Adagio de la Symphonie en Ré

Joseph Haydn wrote his Symphony Hob. I:24 in D major in 1764, when he was deputy music director in the service of Prince Nikolaus I. Esterházy, before his appointment as Director of music in 1766. In the second movement, Adagio, the flute plays a cantabile solo melody, sparingly accompanied by orchestral strings. This movement sounds as though it were from a flute concerto, readily suggesting an arrangement for flute and piano. This arrangement is by flautist Louis Fleury, who was born in Lyon; at the age of fifteen he moved to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life. After studying with Paul Taffanel he decided upon a career as a freelance flautist – a very unusual choice at the time. Fleury rediscovered early music and commissioned new music, too: Debussy’s , for example, was dedicated to him. Through the publication of several essays Fleury made a significant contribution to the acceptance of the flute as a fully fledged concert instrument in the 20th Century. Plate no. 29512 / published in 1912.