Paul Taffanel

Paul Taffanel (born with Bordeaux the September 16th 1844, died with Paris the November 22nd 1908) is regarded as the founder of the French school of Flute, which dominated the discipline of this instrument as well in the plan of the composition as of interpretation during the major part of the 20th century.

Biography

Paul Taffanel accepted his first lessons of flute of his father at the 9 years age and gave its first concert as of the following year. He studied with the Conservatoire of Paris under the direction of Louis Dorus, and left there graduate in 1860. At 16 years, it gained its first price of contest of interpretation, and from there carried out 30 years during a career of soloist. He belonged to a generation of musicians (that of Dvorák, Bartók, Sibelius) which sought to promote a national style in music: Taffanel was an activist of the French musical style.

In 1879, it created the Société of chamber music for wind instruments , and thus gave to the mode the compositions for wind instruments of musicians of the end of the XVIIIe century like Mozart. The position up to that point dominant of the piano and the cords in the chamber music started of this moment to regress.

In 1890, it directed the orchestra of the Academy, and in 1893, it became professor of flute there, modernizing the repertory (there to reintroduce the foreign type-setters, like Bach) and the methods teaching. He taught with his students to play gently and from a regular play, with a good control of the Vibrato S. In 1897, he had obtained the direction of the orchestras, while continuing to teach the flute.

He left unfinished a great method of flute, “ 17 Great Exercises Daily of Mechanism ”, supplemented after his death by two of his pupils, Louis Fleury and Philippe Gaubert: this method nowadays remains one of most known all over the world for the discovery of the instrument.

Taffanel was victim of an attack in 1901, and died in Paris a few years later.

Works

Taffanel composed several traditional of the repertory of the Flute, of which:

Pastoral Andante and Scherzettino
Large Fantasie (Nice)
Fantasie, Topics Der Freischutz
Quintet (for quintet with sale)

Source

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