Notes for: July 28, 2009
Gounod is known today primarily as an opera composer, the creator of Faust and Romeo and Juliet, and for economic reasons the operatic stage was his main interest. As a man of substantial intellect, however, he also tried his hand at other types of music, writing a symphony, several chamber-music works and piano pieces, and a steady flow of songs and church compositions. He was also a prominent member of the French musical establishment, with considerable influence as a teacher and critic.
One of Gounod’s friends was Paul Taffanel, the leading flutist of the day and the father of the dominant French school of woodwind-playing and -teaching. For many years, Taffanel-trained flutists occupied the principal flute chairs in many major European and American symphony orchestras. In 1879 Taffanel founded the Société de Musique de Chambre pour Instruments á Vent, and its concert ensemble, La Trompette. Under Taffanel’s direction, the group became internationally recognized.
Six years after its founding, Gounod wrote the Petite Symphonie for nine members of this ensemble – one flute, two oboes, two B flat clarinets, two bassoons and two horns. His intent was to provide an informal framework to demonstrate the tonal resources and technical capabilities of the instruments without overtaxing the listener. While influenced by Mozart, the work is a tribute to the French wind instrument tradition, rich in melodic charm with strokes of harmonic invention.
Note that Gounod scored the work for only one flute, but for his friend Taffanel he featured that instrument in both lyrical and display passages. He also explored the lowest range of the bassoon, calling for a low B flat.
Gounod casts the Petite Symphonie in the four-movement format of a classical symphony but with a few personal touches. Thus, the first movement is in traditional sonata form but opens with a solemn introduction, and then presents melodic and harmonic material that is used with some modification in the ensuing three movements. For example, at the start of the second movement, the clarinets have material at a different tempo but otherwise similar to what they played at the end of the first.
In the second movement, Gounod provided for Taffanel a beautiful melodic line for the flute over the eight wind instruments in accompaniment. It could be a soprano aria from one of Gounod’s operas.
The scherzo is more vigorous with the horns taking the lead. There is a brief quieter central section in a folk-dance rhythm.
The final movement is also in sonata form, but with both themes in the same key rather than contrasting keys. Here Gounod gives all the instruments an opportunity to shine in a witty and animated conversation among equals.