Description

GEORGES BARRÈRE (BORDEAUX, OCTOBER 31, 1876 – NEW YORK, JUNE 14, 1944)

Georges Barrère holds a preeminent place in the history of American flute playing. Best known for two of the landmark works that are dedicated to him — the Poem of Charles Tomlinson Griffes and Density 21.5 by Edgard Varèse — he was the most prominent early exemplar of the Paris Conservatoire tradition in the United States and set a new standard for American woodwind performance. Barrère’s story is a musical tale of two cities, and this book uses his life as a window onto musical life in Belle Epoque Paris and twentieth-century New York. Recurrent themes are the interactions of composers and performers; the promotion of new music; the management, personnel, and repertoire of symphony orchestras; the economic and social status of the orchestral and solo musician, including the increasing power of musicians’ unions; the role of patronage, particularly women patrons; and the growth of chamber music as a professional performance medium. A student of Paul Taffanel at the Paris Conservatoire, by age 17 Barrère premiered the landmark Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. He went on to become solo flutist of the Concerts Colonne and to found the Société Moderne d’Instruments a Vent, a pioneering woodwind ensemble that premiered 61 works for 40 composers in its first ten years. Invited by Walter Damrosch to become principal flute of the New York Symphony in 1905, he founded the woodwind department at the Institute of Musical Art (later Juilliard). His many ensembles toured the United States.

TRACKLIST

1. Salut d’amour (Elgar) Columbia 45901 A1839
2. Serenade (Hüe) Columbia 46895 A2155
3. Serenade (Pierné) Columbia 45543 A1785
4. Serenade badine (Gabriel-Marie) Columbia 45900 A1839
5. Serenade from Quartet Op. 3 No. 5 (Haydn) Columbia 45676 A1785
6. Serenade in E flat Barre`re Ensemble of Wind Instruments Georges Barrère (conductor) Edison 3488
7. Simple confession (Thomé) Columbia 38752 A1329
8. The gondoliers from the suite A day in Venice (Nevin) Columbia 45899 A1813
9. The Swan (Saint-Saëns) Columbia 38751 A1329
10. Trio de Lutece Celebre Menuet (Valensin) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A1928 46300
11. Trio de Lutece Extase (Ganne) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A2178 47016
12. Trio de Lutece Minuet (Beethoven) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A2633 77872
13. Trio De Lutece Orientale (Cui) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A3727 78102
14. Trio de Lutece Serenade (Drdla) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A2178 47017
15. Trio De Lutece Serenade (Saint-Saens) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A1928 46301
16. Trio de Lutece Serenade (Widor) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A1907 46232
17. Trio De Lutece Simple Aveu Op. 25 (Moore) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A3727 78908
18. Trio de Lutece Song without words (Tchaikovsky) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp)  Columbia A1907 46237
19. Trio de Lutece Spring song (Mendelssohn) with Paul Kefer (cello) and Carlos Salzedo (harp) Columbia A2633 77871