Theobald Boehm

Theobald Böhm ( born April 9, 1794 in Munich, † November 25, 1881 ) was a German flutist, flute builder and composer.

Life

Böhm was born the son of a goldsmith Friedrich Karl Böhm. Already at the age of 14 he was a trained goldsmith and jeweler. He caused a stir as a traveling virtuoso flute " Paganini of the flute ," as an instrument builder and inventor of genius, and as a composer. Even far outside of music, in the technical area ( Eisenerzverhüttung ), he was active.

Even as a child he showed interest in music, he first played the then popular flageolet and then went to the flute over. At 14, he built himself his first flute for a model of a Dresdner flute builder. A neighbor and flautist of the " Munich Court Opera ", forerunner of the Bavarian State Orchestra, the boys taught for two years. As thanks Böhm built, new and advanced instruments. Soon he was playing so good flute that he was first flautist in the Royal Isar Gate Theatre. During the day he built flutes and in the evening he played in the orchestra.

From 1816 to 1818 he went on tour. His way led in Switzerland and Strasbourg.

Until 1822 he published his first composition. He was given numerous concerts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland famous and earned not bad, but not enough to provide for his growing family. In 1831 he undertook a concert tour to London. England was a flute- loving country. There he met the then very popular English flautist Charles Nicholson know. The strong tone of Nicholson led Bohm to many acoustic experiments and studies.

After his return, he constructed in 1832, the conical ring -keyed flute, an instrument with its newly developed handle system, which, however, still possessed the then common inverted conical bore. The following year he went on a concert tour and reached so that the new instrument in France and England prevailed.

Now he was the inventor: a friend, a physics professor and physicist Karl Emil von Schafhäutl he developed new smelting of iron ore, which he had patented. In the following years, he should develop some inventions in this field.

In 1834 he went to France, where, in contrast to Germany had the new, developed by him handle system established far more again. He tried at the same time to improve the flute on what it in 1847 with the introduction of the cylindrical bore succeeded. He gave important flute farmers (including Rudall, Carte and Rose in England, Godefroy Ainé and Louis Lot in France) licenses, and so the new flutes started its triumphal march. Even today, the flute is built developments in any material changes by Theobald Boehm. The clarinet after the Boehm system and use the saxophone also be substantially handle system.

Also the flap mechanism, he improved in an ingenious manner by the set of doors and handles on long arms. In older age, in 1860, he again developed a completely new instrument, the alto flute in g with Böhm - handle system. This is significantly longer than the normal Boehm flute (approx. 69 cm ) with approximately 87 cm and sounds a fourth lower. Accessed it is like a Boehm flute in C, but the deepest sounding tone is a g, so it is a transposing instrument. The alto flute has an extraordinarily rich, warm tone and modulation enabled.

Böhm's innovations in the flute

Bohm developed the flute continues in three important ways and justified by the modern flute:

• The bore of the flute is no longer inversely conical ( like today in most piccolos ), but cylindrical. By introducing a slight taper in the head piece reached Böhm, that even with a cylindrical body tune the octaves in itself.
• The position and diameter of the tone holes are based only on acoustic requirements without regard to tangibility. He introduced the acoustically optimum large tone holes.
• He developed a sophisticated handle system, which still makes it all the more common keys to play than the hitherto conventional flutes.

Works

• The flute and flute-playing in acoustical, technical and artistic relationship. Zimmermann, Frankfurt q.s. 1980 < Repr d ed Leipzig 1870 >
• About the same flute and the latest enhancements. Schott, Mainz 1847