With this CD, containing works by Debussy, Ibert, Poulenc, Ferroud, Jolivet and Messiaen, the listeners are invited to embark on a fascinating journey through French music of the 1st half of the 20th century, inspired by mythology, nature, life, and – most of all – by the rich palette of flute colours. These works are the staple of every concert flutist’s repertoire. They bear testimony to French composers’ great admiration for that instrument and illustrate the changes that occurred in the attitude to its technical possibilities and sound qualities. Interest in the flute was stimulated in the late 19th century by the intense development of the national school of flute performance initiated by Claude-Paul Taffanel. The flourishing of  this school coincided with the stylistic and aesthetic explorations of the modernists, which involved focusing on colour as a central form-shaping element in music.

Aleksandra Bęben, transl.  Tomasz Zymer