Boehm, Theobald
Boehm, Theobald
biographical name(born April 9, 1794, Munich, Bavaria—died Nov. 25, 1881, Munich, German Empire) German flutist and flute designer. Son of a goldsmith, he was a self-taught virtuoso flutist. Realizing that the craft he learned from his father could be put to use to improve the instrument, he created a new kind of key mechanism in 1832. He later studied acoustics, and by 1847 he had completely redesigned the flute, giving it a different internal shape, moving the holes, and extending the use of the keys. His work achieved a stronger and more uniform tone than that of earlier instruments and formed the basis for the modern flute.
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