Taffanel and others
Iceland. In 1897 he toured in Central Asia, and was almost shipwrecked in crossing the Caspian Sea; suffering a very severe illness in consequence. He composed a large number of works for the flute, an opera Thais, and many other orchestral and vocal works. As a reward for his Nordlands Bilder (op. 164) the King of Norway created him a member of the Order of St. Andrew. He also possessed several other foreign decorations. As regards his playing, his power and execution were immense, but his tone was coarse and windy; moreover he was generally out of tune, and in 1878 his attempts to tune with the orchestra at the Crystal Palace so signally failed that he left in disgust. He was a tall, strong, handsome man, but in later life he suffered much from his eyes, and his health broke down. He died in Breslau.
To turn once more to the French school:—Dorus was succeeded by Joseph H. Altès (1826-1899), a pupil of Tulou at the Paris Conservatoire, where he gained first prize in 1842. He subsequently became first flute at the Opera and professor at the Conservatoire. He was succeeded by Paul Taffanel (1844- 1908), born at Bordeaux, the greatest French flautist of recent times. Taffanel began to learn the flute from hisTaffanel} father at the early age of seven. When ten years of age he made his début at a public concert in Rochelle, with great success. Through the influence of an amateur flautist the lad was placed in Dorus' class at the Paris Conservatoire in 1860; where he carried off the first prize for flute-playing, and also for205
