Of the composers of France’s “Golden Age” covering the seven-decade period of music beginning in the 1880s, among the most important and influential were five composers born during the 1860s and 1870s – in order of birth Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas, Albert Roussel, Florent Schmitt and Maurice Ravel. Schmitt was the longest-lived of the five, […]
Category Archives: Classical Music
For afficionados of Florent Schmitt’s music, the upcoming 2026-27 season of orchestral concerts will include Schmitt compositions that are both familiar and rare. In addition to one of Schmitt’s acknowledged “biggest hits” La Tragédie de Salomé, the featured repertoire includes several works that don’t show up on concert programs very often — Antoine et Cléopâtre, Soirs […]
“Florent Schmitt’s music is very extravagant and complex, and he often wrote for immense forces — the Symphonie concertante being a prime example. Overall, the piece possesses a very powerful originality …” — Peter Donohoe, English pianist On October 30, 2025, English pianist Peter Donohoe joined the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor emeritus Yan […]
“A genius essentially dynamic, fed by strong rhythms and dark and violent colors …” — Émile Vuillermoz, French arts critic and author In 1927, Durand brought out the first biography of Florent Schmitt, one of the brightest stars in the publishing firm’s galaxy of composers. At the time, Schmitt was 57 years old and at […]
Clément Canonne’s second recording of music by Florent Schmitt encompasses all the solo piano scores created by the composer during the 1930s. One of the most interesting and significant recent recordings of Florent Schmitt’s music features three solo piano compositions dating from the composer’s late-career period (the 1940s and ‘50s). The disc was recorded by […]
When Florent Schmitt passed away in August 1958 at the age of nearly 88 years, the noted composer Henri Dutilleux penned this memorable epitaph about his older compatriot’s significance to French music: “Florent Schmitt was the last of that great family to which Ravel, Dukas, and Roussel belonged. He remains one of them who, by a […]
“I’d never before seen a score as mind-blowing as the Symphonie concertante …” — Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor Emeritus, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra In late October 2025, veteran director Yan Pascal Tortelier, joined by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra of which he is the conductor emeritus, as well as pianist Peter Donohoe, recorded a program for Chandos […]
In the summer of 1932, the American music critic Leonard Liebling, longtime editor-in-chief of the weekly national publication Musical Courier, sat down with Florent Schmitt in Paris, four months prior to Schmitt’s first (and only) trip to the United States, for a meet-and-greet conversation. Mr. Liebling’s impressions of the French composer were published in the […]
“It is one of the most important recordings of my entire career.” — Yan Pascal Tortelier, French conductor In late October 2025, I had the privilege of being invited to Manchester, UK to observe the recording of a program of mid-career orchestral works by Florent Schmitt (composed between 1929 and 1938), featuring the BBC Philharmonic […]
In a September 2025 interview, the 96-year-old composer shares her recollections of Florent Schmitt and his distinctive personality. In this year of 2025, it is difficult to imagine that there are any musicians alive who’d have had personal interactions with French composer Florent Schmitt. After all, Schmitt passed away in 1958, and nearly seven decades […]
“Florent Schmitt likes our imperfect planet; the planet reciprocates.” — Nicolas Slonimsky, musicologist, composer and conductor In 1932, French composer Florent Schmitt made his first and only journey to the United States. The reason for the trip was to perform as soloist in the composer’s own Symphonie concertante, Op. 82 for orchestra with piano, which […]
When Florent Schmitt died in August 1958, fellow composer Henri Dutilleux wrote a memorable epitaph in honor of his older compatriot: “Florent Schmitt was the last of that great family to which Ravel, Dukas, and Roussel belonged. He remains one of them who, by a happy assimilation of German and Central European influences, recalled the […]
In my years of interfacing with professional classical musicians, I’ve noticed how frequently friendships that had been established during their years of study at music schools and conservatories have continued for decades thereafter, as professional lives intersect and opportunities to collaborate present themselves on a recurring basis. Less common — but in some ways more […]
The French composer played a major role over four decades as both a host and a participant in Paris’ salon culture. We know from history that in addition to being a composer and music critic, Florent Schmitt was a salonnier. From the 1920s on, he and his wife Jeanne hosted regular Thursday afternoon open house […]
In addition to multiple presentations of Schmitt’s best-known composition La Tragédie de Salomé, music-lovers will be treated to several works from the composer’s early and late career. For the upcoming 2024-25 concert season, the popularity of Florent Schmitt’s ballet La Tragédie de Salomé (1907-10) continues on its upward trajectory — a trend that sees no […]