French conductor and wind ensemble specialist Philippe Ferro talks about the music of Florent Schmitt and Hymne funèbre (1899/1933).

In 2008, 50 years following the death of Florent Schmitt, a recording featuring all of the repertoire written by the French composer for wind ensemble was released on the Corelia label. The recording featured the Orchestre d’Harmonie de la Région-Centre joined by the Ensemble Vocal Universitaire de Tours — all under the direction of Philippe Ferro. […]

Timpani Records announces its newest Florent Schmitt recording project, featuring a half-century of compositions for wind instruments performed by the Initium Ensemble.

The new recording is scheduled for release in fall 2016. Word has just been received from Stéphane Topakian, head of Timpani Records, that his enterprising label will release its latest Florent Schmitt recording later this year. The new release will include six works composed by Schmitt featuring wind instrumentation. The generously filled recording will contain the following pieces, spanning […]

Beyond Dionysiaques: Florent Schmitt’s Other Works for Concert Band

The Dionysiaques by Florent Schmitt, composed exactly a century ago, is a blockbuster work for concert band that just gets more and more popular with each passing year. I’ve blogged before about how this piece has become a staple of the wind band repertoire – particularly in Japan and Europe, but with more performances happening in the United […]

Dionysiaques: Florent Schmitt’s Incredible Composition for Concert Band (1913-14)

“Those of us in media production always do our work with the ‘talent’ in mind: ‘Who’s going to be doing the voiceover? How do I write to his or her strengths? If it’s a video storyboard, what collateral do I have to work with?’ Florent Schmitt didn’t seem to compose with the players in mind. […]