Biography
Devienne pursued a multifaceted career as performer, composer, and instructor on both flute and bassoon. After appearing with the Paris Opera, he joined the Freemasons, entered the service of Cardinal de Rohan, and soon secured membership in The Loge Olympique. Public concerts on flute and bassoon followed, presenting early works that included Flute Concerto No. 1 and Bassoon Concerto No. 1. Back in Paris he enlisted in the Paris National Guard, whose military ensemble—The Free School of Music of the National Guard—later became the National Institute of Music in 1793 and the Paris Conservatoire in 1795. Through the years leading to and during the Revolution, he created and staged several comic operas, the most widely received of which was “Les visitandines.” In 1794 he published “Nouvelle methode theorique et practique pour la flute,” rendered in English as The New Theoretical and Practical Method for the Flute; the treatise addressed performance on the one-keyed flute, outlined disciplined practice habits, and supplied elementary and intermediate flute duets. Across his output he explored numerous genres, among them the comic operas already mentioned as well as concertos, quartets, trios, duos, and sonatas. Melody occupies the foreground in these pieces, resting on subordinate accompaniments, while the instrumental works call for advanced technical command and helped shape the emerging structure of the sonata.