Narcisse Bousquet composer

Narcisse Bousquet (1800-1869): French flageolet player and composer who appears to have been active in both England and France in the first half of the Century. The dates given are the conventional ones, though there is a lack of evidence to support them.

In about 1855, Bousquet worked with Jules Prudence Rivière at the “Casino Paganini” and Philippe Perlot has found a reference to him working in Paris at the Bal Barthélémy between about 1860 and 1865.

One book “Le Polycorde ou Nouveau Traite Théorique et Pratique de Musique”, published in 1872 by J. Frédéric Giraud, describes a six-key French flageolet as the “Systéme Bousquet” so he may have been involved in the development of this type of instrument.

Beyond this, very little is known about Bousquet and he does not appear in any of the usual sources for information about 19th Century French musicians. However, he left quite a large range of music, including some of the most interesting pieces for the French flageolet, such as his Caprices or 36 Etudes for the flageolet.