The new release on the Urborigène Records label, performed by French pianist Clément Canonne, includes two world premiere recordings plus an unpublished 1950 piano sonata that later became the wind composition Chants alizés. Music-lovers who are familiar with the music of Florent Schmitt know that a significant number of his compositions were written for the […]
Tag Archives: Florent Schmitt
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 […]
Within the catalogue of compositions by Florent Schmitt are a large number of choral works, great and small. Of these, music-lovers are most likely to be familiar with Schmitt’s grandiose setting of Psalm 47, which he composed in 1904 and which was premiered in Paris in 1906. But the Psalm isn’t all that representative of […]
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 new soundtrack, prepared by Simon Cloquet-Lafollye, includes nearly an hour of music taken from four Florent Schmitt orchestral scores. The epic film Napoléon is rightly viewed as one of the greatest cinematographic feats in motion picture history. And this distinction is even more impressive when we consider that Napoléon was a silent film produced […]
The catalogue of Florent Schmitt’s compositions is extensive, consisting of some 138 opus-numbered items (actually, two numbers weren’t used by the composer — including Op. 111, omitted in deference to Beethoven’s 32nd Piano Sonata). But there’s more. Going beyond the “official” catalogue, we find a number of additional items. Chief among them are Schmitt’s first […]
On Thursday, March 17, 1894, the 239th concert of the Société nationale de musique was presented at the Salle Érard in Paris. It was the first time a piece composed by Florent Schmitt had appeared on any Parisian music program. Among the two mélodies by Schmitt presented that evening by contralto Nelly Guénia was one […]
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 […]
The Charente summer home of soprano Marthe Bailloux and her military husband yields a trove of noteworthy artifacts from France’s “Golden Age” of art and music. Sometimes the most incredible adventures are put in motion purely by happenstance. This is certainly the case with Alistair Kendry and Mary Fisher, two English creative artists who decided […]
Bruno Belthoise and Grégoire Pont are revitalizing the stories of French children’s ballets more than a century after their creation. It’s interesting to note that four of the most important composers from France’s “Golden Age” each wrote music for ballet productions based on children’s topics. Not only that, the music for all four of them […]
In 2021, the NAXOS label’s Grand Piano imprint issued a CD featuring solo piano music of Florent Schmitt performed by Biljana Urban. This Paris-trained pianist. now living in Amsterdam, has a particular appreciation for the piano music of French composers from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries – Florent Schmitt included. (Click here to […]
Premiered in May 1940 — mere weeks before the fall of France — the piece was shelved thereafter, with the unpublished score and parts languishing in the archives of the Bibliothèque national de France and Universal/Durand. Within the catalogue of Florent Schmitt’s compositions, there are a significant number of works for orchestra with chorus. Some […]
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 […]
Alain made important first recordings of French piano scores by Florent Schmitt, while Tristan is exploring the composer’s sumptuous early-career mélodies. Recently a multi-country recital tour was announced featuring tenor Cyrille Dubois and pianist Tristan Raës, in which mélodies by the composer Gabriel Fauré and several of his students would be performed. I was pleased […]