A vintage study score for Florent Schmitt’s late-career Chants alizés for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn, published by Durand in 1955.
In his later period of composition, French composer Florent Schmitt would turn to the sonorities of wind instruments for a goodly number of his creations. This may seem surprising for an artist who had made his reputation on his numerous “big orchestra” compositions along with a noteworthy collection of “orientalist” creations.
But if we recall that one of Schmitt’s own three instruments was the flute (along with the piano and organ), along with his widely acknowledged mastery in his use of wind instruments in his orchestral compositions, the later emphasis on creations for wind instrumentalists makes sense.
As well, as Schmitt’s later compositional style transitioned to a more spare, less fin de siècle approach to writing, creating pieces for small groups of wind instruments was only natural. Among the highly interesting oeuvre of Florent Schmitt in the realm of winds during the last two decades of the composer’s life (he passed away in 1958) are these works:
- A tour d’anches, Op. 97 for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano (1939-43)
- Quatuor, Op. 102 for four saxophones (1943)
- Quatuor, Op. 106 for four flutes (1946)
- Quatuor, Op. 109 for three trombones and tuba (1946)
- Chants alizés, Op. 125 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1951-55)
- Sextuor, Op. 128 for six clarinets (1953)
- Suite en quatre parties, Op. 129 for flute and piano (1954)
- Suite en trois parties, Op. 133 for trumpet and piano (1955)
Cyrillic, anyone? The first commercial recording of Florent Schmitt’s Chants alizés emanated from the Soviet Union (mid-1970s).
Of these eight compositions, Chants alizés, Opus 125 (loosely translated, the title means “Trade Winds”) features the most diverse group of musicians — four woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon) plus the French horn.
We know that Florent Schmitt worked on this piece beginning in the early 1950s, although sources vary on the exact years of its composition. Yves Hucher cites the year 1951 in his 1953 biography of the composer, but then augments this information in his 1960 book about Schmitt’s catalogue of creations to indicate 1955 as the year of publication. And indeed, the date of April 1955 is shown on the score as published by Durand.
The 2000 recording by the Prague Wind Quintet (Praga label).
[To further confuse matters, the CD booklet for the Prague Wind Quintet’s 2000 recording of Chants alizés lists the competition’s years of creation as 1952-57 — none of which matches the other documentation.]
We do know that the piece was composed for the wind quintet of the Orchestre National de l’ORTF, whose names are listed on the score:
- Fernand Dufrène (flute)
- Jules Goetgheluck (oboe)
- Maurice Cliquennais (clarinet)
- René Plessier (bassoon)
- Louis Courtinat (French horn)
Members of the Quintette à Vent de l’Orchestre National, photographed in 1952, the same year Florent Schmitt’s Chants alizés was premiered in a broadcast over French National Radio.
Fittingly, the premiere performance of the piece was made by these gentlemen in a broadcast over French National Radio on March 28, 1952.
Members of the Prague Wind Quintet, pictured in 2000 at the time its recording of Florent Schmitt’s Chants alizés was made.
As a composition, Chants alizés is impressive. In the span of fewer than 20 minutes, Schmitt takes on an inventive journey that touches on many moods. Its four movements are as follows:
I. D’un gravité quelque peu martiale (“With a Somewhat Martial Solemnity”) — exhibiting what some sense as a Versailles-like pomp (or at the very least a very French feeling)
II. Scherzo — very characteristic of Schmitt’s skittering, humorous dialog between groups of instruments — in this case the chattering of the flute, oboe and clarinet contrasted with the bassoon’s “commentary”
III. Lent — conjuring up a pastoral scene with a poignant cantilena given to the oboe
IV. Ronde en losange (“Round Diamond”) — characteristic of the final movements of so many of Schmitt’s set pieces (Suite en rocaille, Hasards, Enfants, A Tour d’anches, Pour presque tous les temps, etc.), this particular scene evokes the progressive leaps of children playing hopscotch and finding themselves “feet together” at the end. But unlike those other compositions, the final movement of Chants alizés is the lengthiest of the four at nearly six minutes in duration.
The first page of the score for Florent Schmitt’s Chants alizés, published by Durand in 1955. Notice the dedicatees — members of the Quintette à Vent de l’Orchestre National.
Considering this composer’s output, it isn’t surprising that Chants alizés is a challenging piece for performers to tackle. According to musicologist and author Pierre Barbier, the work is considered one of the most difficult scores in the repertoire. (One is reminded of the remark by American violinist and conductor John McLaughlin Williams who has performed numerous pieces by the composer: “There is no easy Schmitt!”)
First recording: USSR Wind Quintet (Melodiya, mid-1970s).
While Chants alizés has not fared as well on recordings or in recital as Florent Schmitt’s 1938 work A tour d’anches for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano, we are fortunate to have several quality commercial recordings that have been made of this music, including:
- USSR Wind Quintet (Valentin Zverev, flute; Anatoly Lyubimov, oboe; Vladimir Sokolov, clarinet; Sergei Krasavin, bassoon, Anatole Demin, French horn) … released on the Melodiya label (recorded ca. 1975)
- Quintette à Vent de Paris (Jacques Castagner, flute; Robert Casier, oboe; André Boutard, clarinet; Paul Hongne, bassoon; Michel Bergès, French horn) … released on the Adès label as part of a 4-LP set of wind compositions from the first half of the 20th century created by 15 French composers (recorded in 1980)
- Prague Wind Quintet (Jan Riedlbauch, flute; Jurij Likin, oboe, Vlastimil Mareš, clarinet; Miloš Wichterle, bassoon; Vladimira Klánská, horn) … released on the Praga label (recorded in 2000)
The Adès recording of Florent Schmitt’s Chants alizés, part of a big 4-LP boxed set of works for wind ensemble by 15 French composers. (1980).
Unfortunately, only one of these recordings remains in print today — the very fine rendition by the Prague Wind Quintet dating from 2000. You can hear just how good the performance is by listening to it here, courtesy of Philippe Louis’ YouTube music channel.
As for future recordings that may be in the works, word on the street is that a new recording of Chants alizés by the Initium Ensemble will be released by Timpani Records, hopefully in the coming year.
Members of the Initium Ensemble strike a pose at one of their concert performances.
I first wrote about this news several years ago, but recent correspondence confirms that the recording project is slated for completion after several delays caused by the international touring schedules of several members of the ensemble.
We look forward to hearing the new recording with anticipation — and indeed, to hearing more of this fascinating composition in the recital hall.