March 2009 - Georges Laurent
Georges Laurent was born on 7 June 1886 in Paris, France. He took lessons from his uncle, Louis Bas, a famous French oboist.1 In 1886 he studied with Philippe Gaubert, and in 1897 he studied with Paul Taffanel up until 1900.2 He graduated from the Paris Conservatoire in 1905 having won first prize for the Andante et Scherzo by Ganne.3
Laurent immigrated to the United States in 1918, and was employed in 1921 as principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. From 1924-1933 he taught at the New England Conservatory of Music. While under the baton of Pierre Monteux in Boston, Laurent performed 36 times as a soloist, including such pieces as Suite in B Minor and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by Bach, A Night Piece by Foot, Poem by Griffes, and Fete Galante by Stanley. Serge Koussevitsky became the next director of the orchestra, and Laurent became less and less satisfied with his position in the orchestra. In 1952 Laurent retired from the orchestra and reportedly stopped playing the flute.4
In 1921 he founded the Boston Flute Players’ Club, which performed about one hundred chamber music concerts between 1921 and 1940, including works by composers such as Roussel, Joseph Wagner, Honegger, and Ibert. Some of these works were premiered by this group, and some female composers’ works were also featured. Beach, Daniels, Noyse, McLain, and Renie were just some of the female composers whose works were featured by this group.5
Claude Monteux, Robert Willoughby, and Adrian Brett have described Laurent’s sound as “honest,” “expressive,” “instinctive,” and “intuitive.” He had a really hard time with his English, so there was a pretty big language barrier for his students, therefore his teaching consisted of a lot of demonstration with little explanation. Some of his most famous students include: James Pappoutsakis, Lois Schaefer, Harry Moskovitz, Robert Willoughby, and Claude Monteux.6
His recording of two Bach sonatas with harpsichordist H. Cumson are important because they, like the Barrère, are one of the earliest recordings of these sonatas with harpsichord. This is important for flutists to hear, as the harpsichord is a completely different instrument than the piano, and although the flutist still plays on a modern Boehm system flute, it still allows the flutist to hear how Bach had intended these sonatas to sound. Another somewhat important recording by Laurent is the recording of ‘Four minutes and twenty seconds’ by Roy Harris that he recorded with the Burgin Quartet. It promoted modern music, allowing Harris’ work to be heard by more people. In addition, there are several recordings of Laurent as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.7
These share with us the sound and style that was used for young flutists who will never be able to hear Laurent in person. Although the recordings are old, and not in the best shape, if the flutist keeps this in mind, he can hear past the static to what is preserved in such recordings: our French ancestry.
References
1. Claude Dorgeuille, The French School 1860-1950,trans. Edward Blakeman (Suffolk: The Chaucer Press, 1986), 97.
2. Demetra Baferos Fair, Flutists’ Family Tree: In Search of the American Flute School (Ph.D. Diss., Ohio State University, 2003), 44.
3. Claude Dorgeuille, The French School 1860-1950,trans. Edward Blakeman (Suffolk: The Chaucer Press, 1986), 72.
4. Demetra Baferos Fair, Flutists’ Family Tree: In Search of the American Flute School (Ph.D. Diss., Ohio State University, 2003), 44-45.
5. Demetra Baferos Fair, Flutists’ Family Tree: In Search of the American Flute School (Ph.D. Diss., Ohio State University, 2003), 45-46.
6. Demetra Baferos Fair, Flutists’ Family Tree: In Search of the American Flute School (Ph.D. Diss., Ohio State University, 2003), 46-48.
7. Claude Dorgeuille, The French School 1860-1950,trans. Edward Blakeman (Suffolk: The Chaucer Press, 1986), 114-115.