Theobald Böhm, who was born in Munich on 9 April 1794, was among the most accomplished German flautists of his age and was a composer and an ingenious inventor who perfected the construction of the flute.
Over and above his commitment to scientific and organological research, Böhm pursued activities as a composer for his instrument and continued to make transcriptions of celebrated works by the Classical and Romantic masters right up until his death on 25 November 1881. In both his pieces based on original themes and the series of variations on melodies drawn either from popular operas or from well-known popular tunes, the stylistic techniques distinguishing his compositions
were fully in line with the fashions of his day. Of a very different nature, on the other hand, is the sophistication displayed in his search for an elevated and musically complex idiomatic language for the flute in his transcriptions of works by the great composers, including Christoph Willibald Gluck, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the two near-contemporaries Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. The decision to make transcribed versions of celebrated vocal or instrumental pieces was an eloquent way of stressing that the ‘new flute’ Böhm had invented could perform works that posed audacious challenges, without any expressive awkwardness. Indeed, the formulas chosen by Böhm to arrange, vary and adapt these celebrated melodies to the flute can be counted among the most original, and inmany respects unique, achievements of the age.
What emerges, therefore, is a sort of catalogue of the expressive possibilities of the ‘new flute’ and an invitation to explore the quality of sound, an aspect which he considered to be his ‘primary interest as an artist.
Other information:
- Recorded May 2006 in Milan (Divertissement), April 2011 in Munich (Studio) and August 2023 in Rome (transcriptions)
- Booklet in English contains liner notes by the flautist, authorised by the composer’s descendant, Ludwig Böhm, as well as profiles of the soloists
- Theobald Böhm (1794-1881), born in Munich, was among the most accomplished German flautists of his age, as well as a composer and an ingenious inventor who perfected the construction of the flute.
- The son of a goldsmith, he learned his father’s craft, while at the same time studying music and the flute. In 1812 he was appointed first flute at the Royal Court Theatre at the Isarthor and began a brilliant solo career, which took him all over Europe from 1816. In 1828 he founded a flute manufacturing workshop in Munich, where over the years he developed and perfected his instrument, which made many new techniques possible. In 1847, Böhm patented a new model, which is substantially the flute used in our own time.
- Apart from his own original works Böhm transcribed many famous works of celebrated composers, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Gluck. These versions of popular vocal or instrumental pieces were an eloquent way of proving that his “new flute” could perform works that posed audacious challenges, without any expressive limitations.
- Gian-Luca Petrucci has been first flute in several of the top orchestras of Italy. He was professor at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. As a scholar he published monographs on several (Italian) composers: Mercadante, Briccialdi, Gazzelloni, de Lorenzo and Mozart. His previous recordings for Brilliant Classics include works by Frederick The Great (BC 96538) and Mercadante (BC 96152).
