Thursday 21 July 2016
Tune of the Day: Study in A-flat minor by Boehm
from “24 Caprice-Etudes for Flute”
This study is the sixteenth piece of a collection of 24 “Caprice-Études” for flute by Theobald Boehm, the German inventor who perfected the modern Western concert flute. It starts off in A-flat minor, with all 7 flats in the key signature, but soon moves to the enharmonic key of G-sharp minor (5 sharps); it then returns to the original key for a few measures, but only to end up in the parallel key of A-flat major. As you can see, studies such as this one were the perfect way for Boehm to prove the playability of his improved instrument in all 24 keys.