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Concerto da camera for flute, cor anglais and orchestra was composed in 1948 by Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) on behalf of the famous American patron Elisabeth Sprague-Coolige. At that time he had no idea that this composition of simple texture and transparent inventiveness, consisting of three movements with the character of a folksy pastoral, a funeral march and a witty, sparkling scherzo, was the most rewarding work of his late period alongside the Christmas cantata.

The French conductor Serge Baudo was very close to the work of Arthur Honegger. In 1974 he performed the oratorio Joan of Arc with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague with great success. It was released by Supraphon in 1975. Further concerts and recordings with the Czech Philharmonic followed – Symphonies 1-5, Pacific 231, Overture to Shakespeare's Tempest for Orchestra by Arthur Honegger.

Serge Baudo (*1927) was chief conductor of the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK from 2001-2006. His affection for Arthur Honegger's work was a great motivation for me to perform Arthur Honegger's Concerto da camera with him, with flutist Pavel Foltýn and with the Prague City Symphony Orchestra FOK, in which I played. The concert took place on January 29-30, 2002 in the Smetana Hall in the Municipal House. We were very honoured by the presence of Pascale Honegger, Arthur Honegger's daughter, who came to our concert. There is a live recording of this concert, which was released in 2003 on the Music Vars label.