Beauty in the shadow of conflict: Florent Schmitt’s wartime choral work Cinq motets (1914-17).

“We shortchange Florent Schmitt if we don’t admire in him, along with his formidable power, that quivering sensitivity to which we owe some of the most moving pages of contemporary music.”  — Louis Aubert, French composer and critic Ask people who are familiar with the music of Florent Schmitt, and they’ll typically identify him with […]

Quiet intensity and moving moderation: Messe en quatre parties, Florent Schmitt’s final composition (1958).

More than a few music-lovers are under the mistaken impression that Florent Schmitt’s Symphony No. 2, Op. 137 was the last piece the composer created.  It’s a reasonable supposition because the Symphony received its premiere performance in Strasbourg on June 15, 1958, by the French National Radio Orchestra under the direction of Charles Munch, just […]