Tulou 8e Grand Solo op. 88

Anne Pustlauk, flute.
Toby Sermeus, piano.

2022

The 8th Grand Solo in b minor by Jean-Louis Tulou was composed for the 1842 Paris concours. Only one flute student took part and won a first price: the prodigy Joseph-Henri Altès. After his studies he played the flute in several Paris orchestras as the Opéra-Comique, the Opéra, the Nouvelle chapelle de l'empereur and the Société des concerts alongside Dorus. When Dorus retired Altès took over all posts including the position of the flute teacher at the Conservatoire. Altès must have had an incredibly good technique, as he was said to be able to play 64 notes per second without any effort (which was probably a bit exaggerated...). As a teacher, however, his severe and strict style was rather less convincing as reports and records suggest.

Of Tulou's Grand Solos the 8th is the shortest and one of the most difficult. The difficulty lies in the high tempo of the Allegro (half note = M.M.120, the Allegro contains 16th passages as well which is 240 per quarter note!). Tulou did not often add metronome numbers to his works, and most of them are not faster or slower than we would normally expect. Did he want to challenge Altès? Or did he present the tempo Altès was playing? It is clear that Altès must have had extraordinary technical skills.
The eight-keyed flute played in this video is from Tulou's workshop. Like many Tulou flutes from this period, it has a good intonation and a very fine tone throughout all octaves, which is not too small but not particularly large either. The necessary keys lie ergonomically and allow virtuoso playing, just the position of the long F-key is a bit too far down.

The piano is a 1843 Pleyel.