Theobald Boehm (1794-1881) was a great German flute improver, performer, composer and inventor in the late eighteenth century. Boehm established the foundation of modern concert flute—pushing it to the very edge of perfection. The evolution of flute was completed in Boehm’s hand. Being refined by Boehm, the flute had become an important instrument for solo playing.

Boehm had written over 80 compositions on flutes. “Grand Polonaise” an early work of Boehm, completed in 1831. This was very close to 1832, the year he successfully invented his new flute. Assuming there is an important relevance between them; therefore I chose Boehm’s “Grand Polonaise” as the subject of this research. The melody lines and harmonies used in it were highly valued by contemporary music critics.

Boehm’s “Grand Polonaise” would be discussed in the following four chapters: chapter one—introduction, chapter two—describing Boehm’s lifelong contributions and philosophy in music, chapter three—analysis of the music, and chapter four—researching into different ways of practicing and recommendations of interpreting Grand Polonaise; understanding Boehm’s music works in the melody lines and the features of its delicate harmonies, and through music terminologies on the score, the expressions of power and the skills of flute playing would be looking into thoroughly. Hoping this research could help performers have better understanding of the clues and turning points in this work and develop unique personal style in playing.