically with one key and a conical bore. Hotteterre’s flute treatise describes technique for this instrument.
Principes de la flûte traversière: Hotteterre’s 1707 French treatise on playing the transverse flute, recorder, and oboe. It is his best-known guide to flute technique, articulation, and ornamentation.
Hotteterre family: A French family of woodwind players, makers, and composers active from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century. Jacques-Martin belonged to the dynasty associated with French woodwind making.
Transverse flute: A flute held horizontally and sounded by directing air across an embouchure hole. The instrument’s growing prominence created demand for the kind of instruction Hotteterre published.
French Baroque music: The musical traditions cultivated in France from the late sixteenth through the early eighteenth centuries. Its courtly style shaped Hotteterre’s compositions and performance advice.
L'Art de préluder: Hotteterre’s 1719 treatise on improvising preludes and playing in different keys. It teaches performers how to create stylistically appropriate preludes.
Michel de La Barre: A French flautist and composer whose 1702 publication was among the earliest collections of flute sonatas. His work provides an earlier example of the French flute tradition Hotteterre developed.
One-keyed flute: A historical transverse flute with a single key, used widely in the Baroque period. Hotteterre’s playing instructions address the flute design of his era.
French ornamentation: A system of written signs and performed embellishments characteristic of French Baroque music. Hotteterre explained how performers should execute ornaments in French style.
Principes de la musette: Hotteterre’s 1738 treatise on playing the musette, a French bagpipe. It extends his practical teaching to a pastoral wind instrument.