Paul Taffanel

about

Paul Taffanel is regarded as the founder of the French Flute School that dominated much of flute composition and performance during the mid-20th century. Born on September 16, 1844, in Bordeaux, France, Taffanel's first flute lessons (at age nine) were from his father. He gave his first concert around the age of ten. He then went on to study at the Paris Conservatory under Louis Dorus, where he graduated in 1860. At age 16, he won his first of several awards for flute performance, and over the next thirty years, he had a career as a soloist and orchestral player. He became one of the foremost musicians who tried to develop a national style of music in France. In 1879, he founded the Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent (Society of Chamber Music for Wind Instruments), reintroducing the music of composers such as Mozart for winds. This changed the dominance in chamber music that piano and strings had previously held. In 1890, he began to conduct the opera at the conservatory, and in 1893, he became professor of flute there, where he revised the conservatory's repertoire and teaching methods, putting the music of other, foreign composers, including Bach, back into the institute's repertoire. He taught his students that they should play lightly and smoothly, with controlled vibrato. Finally, in 1897, he became head of the orchestras, as well as continuing to teach the flute. He began to write a method book for flute 17 Grands Exercices Journaliers De Mecanism

top songs

albums

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Taffanel, P.: Wind Quintet / Poulenc, F.: Sextet / Jolivet, A.: Serenade / Tomasi, H.: 5 Danses

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Jeux d’été - French Wind Quintets

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Flute Music by French Composers

Music For My Friends

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Taffanel: Fantasies

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Caprice

Cafe Au Lait

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Les Vents Français - Music for Wind Ensemble

My Magic Flute

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Barber - Nielsen - Taffanel

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Taffanel, P.: Wind Quintet / Poulenc, F.: Sextet / Jolivet, A.: Serenade / Tomasi, H.: 5 Dan

A Song Without Words: The Legacy of Paul Taffanel

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