Saxophone, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and world and electronic woodwinds
Jennifer Cluff posted this video on her excellent blog today:
I think Ms. Cluff’s commentary is right on the mark.
But I’ll admit the thing that jumped out to me was the brief conversation between Jean-Pierre Rampal and Dick Cavett, at about 5:10. Rampal takes a stand on the flutist/flautist thing, which is a big pet peeve of mine.
There are some terms I sometimes hear woodwind players use that make me think that they don’t know what they’re talking about. I could be wrong. But that’s the impression I get.
I think as woodwind doublers, when talking to players of single instruments, we sometimes give the same impression that obnoxious foreign tourists give—that we have read a few paragraphs out of the guidebook and now consider ourselves experts on the local culture. If you’re a woodwind doubler hoping to function as an honest-to-goodness oboist or clarinetist or whatever, I think it’s worthwhile to speak the language like a native.
“Flautist” is a pet peeve of mine. I just encountered it again in a message board thread.
These are worth a read:
Am I a Flutist, or a Flautist?
Is it Flutist or Flautist?
To summarize: there doesn’t seem to be any good reason for English-speaking people to say “flautist.”