Musicians Edward Rushton, Guillaume Le Dréau and JoAnn Falletta talk about Florent Schmitt’s captivating Chansons à quatre voix (1903-05).

Throughout his long composing career spanning from the late 1880s to the late 1950s, Florent Schmitt would return again and again to the human voice. While he never composed an opera, he wrote voluminous pages of music in every other form that features solo and mixed voices. Tellingly, the composer’s Opus 1 and his final Opus 138 […]

Organist and music researcher Guillaume Le Dréau talks about French composer Florent Schmitt’s consequential work as a Parisian music critic (1912-1939).

January 20, 2017 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Organ Music | tagged Alain Louvier, Charles Munch, Courrier Musical, David Eccott, Florent Schmitt, France Musicale, French Composers, French Music, Guillaume le Dreau, La Revue de France, La Revue Musicale, Le Temps, Marche Nuptiale, Music Criticism, Nicolas Slonimsky, Norman Demuth, Paris Conservatoire, Remy Campos, Rennes Cathedral, Revue Musicale, Schmitt, Virgil Thomson | 1 Comment

Guillaume Le Dréau is one of the most multi-faceted musicians I know. A keyboard artist, he is currently the organist at Rennes Cathedral in France — but this position represents only one aspect of his many musical activities. Not only does he play the organ and piano, he is a composer, an arranger, a teacher and a researcher. […]

Florent Schmitt and the Organ

October 1, 2014 · by Phillip Nones | in Choral Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Organ Music | tagged Alexandre Guilmant, Alphonse Leduc, Andrew Parnell, Bernhard Leonardy, Bibliotheque Nationale, BNF, Casavant, Cavaille-Coll, Charles-Marie Widor, Chorale Elisabeth Brasseur, Damin Spritzer, Durand, Florent Schmitt, French National Broadcasting System, Gabriel Faure, Gary Sieling, Gaston Litaize, Guillaume le Dreau, Jan Kraybill, Jean Martinon, Jobert, John Poole, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Louis Vierne, Marche Nuptiale, Maurice Durufle, Organ Music, Priere, Psalm 47, Psaume XLVII, Schmitt, Sigfrid Karg-Elert, Simon Joly, Sofi Jeannin, solo organ | Leave a comment

One of Florent Schmitt’s most famous and popular compositions is his monumental choral work Psaume XLVII, Opus 38. Composed in 1904, it is one of the most striking choral works of the 20th Century — or of any era in classical music. Music lovers who are familiar with this work know how important the organ part […]