Aurèle Nicolet (22 January 1926 – 29 January 2016) was a Swiss

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. He was considered one of the world's best flute players of the late twentieth century. He performed in various international concerts. A number of composers wrote music especially for him, including Josef Tal,

Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Polish C ...

, and

Edison Denisov Edison Vasilievich Denisov (, 6 April 1929 – 24 November 1996) was a Russian composer in the so-called " Underground", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division of Soviet music. Biography Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia. He studied math ...

. His pupils include Emmanuel Pahud,

Carlos Bruneel Carlos Bruneel is a Belgian flautist. He has played throughout Europe, America and Japan. He studied at the Conservatory of Antwerp with Jan Van Reeth. In 1982 he carried off the Belgium Tenuto Contest. He continued studying in London with Jona ...

Michael Faust USI Tech Limited (also known as United Software Intelligence, or stylised as USI-TECH) was a Dubai-based cryptocurrency and forex platform trading provider, suspected to be a high-yield investment program and a Ponzi scheme. Prior to going offlin ...

Pedro Eustache Pedro Eustache (born August 18, 1959) is a Venezuelan flutist, reed player, woodwind player, composer, instrument maker, and collector. Education Eustache studied first in Venezuela under Michel Eustache (his brother), Ernesto Santini, Antonio ...

Thierry Fischer Thierry Fischer (born 28 September 1957) is a Swiss orchestra conductor and flutist. Early life and education Fischer was born in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Zambia) to Swiss parents. He studied flute with Aurèle Nicolet and bega ...

, Irena Grafenauer,

Huáscar Barradas Huáscar Barradas (born 1964) is a Venezuelan flautist and Professor of flute at the "Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales" in Caracas. As a flutist he has represented Venezuela at a range of international festivals and as both soloist a ...

, Kristiyan Koev, Jadwiga Kotnowska,

Robert Langevin Robert Langevin is a Canadian flautist. He has been principal flautist of the New York Philharmonic since 2000 and is a former principal flautist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was associate principal flautist with the Montreal Symphony O ...

, Tom Ottar Andreassen, Marina Piccinini,

Kaspar Zehnder Kaspar Zehnder (born 27 August 1970 in Riggisberg, Canton of Bern) is a Swiss conductor and flutist. He studied classical languages at the Lyceum in Bern and music at the University of the Arts Bern. His music teachers included Heidi Indermühle ...

and

Ariel Zuckermann Ariel Zuckermann (; born in 1973 in Tel Aviv) is an Israelis, Israeli conductor, since 2015 director and conductor of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Career Ariel Zuckermann began his musical career as flautist. A student of Paul Meisen and A ...

. He died at the age of 90 in 2016 in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

.''Hommage ä Aurèle Nicolet.''
In: Flöte aktuell 1/2016, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flöte (PDF).

Career

He was a flautist in orchestras in

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

and

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

from 1948 to 1950. He was solo flautist for the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

from 1950 to 1959. He was a professor in the Academy for Music in Berlin from 1952 to 1965. He was head of the Master Class at Freiburg Conservatory from 1965 to 1981.

Awards and prizes

In 1947, at the age of 21, he was awarded First Prize for flute from

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. In 1948 he won First Prize at

Geneva International Music Competition The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...

Selected discography

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

: The Complete Sonatas for Flute *

Luigi Boccherini Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and '' galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classi ...

/ Joseph Martin Kraus: Flute Quintets *

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (; 17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French ...

: 6 Flute Quartets *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

: 4 Flute Quartets *

Anton Reicha Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalization, naturalized French composer and music theorist. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Ludwig van Be ...

: 3 Quartets, Op. 98 *

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

: Concertante No. 2; Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp; Oboe Concertos *

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

: 6 Flute Concertos, Op. 10

References

External links

Aurèle Nicolet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolet, Aurele 1926 births 2016 deaths People from Neuchâtel Swiss classical flautists Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg Players of the Berlin Philharmonic 20th-century Swiss classical musicians 20th-century flautists