Grand Polonaise for flute and piano, Op. 16

Theobald Boehm (1794-1881) was a German flutist, composer, and innovator who perfected the modern Western concert flute and developed an improved fingering system, which became known as the "Boehm system".

He was born, lived, worked, and died in the same house at No. 20 Altheimereck, Munich, Bavaria, where he occupied a flat. His father was a renowned jeweler and goldsmith who had entrusted his profession to the young Boehm by the age of fourteen.
As a boy, Boehm was very fond of music and taught himself the flageolet (tin whistle) and the one-keyed flute. At the age of 16, he made himself a copy of a Grenser instrument, a four-keyed flute. Around that time, Johann Nepomuk Capeller, the flutist of the Royal Court Orchestra, started to give him lessons, and by the time Boehm was 18 years old, he had acquired the position of first flute at the Royal Isarthor Theatre in Munich.

In 1819, at the age of 25, Boehm ended his career as a goldsmith and devoted himself fully to music. Overall, Boehm has composed 47 compositions for the flute.

From 1832 till 1847 he created new models of flute which was documented in his book "The Flute and Flute Playing". Boehm’s new approach to redesign traditional flute led to possibility to build larger flutes, such as alto flute etc. The fingering system created by Boehm later was adapted for oboe and clarinet as well.
Boehm’s flute making skills came from his upbringing: his father was a goldsmith. The acquired craft and experiments with various metals and materials led to making his own flute. Later young Theobald studied acoustics at the University of Munich while playing flute in the Royal Bavarian Orchestra.