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Florent Schmitt and the French Fascination with Edgar Allen Poe
La Princesse Lointaine by Jean Carzou (1907-2000). What is it in the French psyche that makes so many of its people attracted to the “dark side” in literature? Whether it’s the symbolists like Maurice...
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Conductors JoAnn Falletta and Jorge Mester Talk About the Music of Florent...
Meeting up with Maestra JoAnn Falletta and Meastro Jorge Mester at the Conductor Training Workshop in December 2012 … and discussing the music of Florent Schmitt. Last month, I caught up with music...
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Florent Schmitt’s Mirages: Poignant and Potent Musical Pictures Inspired by...
One of the more interesting compositions by Florent Schmitt is Mirages, Op. 70. This work exists in two versions: its original piano form composed in 1920/21, and a later orchestration prepared by the...
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Duo-pianists Kasparov and Lutsyshyn talk about their new Florent Schmitt...
The Invencia Piano Duo (Oksana Lutsyshyn + Andrey Kasparov) have recorded all of the duo-piano compositions of Florent Schmitt, including a number of world premieres. One of the most exciting recent...
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The Influence of Florent Schmitt’s Psaume XLVII on Other French Composers
When Florent Schmitt’s monumental score Psaume XLVII was premiered in December 1906, it burst upon the Parisian music scene in a big way. Nothing this grandiose had been heard outside the opera house...
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Fonctionnaire MCMXII: Florent Schmitt versus French Civil Servants
Around the world today, the news is full of stories about bloated government bureaucracies and the inefficiencies of various public agencies. From France and Italy to the United States, there are...
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Hasards: A Quartet that Illustrates Florent Schmitt’s Highly Interesting...
The chamber music of Florent Schmitt is quite interesting and varied. Among them are wonderfully intimate pieces such as the Sonatine en Trio from 1934 which have a flavor somewhat similar to the...
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Available online: Florent Schmitt’s La Tragédie de Salomé, performed live by...
Alain Altinoglu The French-Armenian maestro Alain Altinoglu, along with several other younger-generation conductors, have been traveling the globe in recent years performing Florent Schmitt’s ballet...
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The Mariinsky Ballet Revives Florent Schmitt’s La Tragédie de Salomé
It’s been decades since Florent Schmitt’s La Tragédie de Salomé was last presented as a ballet, even as it’s performed in the concert hall quite regularly. So it is nice to note that the Mariinsky...
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Florent Schmitt’s Intense, Monumental Piano Quintet (1908)
The catalog of works composed by Florent Schmitt contains numerous chamber works. Among them are three large-scale compositions for string ensemble: a Trio, a Quartet, and the Piano Quintet, Op. 51....
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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...
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Youthful Exuberance: Lionel Bringuier’s Thrilling Performance of Florent...
French conductor Lionel Bringuier has been championing Florent Schmitt’s “La Tragédie de Salomé” all over the world. I always suspected that French conductor Lionel Bringuier’s interpretation of...
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Élizabeth Herbin, French Pianist and Daughter of Composer René Herbin, Talks...
French Pianist Elizabeth Herbin The French pianist Élizabeth Herbin has long been a champion of the music of her father, the composer René Herbin (1911-1953). This includes making recordings of his...
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World-Premiere Recordings of Florent Schmitt’s Music for Piano Duet and Duo
The Invencia Piano Duo (Andrey Kasparov + Oksana Lutsyshyn) are recording the complete music for piano duet and duo by Florent Schmitt. As the complete music for piano duet and duo composed by Florent...
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Le petit elfe Ferme-l’oeil: Florent Schmitt’s Children’s Ballet
Opera-Comique, Paris The popularity of large-scale works like Psalm XLVII, La Tragédie de Salomé and Dionysiaques would make one think that Florent Schmitt cared little for intimate subject matters as...
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Dionysiaques Around the World: Celebrating 100 Years of Florent Schmitt’s...
Dionysiaques, Op. 62 is unquestionably Florent Schmitt’s most famous work for wind ensemble. It was composed exactly 100 years ago, but it would take decades for this 11-minute tour de force to become...
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Beyond Debussy and Ravel: Florent Schmitt’s Ombres
Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la nuit” was the precursor to Florent Schmitt’s “Ombres.” Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit is justly recognized as that composer’s most towering achievement in piano...
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French Pianist Bruno Belthoise Talks About the Music of Florent Schmitt and...
Bruno Belthoise The French pianist Bruno Belthoise has been performing Florent Schmitt’s piano duet composition Une semaine du petit elfe Ferme-l’oeil, Op. 58 since 2006. Not only has he become a...
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Oriane et le Prince d’amour: Florent Schmitt’s Final ‘Orientalist’...
One of the most memorable aspects of French composer Florent Schmitt’s musical output is his artistic work in the “orientalist” realm. In fact, it could be claimed with some justification that Schmitt...
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Saxophonist Christopher Bartz talks about Florent Schmitt’s Legende (1919)...
Florent Schmitt’s Legende, Op. 66 is one of the most compelling concertante pieces ever written for the saxophone. Composed in 1918, it’s a work that exists in versions for saxophone and viola...
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