A link with history: French composer, teacher and writer Alain Margoni, 81, talks about working with Florent Schmitt in Paris during the 1950s.

June 20, 2016 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Alain Margoni, Composers, Fabien Gabel, Florent Schmitt, French Composers, Jerry Rife, Le Temps, Olivier Messiaen, Paris Conservatoire, Prix de Rome, Schmitt, Tony Aubin | 1 Comment

Here in the year 2016, it is well over a half-century since French composer Florent Schmitt passed away at the age of nearly 90 years. Consequently, the number of musicians who have first-hand memories of interacting with the master has dwindled to a precious few. But we are fortunate to have French composer and teacher […]

French Conductor Fabien Gabel talks about Rêves (1915), other compositions of Florent Schmitt, and the future of French music in the concert hall.

June 10, 2016 · by Phillip Nones | in Ballet, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Instrumental Music | tagged Albert Roussel, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Charles Koechlin, Donatella Flick, Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, Elaine Schmidt, Ernest Chausson, Fabien Gabel, Florent Schmitt, Jean Cras, Orchestra Conductor, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Prix de Rome, Reinhold Friedrich, Reves, Roger Delmotte, Schmitt, Soir de fete, Tragedie de Salome, WASO, West Australian Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

This month, the French conductor Fabien Gabel revealed his plans to lead the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in a December 2016 performance of Florent Schmitt’s tone picture Rêves, Opus 65 (Dreams), composed just over a century ago. In subsequent discussions with the Maestro, I discovered how much he is doing to program French repertoire from the late […]

Julien Columeau, noted French novelist in the Urdu language, talks about the music of Florent Schmitt and how it inspires his writing.

June 1, 2016 · by Phillip Nones | in Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Piano Music | tagged Bernard Gavoty, Classical Music, Edgar Allan Poe, Florent Schmitt, French Composers, Giradoux, Huysmans, ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross, Julien Columeau, Mira Jee, Mohammed Hanif, Mohsin Hamid, Oscar Wilde, Saghar Siddiqui, Schmitt, Urdu Language | 1 Comment

“I’ve learned a good deal in terms of structure by listening to classical music — and particularly to music created by a person like Florent Schmitt. In fact, I think that a well-structured text, including a share of the predictable and unpredictable, should be modeled on a piece of Schmitt’s music!” — Julien Columeau, novelist […]