A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Boehm, Theobald
BOEHM, THEOBALD, a flute-player of distinction, and Kammer-musicus at Munich, born about the commencement of the present century [App. p.549 "April 9, 1794"]. Besides composing many brilliant works for his instrument, he introduced several notable improvements in its mechanism; especially a new fingering which bears his name, and was introduced in London about the year 1834. It has been found applicable also to the oboe and bassoon, and has been adapted by Klose to the clarinet, though with less success than in the other cases, owing to the foundation of the latter scale on the interval of a twelfth.
Its principal peculiarity is the avoidance of what are termed 'cross-fingered' notes; viz. those which are produced by closing a hole below that through which the instrument is speaking. For this purpose the semitone is obtained by pressing down the middle finger of either hand, and the corresponding whole tone, by doing the same with the forefinger. A large number of duplicate fingerings is also introduced, which facilitate passages previously impracticable. On the flute the system has the advantage of keeping different keys more on a level as regards difficulty: E major, for instance, which on the old eight-keyed instrument was false, uneven in tone, and mechanically difficult, is materially simplified. On the other hand it to a certain extent alters the quality of the tone, making it coarser and less characteristic. It also complicates the mechanism, rendering the instrument heavier, and more liable to leakage.
Boehm's method has been generally adopted by flute-players both in this country and abroad. Klose's modification applied to the clarinet is used in France for military bands; many of Böhm's contrivances are incorporated in the oboes of M. Barret as made by Triebert of Paris, and are figured under the heading Cor Anglais. Bassoons on this system are rarely to be met with. [See Flute; Gordon.]