París, 1806. Claude Laurent, rellotger parisenc, patenta un instrument que captiva alhora músics i aristòcrates de tot Europa: una flauta de vidre, argent i en ocasions amb incrustacions de pedreria que sedueix fins i tot Napoleó Bonaparte i el tsar de Rússia Alexandre I. La genialitat del seu model no es limita al material emprat, sinó que, per tal d'integrar el mecanisme en el vidre, Laurent idea un sistema de subjecció de les claus que perdura encara avui en dia en la construcció dels instruments de vent.
El Museu de la Música de Barcelona conserva dos exemplars del constructor parisenc registrats com a adquisició l'any 1944, sense més dades que ens ajudin a explicar la seva arribada a la ciutat. La restauració d'un d'ells em va oferir la possibilitat d'interpretar diversos concerts amb aquest instrument tan especial. El present treball és fruit del meu afany per aprofundir en un episodi de la història de la flauta tan fascinant com poc conegut i estudiat fins al moment.Paris, 1806. Claude Laurent, a Parisian watchmaker, patented an instrument that captivated musicians and aristocrats alike throughout Europe: a flute of glass and silver, occasionally with stone incrustations, which delighted even Napoleon Bonaparte and the Czar of Russia Alexander I. The genius of his flute was not limited to the material used to make it, however, but also involved the fact that, in order to integrate the mechanism within the glass, Laurent devised a system for attaching the keys which is still used today in the making of wind instruments. Barcelonas Music Museum possesses two flutes by Laurent, the purchase of which was recorded in 1944, although no further data are available which could help to explain their arrival in the city. The restoration of one of these flutes offered me the chance to give several concerts with such a very special instrument and this paper is the result of my interest in learning more about this quite fascinating but as yet little known and studied aspect of flute history
