The ''Fantaisie'' for flute and piano, Op. 79, is a chamber music composition written by

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

in 1898.

History

The ''Fantaisie'' was commissioned by and dedicated to

Paul Taffanel Claude-Paul Taffanel (16 September 1844 – 22 November 1908) was a French flautist, conductor and instructor, regarded as the founder of the French Flute School that dominated much of flute composition and performance during the mid-20th century ...

in 1898 for the "Concours de flute", a flute competition held by the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

. Taffanel, who took over a flute class in 1893, regularly commissioned new compositions for the annual competition, and over time amassed a whole repertoire of technically challenging pieces suitable for the Conservatoire's requirements.

Joachim Andersen Joachim Andersen may refer to: *Joachim Andersen (composer) (1847–1909), Danish composer *Joachim Andersen (footballer) Joachim Christian Andersen (; born 31 May 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier ...

, who composed the piece in 1895, received the following instructions: "The piece should be short: 5 or 6 minutes at most. I will leave the form of it entirely up to you; whether an Andante followed by an Allegro, or a single movement, but it needs to contain the wherewithal to test the examinees on matters of phrasing,

expression Expression may refer to: Linguistics * Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence * Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning * Idiom, a type of fixed expression * Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...

, tone control, and

virtuosity ''Virtuosity'' is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Howard W. Koch Jr. served as an executive producer for the film. The film was released in the United Sta ...

. The accompaniment should be for piano." Fauré strictly adhered to the instructions, and received Taffanel's help in creating the flute part, thanking him in a letter dated to June 1898: "Forgive me for not having thanked you immediately: I have been constantly busy here. Your revision is perfect and I beg you to make as many changes you want, and not to worry at all. I will be extremely grateful." As the autograph has been lost, it is unclear how much Taffanel changed. The ''Fantaisie'', together with a smaller sight-reading piece titled ''Morceau de lecture'', were given an eightfold premiere at the competition on 28 July 1898, namely by all of Taffanel's students. The first prize was awarded to

Gaston Blanquart Gaston Blanquart (2 June 1877 – 1 December 1962) was a French classical flautist as well as a music pedagogue. Biography Coming from a modest family, Gaston Blanquart began studying the flute at the École nationale de Valenciennes. In 1894 ...

. The ''Fantaisie'' has since become a firm part of the flute repertoire. It was

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

Louis Aubert Louis François Marie Aubert (19 February 1877 – 9 January 1968) was a French composer. Biography Born in Paramé, Ille-et-Vilaine, Louis Aubert was a child prodigy. His parents, recognizing their son's musical talent, sent him to Paris to rec ...

in 1957.

Structure

The ''Fantaisie'' consists of two movements separated only by a

grand pause A fermata (; "from ''fermare'', to stay, or stop"; also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be pr ...

: Fauré specified a playing time of four-and-a-half minutes.

References

External links

* {{authority control Chamber music by Gabriel Fauré Compositions for flute and piano 1898 compositions Compositions in E minor Music with dedications Fantasias (music)