The great French flute player Jean-Pierre Rampal, to whom the Suite for Flute & Orchestra by Florent Schmitt was dedicated.
Welcome news in that Florent Schmitt’s Suite for Flute & Orchestra, Opus 129, is receiving its world premiere recording by flautist James Strauss, with Laercio Diniz conducting the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.
The Suite was composed in 1954 when Schmitt was 84 years old. It was dedicated to the great French flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal — who however, did not perform the work, considering it “atrociously difficult.” (It didn’t help that the Durand publishing house managed to misfile the orchestral parts for more than a half-century afterwards.)
Instead, the Suite was premiered in its flute-and-piano version in April 1959 as part of a posthumous concert tribute to the composer, who had died the previous August, presented by the Friends of Chamber Music.
The second public performance of the Suite happened in October of the same year, featuring flautist Max Larrieu and pianist Jean Arnaud.
The four movement suite is a good example of Schmitt’s late style — with a nice blend of contemporary and neo-Romantic elements. This YouTube clip contains brief excerpts from each movement, and the entire recording of the Suite can be heard here.
The recording session for the premiere recording of Florent Schmitt’s Suite for Flute (2012). About the Suite, flautist James Strauss has written: “Performing it for the first time, I finally understood why so many had hesitated. Schmitt’s writing is ruthlessly virtuosic — a fusion of orchestral density and the absolute agility of the French flute school. These are not just notes; they are textures and colors that demand exhaustive breath control and total intellectual surrender.”
The balance of the recording consists of music by Darius Milhaud and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Enjoy!
