Theobald Böhm (1794-1881)
We think of Böhm as the inventor of the modern flute. He was a very well-known flutist, a virtuoso performer and a composer of mostly flute music. His main concept was to create a tube where each hole produced a half-step rather than a whole-step. Previously chromatic notes required combinations of multiple fingers, resulting in a charming unevenness and daunting complexity that constitute the challenge and unique tone of the traverso also known as the flute allemande (French for German flute) or qüerflote (German for sideways flute). This is also why most flute sonatas of the time were written in the keys of G major, D major, E minor and B minor. Check YouTube for Nel Cor Piu, Opus 4; Le Désir Valse de Schubert, Opus 21; Air Allemand, Opus 22; and La Grande Polonaise in D, Opus 16.
Read the Flute History article on Theobald Böhm
Theobald Böhm, a Bavarian goldsmith, flutist, composer, and industrialist, invented the type of flute that became the basis for the modern instrument. Between 1821 and 1831, Boehm traveled throughout Europe on concert tours, often performing his own compositions and, from 1828, playing on flutes made in his own workshop in Munich. On a visit to London in 1831 he constructed an experimental flute that gave the fingers new mechanical means to control holes placed beyond their reach. He refined the concept of his new flute in the following year, and the “ring-key” flute of 1832 was taken up by a few prominent performers in Paris and later officially adopted at the Brussels Conservatoire.
Also read Theobald Boehm an Artist Biography by Joseph Stevenson
The Spread of the Boehm Flute
It is a mistake to assume that the flute sound of the second half of the 19th century was that of the Boehm flute just because the instrument originated before then. The speed at which the Boehm flute spread depends (on) what locations and context we are talking about. One should also not forget that the Boehm flute was very expensive in the 19th century.
Old Flutes
Who influenced Boehm?
Charles Nicholson and GEORGE ASTOR & COMPANY (1778-1831)
Charles Nicholson (1795–1837), was a Liverpool-born flautist and composer, who performed regularly in London. Nicholson used a flute made by George Astor & Co., a London-based firm operating from c1778 to c1831. His father, also a celebrated flautist, modified the instrument, lining the headpiece with metal, enlarging the embouchure and tone holes with a view to making the flute’s tone more powerful, yet still delicate, permitting the usual fingerings in the third octave, facilitating glides and vibratos.
Read more on Nicholson, his flute and the companies licensed to make them: