Rudolf Tillmetz

Who was Rudolf Tillmetz?

Rudolf Tillmetz was a flute virtuoso and pedagogue from Munich, Germany. He was a great contributor to modern ideas on interpretation on the flute with his teachings and his technical writings. As a child Rudolf showed great promise as a musician and was provided a through musical education by his father, Franz Paul Tillmetz. After studying piano with Franz Barraga and music theory with Otto Muller he became a pupil of Theobald Boehm, who helped the young flutist establish his successful career.

His first performance was in 1858 in Munich, when he was just 11 years old. In 1864 he was appointed first flute at the Royal Bavarian Opera Orchestra, directed by Franz Lachner at the time. After teaching at the Royal Bavarian Cadetcorps for 12 years he was appointed flute teacher in 1883 at the Royal Music School.