Tulou 11e Grand Solo op. 93

Anne Pustlauk, flute.
Toby Sermeus, piano.

2022

Jean-Louis Tulou composed the 11th Grand Solo in D major for the concours at the Paris Conservatoire in 1845. It is one of the simpler of Tulou's 15 Grand Solos. It contains neither the usual complicated trill passages nor difficult keys for the simple system flute. Nevertheless, it is not easy tonally, since it contains some large leaps. In addition, there are three cadenzas which the students probably had to improvise in the Concours. In 1845, three students were awarded a prize. The most famous among them was Jules Demersseman. He was only 12 years old, studied with Tulou for just 10 months and received a first prize at his very first Concours. This makes him the youngest first prize winner of all Tulou's students. Demersseman also studied solfège, harmony, counterpoint and fugue. He composed operettas, a symphony and many works for flute and the new instruments of Adolphe Sax. He almost went to America, but stayed in Paris and played in the popular Concerts des Champs Elysées. He died at only 33 (not of tuberculoses as most sources suggest!). Little is known about the other prize winners Pierre-Eugène Blanco (2nd prize) and Jules-Adolphe Couplet (accessit). Blanco probably went back to his home town of Portier after his studies. Couplet taught music in an institution for the blind and composed numerous chansonettes and melodies.
The flute in this video was made by the eldest son of the famous Clair Godfroy ainé, Frédéric Eléanor Godfroy ainé. He probably learned the craft from his father and opened his own atelier in 1827. He did not work in the flute business for long and closed his workshop as early as 1844, which is why his flutes are relatively rare to find nowadays.
The piano is a 1843 Pleyel.