Georges Laurent (7 June 1886 – 22 September 1964) was a 20th-century French

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Biography

Georges Laurent, received his first education from his uncle, Louis Bas, oboist. He then studied privately with

Philippe Gaubert Philippe Gaubert (5 July 1879 – 8 July 1941) was a French musician who was a distinguished performer on the flute, a respected conductor, and a composer, primarily for the flute. Biography Gaubert – commonly referred to as Gauberto – ...

in 1897, before entering 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 ...

(1902) where he worked with

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 ...

and obtained the First Prize in 1905. He then integrated the

Orchestre Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a ...

. After the war, he was first flute in the

Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini. Administered by the philha ...

, with whom he toured the United States. He remained in Boston and was the first solo flute of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

until 1952. He taught as soon as 1923Biography of Georges Laurent (1886-1964)
on flutepage.de at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

, where

Claude Monteux Claude Monteux (October 15, 1920February 22, 2013) was an American flutist and conductor. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of conductor Pierre Monteux, Monteux studied flute with Georges Laurent, then the principal flutist of the Boston ...

and

Robert Hugh Willoughby Robert Hugh Willoughby (June 6, 1921 – March 27, 2018) was an American classical flute player and flute teacher. He played both Baroque flute, Baroque and modern flute. He has been described by ''Flute'' magazine as the "American grandmaster of ...

were among his pupils.

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

dedicated him his flute sonata H. 306 (1945) and

Daniel Gregory Mason Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic. Biography Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...

, his opus 13: 3 Pieces for flute, harp and string quartet (circa 1911–12, publ. 1923).

References

External links

*
GEORGES LAURENT, 78, OF BOSTON SYMPHONY
on the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

(26 September 1964) *
Brief biography
and recordings on robertbigio.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurent, Georges 1886 births Musicians from Paris 1964 deaths French classical flautists French music educators Conservatoire de Paris alumni 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century flautists