Album Notes

The works chosen for this CD span approximately 100 years of French flute music, the earliest being Paul Taffanel’s Fantasie sur “Le Freyschütz” (1876), his virtuoso variations on themes from Weber’s opera. Also from the Romantic era, the charming melody of Cécile Chaminade’s Pièce Romantique, originally composed in 1880 for solo piano, is well suited to the flute. Lili Boulanger composed Nocturne, with its beautiful impressionistic harmonies, in 1911 at age 18, before becoming the first woman to win the Prix de Rome in 1913. In Trois Pièces (1921-22), Pierre-Octave Ferroud uses traditional Asian scales throughout and a Chinese melody in the third movement to evoke an exotic atmosphere. Philippe Gaubert’s compositional style, focusing on tone color and mood rather than virtuosity, may perhaps explain why the Suite, published in 1922, was neglected for many years, and not reprinted until 1992. Jacques Ibert’s Entr’acte, perhaps the best-known piece here, had its genesis in 1935 as incidental music for a play and shows his love of Spanish music. Germaine Tailleferre, the only female member of Les Six, wrote Pastorale in 1942 in German-occupied France, and Forlane thirty years later in Paris. Published in 1982, Yvonne Desportes’ Six Danses pour Syrinx encompass a variety of moods, styles and forms and are the most modern selections.