Capturing the persona of Florent Schmitt, as reflected in the reminiscences of the composer’s biographer, Madeleine Marceron.

January 1, 2023 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, French Composers | tagged Aaron Merritt, Bruno Belthoise, David Grandis, Florent Schmitt, Helene Jourdan-Morhange, JoAnn Falletta, Madeleine Marceron, Musica Disques, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Ravel, Schmitt, Steven Kruger, Vincent Figuri, Yves Hucher | 1 Comment

A slender, petite man — and the giant legacy he left us — draw parallels with Maurice Ravel. Over the decades, a total of four biographies of the French composer Florent Schmitt have been published – all of them written in French. Three of these biographies were written during the composer’s lifetime, and with his […]

Discovering the man behind the musician: The personal remembrances of French composer Florent Schmitt’s biographer, Yves Hucher (1958).

January 11, 2022 · by Phillip Nones | in Ballet, Choral Music, Instrumental Music, Piano Music, Vocal Music | tagged Academie des Beaux-Arts, Alrbert Lavignac, Andre Gedalge, Antoine Golea, Arthur Honegger, Conservatoire de Lyon, David Grandis, Feuilles Musicales, Florent Schmitt, Gabriel Faure, Gaston Poulet, Gustave Flaubert, Henri Dutilleux, JoAnn Falletta, Jules Massenet, La Tragedie de Salome, Legion d'honneur, Paul Dukas, Pierre Capdeveille, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Prix de Rome, Psaume XLVII, Raymond Locheur, Rene Dumesnil, Schmitt, SMI, Societe nationale de musique, Societie Musicale Independante, Steven Kruger, Yves Hucher | 2 Comments

When the composer Florent Schmitt died in August 1958 at the age of nearly 88 years, many prominent musicians, scholars and journalists wrote words of tribute honoring the last of the “grand generation” of French composers that had included, among others, Debussy, Dukas, Ravel, Roussel, Koechlin, Pierné, Cras, Rabaud, Ropartz and Tournemire. Along those lines, […]

French-American conductor David Grandis talks about discovering the music of French composer Max d’Ollone and championing his repertoire in the concert hall.

September 4, 2019 · by Phillip Nones | in Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Instrumental Music | tagged Alexandre Dratwicki, Ambrosia Quartet, d'Ollone, Daniel Inamorato, David Grandis, Florent Schmitt, Funerailles du poete, INA, Jean Francaix, Klaus Weise, Lamento, Lawrence Foster, Massenet, Max d'Ollone, Michel Plasson, Patrice d'Ollone, Paul Paray, Pol Mule, Prix de Rome, Temple abandonne, The Voice of France, Villa Medici, Villes maudites, Virginia Chamber Orchestra, William and Mary Orchestra | 4 Comments

Regular readers of the Florent Schmitt Website + Blog know that occasionally we “relax the routine” a bit and delve into the artistry of other composers — particularly ones who lived and worked in the same time period as Schmitt. (See, for example, these articles about Stravinsky, Ravel, Falla and Zandonai.) Another such person is […]

Florent Schmitt’s Best-Known Early Composition: Soirs (1890-96)

June 5, 2015 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Piano Music | tagged Benoit Duteurtre, Carlos Estrada, Classical Piano, Clement Lenom, Compesse de Chaumont-Quitry, Daijiro Ukon, David Grandis, David Robertson, Florent Schmitt, Francisco Manuele, Francoise Petit, Frédéric Chopin, French Composers, Gabriel Faure, James Lockhart, John Clegg, Les Apaches, Orchestre Francais du Japon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Remus Tzincoca, Rhenish Philharmonic Orchestra, Schmitt, Soirs, Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, Stuart Malina, Tony Aubin, Virginia Chamber Orchestra, Zhang Yi | 2 Comments

Generally speaking, music lovers who know the works of French composer Florent Schmitt are most familiar with his compositions dating from the early 1900s onward. Far less known are the numerous works the composer created in the years before the appearance of the startling and celebrated Psaume XLVII, which Schmitt composed in 1904 in Rome and which received its premiere […]