Ressikan flute
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
"When I awoke, all that was left of my life there... was the flute I'd taught myself to play."
- - Jean-Luc Picard reminisces about his life experience as a Ressikan. (TNG: "Lessons")
A Ressikan flute is a small flute made of a tin-like material, native to the village of Ressik on the extinct planet of Kataan.
[edit] Kamin's flute
In 2368, Captain Jean-Luc Picard acquired a Ressikan flute through an experience he had related to a probe launched from the dead planet. Picard knew how to play the flute, as all the memories of a man named Kamin had been planted in his memory through the probe. Among the memories was the ability to play the flute. (TNG: "The Inner Light")
Picard considers the flute to be one of his most prized possessions. It represents, to him, an entire lifetime he lived in only 25 minutes, a life completely different from that aboard the Enterprise, with a wife, children and even a grandson. As of 2379, Picard kept the flute on his desk in his ready room aboard the Enterprise-E. (TNG: "Lessons"; Star Trek Nemesis)
The Picard Mozart trio was a musical composition Picard wrote for the Ressikan flute. (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas")
[edit] Media
[edit] Background
- The music of the Ressikan flute was not played by Patrick Stewart, but by Brice Martin. [1]
- The tune played by Picard in "The Inner Light" was an excerpt from "Scottish Fantasy", originally composed by Max Bruch and re-composed by Jay Chattaway.
- The prop was sold as Lot #537 at the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction. The buyer paid $48,000 for the lot, after winning it with a bid of $40,000. Patrick Stewart commented in an interview after with laughter "It doesn't play; it's not a real flute." The catalogue estimate for the lot was 800 to 1200 dollars.
