GIULIO BRICCIALDI (1818-1881)
An effervescent Italian virtuoso flutist in his own right as well as a composer, Briccialdi’s work led to the Boehm flute’s thumb Bb configuration we have today.
Briccialdi was born in Terni, Italy, in the Papal States, on March 2, 1818 and began studying flute with his father. After his father’s death, the 14-year-old Briccialdi moved to Rome to pursue a musical career and avoid family pressure to join the priesthood. His first appointment was to the Accdemia di Santa Cecilia in Rome at the age of 17. While in Rome he studied composition and, in 1835, began teaching flute at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He then moved to Naples, where he was the flute teacher for the royal family. Over the next couple of years he worked in Naples and Milan, and was flute teacher to the King’s brother. Then in 1841 he toured Europe and America, finally settling in London the following year.
In London he became a director of the instrument making firm Rudall and Rose and was responsible for several mechanical developments which are still in use today. He was appointed professor of flute at the Conservatoire in Florence in 1870, and remained there until his death in 1881.
In 1996, the asteroid N. 7714 was named in his memory.