<p>This project report discusses the development of the transverse flute in the eighteenth century with reference to J. S. Bach's <i>Partita in A Minor</i> for unaccompanied flute. Though still relatively new, the transverse flute of this period rapidly developed to become the new standard over the recorder due to the new opportunities it provided to composers. The works of Bach serve as a prime example for showing the instrument's increasing popularity, and his motivations for creating the <i>Partita in A Minor </i> reveal the influences of many composers and performers of the transverse flute, such as Pierre Buffardin and Johann Joachim Quantz, on the instrument's developing idiom throughout the century. </p>