Versatile musician François Devienne held numerous orchestral and chamber music positions as bassoonist and flutist, and he was accomplished enough on both instruments to have performed frequently as concerto soloist in his own works and those by others. Devienne also composed prolifically—concertos (flute, bassoon, and horn), sinfonies concertantes (works for more than one soloist with orchestra), comic operas, and hundreds of chamber works.  Devienne was also a member of the military band of the Paris National Guard, which involved teaching children of French soldiers. He served as an adminstrator of the organization’s educational facet, which in 1792 became the Free School of Music of the National Guard—changed to National Institute of Music the following year and the Paris Conservatory two years later—and thus Devienne was one of the founders of the fledgling Paris Conservatory. He also authored an important method book for flute and is renowned for raising the level of works for wind instruments in the late eighteenth century.

Devienne’s operas were performed at the Théâtre Montansier and at the Théâtre Feydeau (whose orchestra and that of the Théâtre Favart merged to become the orchestra of the Opéra Comique). Devienne’s most successful opera, Les visitandines received more than 200 performances between 1792 and 1797. He died much too young in 1803 at Charenton, a Parisian home for the mentally ill. Fortunately, though many of his manuscripts have disappeared, most of his hundreds of works were published. His music consistently favors a single melodic line with subordinate accompaniment and rarely thematic development or counterpoint, and his instrumental music contains plentiful opportunities to showcase the performer’s technique.

Of Devienne’s twelve flute concertos, No. 7 in E minor, composed c. 1787, is often considered the best. At the time, concertos began with an orchestral exposition before the soloist entered, but Devienne allows the flute to enter the action earlier than normal: after the first theme in the minor home key, the flute enters by doubling the violins on the gentler second theme in the parallel major. Then, to avoid a predictable solo exposition beginning with the first theme, Devienne ingeniously puts the flute’s entrance into the spotlight with yet a third theme. These three themes form the basis of the movement, which grows ever more dazzling.

The long flowing lines of the slow movement over sparse accompaniment suggest the style of gentle aria for one of Devienne’s operatic heroines. The most unusual feature of the movement is the introduction of a cadenza (extended improvisatory-sounding passage for the soloist), which is more typical in a fast movement.

The finale unfolds as a lively rondo in the charming refrain alternates with contrasting episodes that become more intricate and viruosic as the movement progresses. The final return to the refrain builds to a dazzling conclusion.

—©Jane Vial Jaffe