Notes for: July 19, 2016
Gaubert was one of the most prominent musicians in France between the two World Wars. He was particularly well known as a flutist, as a composer for the flute, and as professor of flute at the Paris Conservatory where he was France’s most influential teacher of a younger generation of flute players.
Composed in 1915, Trois Aquarelles is perhaps Gaubert’s best-known flute composition. His intention was to translate into sound the visual impact of the watercolor technique in French impressionist painting.
In the words of Miles Hoffman, music commentator for National Public Radio:
Just as paint colors can be perceived alone and blended with other colors, simultaneously obscuring and revealing the texture of the paper underneath, the distinct tonal colors of the flute, cello, and piano sound alone and in combination, with melody and rhythm providing basic textures.
In the first movement, On a Clear Morning, the flute opens with a spirited wakeup call, while the piano arpeggios suggest the rays of the morning sun. Marked by a brooding passage in the cello, Autumn Evening has a subdued and autumnal quality. Sérénade is in a Spanish style, and one can hear the sound of castanets.