Here we have a jewel of silver flutes… which is also extremely rare! It was made by Ernst Robert LEIBL (1871-1957), who took over the famous Boehm & Mendler workshop in 1903. He continued to construct his instruments in exactly the same manner. It is estimated that LEIBL only made around...
Very little is known about Ernst Robert LEIBL. It seems that he was born in Adorf in Vogtland, located in Saxony, Germany in 1871. Ernst Robert, or Robert LEIBL [which it seems he preferred] may well have been the son of Robert LEIBL. Robert LEIBL senior lived and worked for...
Open/closed G-sharp key
The open G-sharp key was promoted by Theobald Boehm. So, G-sharp is fingered like a G on the modern-day flute and G is fingered like the modern-day G-sharp. The open G-sharp key mechanism avoids having an additional second G-sharp tone hole, which is not optimal in acoustical terms.
The closed G-sharp key is the regular mechanism on modern day instruments as well as traditional conical wooden more-keyed flutes. G-sharp is obtained by pressing the G-sharp lever. G is produced by pressing down all four fingers of the left hand.
Theobald Boehm’s open G-sharp was not successful in the end and is no longer used in flute-making, with some exceptions.
