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 […]
Category Archives: Composers
For his newest Florent Schmitt Chandos recording (scheduled for release in October 2026), when French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier was considering contemporaneous compositions to pair with Schmitt’s strikingly modern Symphonie concertante (1931-32), one of his choices might seem curious: Çançunik, Op. 79, dating from 1927-29. Compared to the Symphonie concertante – and indeed to several […]
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 […]
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 […]
Several months ago, I published an article about an 80th birthday tribute event honoring Florent Schmitt that was organized in 1950 by the town of St-Cloud, where the composer had lived for 40+ years. The festivities included a gala reception and concert featuring recent compositions created by Schmitt, presented by leading French classical musicians. Not […]
The town of Saint-Cloud honored its longtime resident Florent Schmitt on the occasion of his 80th birthday, presenting a gala concert featuring his recent compositions. When Florent Schmitt turned eighty years old on September 28, 1950, he was the most prominent French composer of his generation who was still active creatively. To be sure, there […]
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 […]
Tout Paris came together 100 years ago to fete the Russian-born conductor upon his election as a Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur. The Russian-born conductor Serge Koussevitzky arrived in Paris in 1920, leaving behind Soviet Russia where he had led the Philharmonic Orchestra of Petrograd since 1917. Maestro Koussevitzky was already a household name in […]
Much has been written about the famous salonnières of Paris — the wealthy and often-flamboyant grandes dames who opened up their drawing rooms to musicians, authors and artists — facilitating not only the camaraderie of “breaking bread” together but also providing a venue for these creatives to socialize with prominent members of Parisian society representing […]
Boulanger’s remarks were made as part of her Lectures on Modern Music presented at Rice University in Houston, Texas (January 1925). In the world of music composition, Nadia Boulanger is universally acknowledged as one of the most significant and influential teachers of the craft. In that capacity, Boulanger guided the education of several generations of […]
In September and October 2023, American pianist Matthew Bengtson performed three recitals in which he introduced a selection that was new to his repertoire: Florent Schmitt’s Trois danses, Op. 86. Composed in 1934-35, the piece is a relatively late work among the voluminous quantity of piano music that Schmitt created for piano solo, duet and […]
The artist’s daughter, stage, screen and TV actress Élisabeth Margoni-Beneyton, rediscovered the portrait and presented it to pianist Claudio Chaiquin in recognition of his commitment to recording the music of Florent Schmitt. One of the most fulfilling aspects of creating content for the Florent Schmitt Website + Blog is coming across historical artifacts that add […]
Throughout nearly all of Florent Schmitt’s long career as a composer, he was at the heart of artistic life in Paris. Not only was he well-acquainted with all the notable French composers, writers and painters of the day, he was quick to make friends with numerous composers from foreign lands who made the artistic pilgrimage […]
This past Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2023), the young Japanese pianist Tomoki Sakata presented Florent Schmitt’s complex, über-brilliant Symphonie concertante, Op. 82 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under the direction of veteran French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier. The concert marked the first time this music had been performed anywhere in the world since the […]