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

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 classical 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 […]

Substance as well as style: The Quartet for Strings (1948) of Florent Schmitt.

“Very difficult string writing and very little-known — but it’s a fine work and ought to be played.” — Henri Dutilleux, French composer During the extraordinarily long musical career of Florent Schmitt — which spanned 70 years from the late 1880s to the late 1950s — the composer created works for many combinations of instruments. […]

Florent Schmitt’s Intense, Monumental Piano Quintet (1902-08)

The catalog of music composed by Florent Schmitt contains numerous chamber works. Among them are three large-scale compositions for string ensemble: the Trio, Op. 105, the Quartet, Op. 112, and the Piano Quintet, Op. 51. The Piano Quintet was the first of these three pieces to be created; Schmitt worked on the score for six […]