Tromlitz, Johann Georg (EN)

Tromlitz Johann Georg, *8 November 1725 Reinsdorf (near Artern, Thuringia), †4 February 1805 Leipzig, German flautist, teacher, flute maker, composer and author of educational writings. Nothing is known about the beginnings of his musical education, but by the mid-18th century he was already considered one of the most outstanding virtuosos of this instrument. After completing his law studies in Leipzig in 1750, he worked there as a city notary, and around 1753 he began to improve the design of the transverse flute (flauto traverso). Between 1754 and 1776, he was the principal flautist of the Grosse Concert-Gesellschaft in Leipzig, and after the ensemble was disbanded following the Seven Years’ War, he performed as a concert virtuoso, travelling extensively, including to St Petersburg. After 1776, he devoted himself entirely to researching improvements to the design of the flute, teaching, writing treatises and composing; he mainly wrote works for the flute, including concertos, sonatas and chamber music. Working to expanding the capabilities of the flute, improving its intonation, making it easier to play, and equalizing the tone across the instrument’s entire range, he spent many years experimenting with adding new or replacement keys (from two to eight) as well as with different materials for the body of the instrument. In 1796, he offered as many as 47 models made of various materials, and his eight-key flute from 1800 made it possible to play cleanly in all keys.

He also devoted much attention to flute playing methodology. While his first texts from 1781 and 1783 dealt only with new design solutions, his treatise Kurze Abhandlung vom Flötenspielen (1786) is devoted to such issues as sound formation (embouchure), methods of correcting intonation and fingering technique. Tromlitz’s most important work, the monumental Ausführlicher und gründlicher Unterricht (1791), is the most comprehensive compendium of knowledge on transverse flute playing in the second half of the 18th century; it discusses various types of articulation, questions of intonation, tuning and ornamentation, as well as the construction, maintenance, and repair of the instrument. The author emphasises systematic practice, modelling the sound of the flute on the human voice and developing the general musicality of flute players, which indicates inspiration from some of J.J. Quantz’s views. After 1791, Tromlitz continued his work on increasing the number of keys and engaged in fierce disputes with other instrument makers. For seven years, he corresponded with J.J.H. Ribock (1743–1785), a doctor of medicine, amateur flutist and instrument maker, whose ideas and publications may have been an important source of inspiration for him. His last major treatise, Über die Flöten mit mehrern Klappen (1800), is devoted to the construction and advantages of the multi-keyed flute and the importance of these improvements for improving intonation, extending the range of sound and facilitating playing in distant keys (for which the fingering charts are provided). Tromlitz’s publications are today a valuable source for research into 18th-century performance practice, ornamentation, and articulation, as well as the development of constructional thinking and knowledge in the field of acoustics. His inventions, underappreciated by his contemporaries, were largely adapted by Th. Boehm.

Literature: F. Demmler Johann Georg Tromlitz, Berlin 1961, Buren 21985; K. Ventzke Dr. J.J.H. Ribock (1743–1785). Ein Beitrag zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Querflöte, “Tibia” II/1, 1976; T.E. Warner Tromlitz’s Flute Treatise. A Neglected Source of Eighteenth Century Performance Practice, in: A Musical Offering, commemorative book of M. Bernstein, ed. C. Brook and E.H. Clinkscale, New York 1977; F. Vester Flute Music of the 18th Century. An Annotated Bibliography, Monteux 1985; M. Castellani “Über den schönen Ton auf der Flöte.” Il bel suono sul flauto traverso secondo Johann George Tromlitz, “Recercare” II, 1990, German version: “Tibia” XVII/9, 1992; J. Bowers Tromlitz on Playing the Flute, a Résumé, “Performance Practice Review” VII, 1994; A. Powell The Tromlitz Flute, „Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society” XXII, 1996; A. Powell Mozart und die Tromlitz-Flöte, “Tibia” XXVI/3, 2001; A. Powell The Flute, New Haven 2002; G. Buch-Salmen “Viele blasen, ohne eigentlich zu wissen, was dazu gehöret ….” Zum 200. Todestag von Johann George Tromlitz (1725–1805), “Die Tonkunst” 2006; A. Pustlauk The Classical and Early Romantic Flute: A Theoretical and Practical Guide, Oxford 2025.