About
Philippe Gaubert was a French musician who was a distinguished performer on the flute, a respected conductor, and a composer, primarily for the flute.
Gaubert was born in Cahors. He became one of the most prominent French musicians between the two World Wars. After a prominent career as a flautist with the Paris Opéra, he was appointed in 1919, at the age of forty, to three positions that placed him at the very centre of French musical life:
- Professor of flute in the Conservatoire de Paris (teacher of Marcel Moyse),
- Principal conductor of the Paris Opéra
- Principal conductor of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire.
In 1907 he participated in the first performance of Maurice Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet. Among his recordings as conductor, one that he made of César Franck's Symphony in D minor (with the Conservatoire forces) is particularly notable.
Gaubert's compositions are not especially innovative, but his work benefited from the examples of Franck, Ravel, and Debussy. Naïla, his opera in three acts, premiered at the Palais Garnier on 7 April 1927. Three of his ballets had their first performances at that venue, as well.