Georges Barrère

Georges Barrère in New York, 1908

Georges Barrère (born October 31, 1876 in Bordeaux , † June 14, 1944 in Kingston, New York ) was a French flautist .

Life

Barrère studied at the Paris Conservatory with the flautists Henri Altès and Paul Taffanel . In 1895 he graduated with a first prize. In Paris he founded the Ensemble Société Moderne d'Instruments à Vent and became a flautist in the Colonne Concerts (solo flutist since 1902) and the orchestra of the Paris Grand Opéra. In 1905 he became principal flutist of the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch and, as a well-known soloist and teacher at the Institute of Musical Art, which later became the Juilliard School of Music, was instrumental in introducing the French tradition of flute playing in America.

Numerous composers wrote works for his ensemble or for himself, for example Charles-Marie Widor , Gabriel Pierné , Reynaldo Hahn and Charles Tomlinson Griffes ( Poem ). The American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge gave him a flute made of the precious metal platinum . For the inauguration of the instrument, Edgard Varèse wrote the solo piece Density 21.5 for him in 1936 (the title of which alludes to the specific weight of platinum). The Flute Sonata by Paul Hindemith in 1937 by Barrere in Washington premiere.

Barrère also composed for his instrument himself, such as a nocturne for flute and piano.