Charles-Marie Widor "Suite for Flute & Piano, Op. 34"--Alexandra Langley

May 8, 2023
1. Moderato 0:09
2. Scherzo 4:30
3. Romance 7:42
4. Final 12:26
Charles-Marie Widor is a French organist and composer in the mid-Romantic Era most recognized for his ten organ symphonies. He carries a notable array of other compositions, such as two operas, ballet works, and several solo and chamber works for both voice and instruments. Widor’s Suite for Flute and Piano is a four-movement flute suite exhibiting late-Romantic tonal nuances and lyrical expression. The suite was dedicated to the legendary French flutist, pedagogue, and colleague, Paul Taffenal, who was the first soloist to perform it in 1884. Its first movement, Moderato, introduces the expressive melody in C Minor in a moderato tempo and flowing sixteenth-note scalar passages. Virtuosic glimpses are given in the form of two brief vivo “cadenzas” before reprising the original opening melody. The second movement, Scherzo, is a 3/8 lively dance in E Minor. Whilst it starts the dotted eighth and sixteenth triplet figure to capture the dance character, the movement is focused on descending sixteenth note obligato soaring over the piano’s simpler countermelodic line. The Romance third movement prominently demonstrates the slow, expressive melody soaring through Ab Major and C Major before climaxing at a chromatic cadenza in the middle of the movement. The movement reprises the opening expressive melody modulating to C Minor and resolving back to the tonic key of Ab Major. The fourth movement, Final, holds the virtuosic character shared between the flute and piano. The flute dazzles in a brilliant melody containing scalar passages that begin tonal and gradually shift to chromaticism. The movement concludes with a grand accelerando resolve in the jovial key of C Major. Widor’s Suite remains popular amongst flutists today as a staple in core flute and piano repertoire.
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