Pianists Genevieve Fei-wen Lee and Brian Hsu talk about preparing and performing Florent Schmitt’s Trois rapsodies (1903-04).

September 1, 2025 · by Phillip Nones | in French Composers, Piano Four-Hand Music, Piano Music | tagged Brian Hsu, Casadesus, Christopher Hill, Florent Schmitt, Garth Newel Music Center, Garth Newel Piano Quartet, Genevieve Fei-wen Lee, Jeannette Fang, Kanazawa-Admony, Ravel, Trois Rapsodies | 1 Comment

On August 17, 2025 two of Florent Schmitt’s Trois rapsodies, Op. 53 – Polonaise and Viennoise – were presented in concert at Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, Virginia by duo-pianists Genevieve Fei-wen Lee and Brian Hsu. The performance was part of Garth Newel’s “Piano Weekend” set of two concerts featuring four pianists (Jeannette […]

Famed musician and educator Nadia Boulanger’s perceptive description of French composer Florent Schmitt’s artistry (1925).

December 1, 2023 · by Phillip Nones | in Composers, French Composers | tagged Alexandre Guilmant, Andre Gedalge, Antoine et Cleopatre, Arthur Judson, Christopher Hill, Ecole Normale de Musique, Ernest Boulanger, Faure, Florent Schmitt, Fontainebleau School of Music, Gabriel Faure, Lectures on Modern Music, Lili Boulanger, Louis Vierne, Nadia Boulanger, Piano Quintet, Reves, Rice Institute, Rice University, Schmitt, Walter Damrosch | 3 Comments

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 […]

Fête de la lumière: Florent Schmitt’s extravagant showpiece at the Paris Exposition (1936-37).

December 17, 2016 · by Phillip Nones | in Choral Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Vocal Music | tagged Albert Speer, Alyette Melvat, Barraud, Charles Baudelaire, Christopher Hill, Dukas, Eugene Beaudouin, Eugene Bigot, Fete de la lumiere, Fete des belles eaux, Fetes de la lumiere, Florent Schmitt, French Composers, Ginette Martenot, Gustave Cloez, Henri Tomasi, Ibert, Jean Fournet, Josef Thorak, Koechlin, Madeleine Milhaud, Marcel Lods, Maurice Imbert, Maurice Martenot, Messiaen, Milhaud, Olivier Messiaen, Ondes Martenot, Paris Exposition, Philippe Louis, Pierne, Ravel, Roussel, Schmitt, Tony Aubin, Yves Hucher | 4 Comments

In 1937, one of the final transnational gatherings held on the European continent before the onset of World War II occurred in the city of Paris. The International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life — colloquially known as the Paris Exposition — took place between May and November of that year. Its lofty […]