Francois Borne

Fantaisie brillante sur l'Africaine

Little is known about François Borne, even his birth and death year (1840 - 1920) (?) are not verified. He was professor for flute in Toulouse, published a theoretical work about flute making (together with the flute maker Djalma Julliot) and he composed an handful of flute works. His fantasy about Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera L'Africaine is highly virtuoso and can be a challenge for professional flutists. Having successfully managed the technical cliffs, however, the player as well as the audience will have great fun with this piece. A curiosity in opera history: While still being written, the plot of the opera was transferred from Africa to India, but the title was not changed, mostly because the opera had already been announced as L'Africaine. In our title image we have used Indian motives to refer rather to the contents than to the title of the opera.