Ballade for flute and piano in G minor (Op 34)

Albert Périlhou (1846-1936) was a French composer, organist, and educator who played a significant role in the French musical establishment of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Born in Daumazan-sur-Ariège, a small commune in southwestern France, he received his formative musical education at the École Niedermeyer in Paris, an institution dedicated specifically to the study of church music and the organ. At the École Niedermeyer, he studied under prestigious teachers, most notably the composer Camille Saint-Saëns, with whom he maintained a lifelong professional relationship. This education emphasized a rigorous, classical approach to harmony and counterpoint.
Following his studies, he served as the organist at the church of Saint-Severin in Paris and eventually at Saint-Eustache. He later became a professor at the École Niedermeyer, eventually serving as its director from 1910 to 1914.
While he did not study at the Conservatoire, his works were frequently selected as "concours" (competition) pieces for its students, signaling his high standing in the academic musical community. His style was rooted in the refined, melodic tradition of the French Romantic school. He favored clarity and traditional forms, often drawing inspiration from pastoral themes.
He composed numerous works for organ, piano, and orchestra, as well as a series of "Chants de France", arrangements of traditional French folk songs that reflected his interest in national heritage. Périlhou is most famous among wind players for his Ballade for Flute and Piano (1903), dedicated to the virtuoso Paul Taffanel.