Romantic
Baroque
Classical
Romantic
20th century
21st century
Solo repertoire
Piccolo
Alto flute
Bass flute
Taffanel Claude Paul
Andersen, Joachim
Boehm, Theobald
Borne, François
Caplet, André
Chaminade, Cécile
Chopin, Frédéric
Danzi, Franz Ignaz
Demersseman, Jules-Auguste Edouard
Donizetti, Gaetano
Donjon, Johannes
Doppler, Albert Franz
Fauré, Gabriel
Frühling, Carl
Ganne, Louis
Godard, Benjamin
Grandval, Clémence
Hüe, Georges Adolphe
Kuhlau, Friedrich
Mercadante, Saverio
Molique, Wilhelm Bernhard
Mouquet, Jules
Périlhou, Albert
Reinecke, Carl Heinrich Carsten
Saint-Saëns, Camille
Schubert, Franz
Schumann, Robert
Strauss, Richard
Taffanel, Claude Paul
Tulou, Jean-Louis
Wagner, Siegfried
Widor, Charles Marie Jean Albert
Grande Fantasie sur Mignon for flute and piano
P. Taffanel: Grande Fantasie sur Mignon for flute and piano was written 1874, based on themes from the comic opera “Mignon” (composed in 1866) by Ambroise Thomas. The story of the opera is based on a novel “Wilhelm Meister's apprenticeship” (Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) by Goethe. The Grande Fantasie sur Mignon was written as one of five fantasies Taffanel composed from 1874 to 1884 since fantasies became a popular way to display flutist's virtuoso skills at that time.
Clifford Benson (piano), 1995, live performance at Nova Hall
Grande Fantasie sur Mignon
Eliko Akahori (piano), 2013, live performance at The Chapel at the Riverside Church
Grande Fantasie sur Mignon
Hirota Shunji (piano), 2017, live performance at Seoul Arts Center, Korea
Fantasie
Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) was a French flutist, conductor and teacher. As Professor of flute at the Paris Conservatory, he profoundly changed teaching methodology and greatly influenced flute repertoire.
The founder of the French Flute School, advocating tone quality and vibrato, fully taking advantage of technical capabilities of T. Boehm's modern flute, inspiring his students to play in a new, more subtle way with light vibrato (discouraging use of vibrato when playing early music, though), he completely changed the way how masterclasses were held, focusing attention to individual student. His legacy and impact on flute continue through his method book for flute 17 Grands exercices journaliers de mécanisme which was finished by his students L. Fleury and P. Gaubert after his death.