Chanson et danses - French Chamber Music for Winds

Flutist, composer, and teacher Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) was to have a decisive influence on the development of chamber music for winds in France. While his work as a flutist and educator can in no way be undervalued, Taffanel’s musical career extended far beyond this. He was also a renowned composer and conductor, and had considerable entrepreneurial talent. In 1879 he founded the Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent (Society of Chamber Music for Wind Instruments). The organization’s objective was to expand and promote chamber music repertoire for winds. Taffanel took the classic octet as his starting point, the orchestration that had given rise to the Harmonie music of Mozart and Beethoven’s time, but the society also aimed to profile soloists and bring new French and foreign works to light. The concert program of the society’s inaugural performance on 6 February 1879, in Salons Pleyel-Wolff is indeed a testimony to this. They performed Beethoven’s Octet, op.103, the flute sonata in B minor by Bach with Taffanel himself as soloist, Barthe’s Aubade for wind quintet, and a quintet for piano and winds by Rubinstein. After the concert, the magazine La Revue et Gazette de Paris interpreted the ensemble’s intentions as follows: “A group of artists have just met with the commendable goal of making chamber music for wind instruments better known, something we have far too much neglected at our concerts.” On this recording, the Oslo Kammerakademi performs chamber works for winds by composers Charles Gounod, Charles Koechlin, Florent Schmitt, Théodore Gouvy, and Vincent d’Indy, several of which were composed for the Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent.