Albert Roussel (1869 ‑ 1937)
Joueurs de flûte, op. 27
Pan – Tityre – Krishna – M. de la Péjaudie
Each of the four movements is named after a mythical or fictional character who also played the flute:
Pan, the goat-footed Greek satyr, who lusted after one nymph after another, is said to have invented the syrinx or reed flute.
Tityre is one of the shepherds in Virgil's "Eclogies," known as a dissolute young scamp who loved to lurk in the dark and get into mischief, and was sometimes described as a flute player.
Krishna is a Hindu demigod who always carried a flute with him. The flute is supposed to remind man that he is only brought to life by the breath of God.
Monsieur de la Péjaudie is named after the protagonist of Henri de Régnier's novel, "La Pécheresse"(The Sinful Woman). M. de la Péjaudie is a flute player, but he was more interested in women than in the flute.
Each of these musical portraits is dedicated to an important French flutist and contemporary of Roussel: Marcel Moyse, Gaston Blanquart, Louis Fleury und Philippe Gaubert.