Overture to The Caliph of Baghdad for flute (piccolo), 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons
arranged by François René Gebauer (1773 – 1845)
The opéra comique “Le calife de Bagdad” (The Caliph of Baghdad) by the French composer Adrien Boieldieu was regarded as a “Turkish opera”. The libretto, based on a tale from the Arabian Nights, was written by Claude Godard d’Aucourt de Saint-Just.
Boieldieu, born in Rouen (Normandy) on 16 December 1775, was already experienced in the genre: he had published ten opéras comiques before “Le calife de Bagdad” premiered in Paris on 16 September 1800.
Despite – or perhaps precisely because of – its simple melodies, the opera was a great success. Luigi Cherubini, who supported Boieldieu in Paris, asked him whether he was not ashamed of such undeserved success.
Successful music has always attracted numerous arrangements, then as now. Even Gioachino Rossini used themes from it in “Adina ossia Il califfo di Bagdad”.
Probably shortly after the premiere, the Paris publisher Érard issued an arrangement for “Harmonie” (wind ensemble), in this case 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons. It was further enriched by a “petite flûte” (piccolo) intended to underline the Turkish character. The title page names “par Gebauer” as arranger. The Leipzig Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (AMZ) first announced the work on 23 September 1801.
For the new edition, the sparse dynamics of the arrangement print were compared with Boieldieu’s orchestral version and supplemented accordingly. In addition to the clarinets in C, which are rarely used today, parts for clarinets in B flat have been edited. Horn players are provided with additional parts for horn in F.
