Ouverture du Calife de Bagdad for Flute (picc.), 2 Clarients, 2 Horns and 2 Bassoons
arr. from François René Gebauer (1773 - 1845)
A Turkish opera is how the opéra-comique “Le calife de Bagdad (The Caliph of Bagdad)” by the French composer Adrien Boieldieu was classified. The libretto was written by Claude Godard d’Aucourt de Saint-Just based on a story from One Thousand and One Nights.
Boieldieu, who was born on December 16, 1775 in Rouen (Normandy), already had experience with the opera comique genre; he published 10 such operas before his opera “Le calife de Bagdad” premiered in Paris on September 16, 1800.
And despite or especially simple melodies, it had great success. Luigi Cherubini, who supported Boieldieu in Paris, asked him “whether he wasn't ashamed of his undeserved success.”
Successful music back then (and today) always entailed numerous adaptations. Even Gioachino Rossinisi used themes from this in Adina ossia Il califfo di Bagdad.
A short time after the premiere, an arrangement for “Harmonie” was published by the Paris publisher Erard, which in this case refers to 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons. Additionally enriched with a “Petite Flute”, a piccolo flute, which was intended to underline the Turkish. The title states the arranger as “par Gebauer”. This work was first advertised in the Allg. Musical newspaper (AMZ) from Leipzig on September 23, 1801,
In the new edition, the economical dynamics of the arrangement print were compared and supplemented with Boieldieu's orchestral version. In addition to the C clarinet, which is unfortunately not very common today, B-flat parts were edited. For the horn players, additional parts for “Horn in F”.
