Gaubert: Works For Flute, Vol. 1

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Cat No: 8557305

Release Date: 10 January 2003

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313230525

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: GAUBERT

Description
Philippe Gaubert (1879 - 1941)Complete Works for Flute, Volume 1Philippe Gaubert was among the most prominent Frenchmusicians of the period between the two world wars. After a distinguishedcareer as flautist with the Paris Opera, he was appointed in 1919, at the ageof forty, to three positions that placed him in the highest echelons of Frenchmusical life: professor of flute at the Paris Conservatoire, principalconductor of the Paris Opera, and principal conductor of the Societe desConcerts. As a composer, Gaubert was not an innovator, but he assimilated manyof the innovations of Franck, Ravel and Debussy.Gaubert's fourteen works for flute and piano have long beenstandard repertoire, but the six chamber works presented here, all ofcomparable quality, have remained obscure. This recording unites them for the firsttime, bracketed by two works for flute and piano. Gaubert himself recorded theopening Madrigal, one of his best-loved pieces, and one that provides asuccinct introduction to the virtues of his several miniatures for the flute:clarity of form, economy of means, and warmth of expression. Trois aquarelles (Three Watercolours) is the first ofGaubert's trios for flute, cello, and piano. The ebullient, big-boned, D majoropening of Par un clair matin (On a Clear Morning) exploits the full resourcesof the three instruments before subsiding into a serene middle section withimpressionistic washes of colour and mercurial harmonic shifts. Therecapitulation takes an unexpectedly long time to arrive - Gaubert takes us upseveral blind alleys and lands in several wrong keys before finally returning,triumphantly, to D major. The broad expressive arch of Soir d'automne (AutumnEvening) is followed by a Serenade with a tinge of the Middle East about it -and a puckish, throw-away ending. Gaubert penned these pieces under improbablecircumstances, in the trenches of World War I. He served his country withdistinction but was dismissed from active duty because of chronic bronchitis;he was named a chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1921.In Divertissement grec Gaubert improves the irresistiblecombination of flute and harp by incorporating the equally irresistiblesonority of flutes in thirds. I was honoured in this recording to play secondto the Boston Symphony Orchestra's then principal flute, Jacques Zoon, whofamously plays a wooden instrument made in Paris about a century ago. To bettermatch his unique sonority I also used a wooden flute in Divertissement grec.The classical motif continues with Soir pa?»en (Pagan Dusk).According to Greek mythology Diana (or Artemis), virgin goddess of the moon andof the hunt, fell in love with the mortal shepherd Endymion and petitioned Zeusto preserve his beauty in eternal slumber, thereby preserving her virginity aswell. Albert Samain's poem (see page 6), and Philippe Gaubert's chanson,sensuously set the scene for a moonstruck rendezvous between the goddess andher immortal if ineffectual lover. In dedicating this haunting littl
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