#bezaly

Paul Taffanel (1844–1908) was one of the greatest flautists of his day. In 1893l – in his capacity as professor of flute at the Paris Conservatoire – commissioned a work that has gained a secure place in the repertoire: Cécile Chaminade’s Concertino for Flute and Orchestra op. 107. This is a typical test piece, with which the finalists of the Paris Conservatoire’s flute competition in 1902 had to prove their mettle. Cécile Chaminade (described by Ambroise Thomas: ‘This is not a woman who composes, but rather a composer who happens to be a woman’) was by then already a composer of international renown, who had been championed by both Saint-Saëns and Bizet. At first it was primarily her piano music and songs that attracted attention, but she soon also proved her mastery of larger orchestral forms. The opulent Concertino is probably her best-known work. The virtuosic arabesques that pour forth from the flute are a genuine challenge to any flautist; a middle section in which the harp plays an important part (Più animato agitato) leads to a solo cadenza that is followed by a reprise of the opening section and a coda. (The unassuming title ‘Concertino’ was in fact something of a provisional one: as Chaminade explained to Taffanel, she had rejected such names as ‘Caprice’ or ‘Fantaisie’ because ‘I think those titles have an unfortunate ring to them, given all the horrors committed in their names, especially in the wind instrument repertoire’.)