Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin

Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin (Marseille, ca. 1690 – Paris, 13 January 1768) was a French flutist and composer of the late Baroque period. Born in Provence, Buffardin was a flute soloist at the court of the Elector of Saxony in Dresden from 1715 to 1749. He was the teacher of flautists Johann Joachim Quantz, Pietro Grassi Florio, and Johann Sebastian Bach's elder brother, Johann Jacob Bach, whom he met in Constantinople sometime before 1712.

Buffardin's Sonata for Flute is the only work which it is certain he wrote. His Concerto à cinq in E minor was written for his virtuosic student Quantz, who said of Buffardin : "Il ne jouait que des choses rapides: car c'est en cela qu'excellait mon maître." (Translation: "He only played fast pieces; for in that my master excelled.")

Selected discography

• French Baroque Concertos, performed by Musica Antiqua Köln, directed by Reinhard Goebel (Ernst-Burghard Hilse, flute).
• "French Baroque Concertos," performed by Musica Antiqua Köln, directed by Reinhard Goebel (Wilbert Hazelzet, flute)
• "Flötenkonzerte des Barock" performed by Dresden Baroque Soloists (Eckart Haupt, flute)

Sources

• Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin article in the French Wikipedia