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Film music specialist Doug Adams talks about Florent Schmitt’s Salammbô and...
One of the world’s leading journalists and authors on film music gives Schmitt’s score pride of place in the first quarter century of motion pictures. Jeanne de Balzac and Rolla Norman starred in the...
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Shimmering Brilliance: Florent Schmitt’s Andante et Scherzo for Harp and...
Chromatic harp (cross-strung harp), manufactured by the Pleyel company in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the early years of the 20th Century, several French composers would pen some highly...
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Powerful Sounds: The Six Commercial Recordings of Florent Schmitt’s Psaume 47...
A sonic “experience”: Florent Schmitt’s Psalm 47, composed in 1904. There is little question that Florent Schmitt’s Psaume XLVII, Op. 38, composed in 1904, is one of the most powerful compositions in...
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The Composer and the Impresario: Florent Schmitt and Felix Aprahamian
A life full of music: Felix Aprahamian (1914-2005). Felix Aprahamian (1914-2005) is probably the closest thing to a renaissance man we’ve seen in the 20th Century — at least in the realm of music. Born...
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Hallucinatory Atmospherics: Florent Schmitt’s Rêves (1915)
Sprinkled throughout the catalogue of Florent Schmitt’s compositions are a goodly number of shorter orchestral pieces. They range in their moods from contemplative to joyous to stormy. One of these...
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Giuseppe Verdi and the nexus of music and politics: An interview with author...
“For Verdi, music was an integral part of reality … a force behind history …” In something of a change of pace for regular readers of the Florent Schmitt Blog, this post is on the topic of the Italian...
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French Soprano Denise Duval: Muse of Francis Poulenc … Friend of Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt with soprano Denise Duval at a reception given in Paris for the release of the premiere recording of Psaume XLVII (1953). A living legend today — well into her nineties — the French...
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Freshness and vitality win the day: An award-winning performance of Florent...
The “Schmitten” ensemble was a National Finalist in the 2014 NZCT Chamber Music Contest in New Zealand, performing Florent Schmitt’s quartet Pour presque tous les temps. (Photo by Simon Darby, Wanaka...
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American Violinist John McLaughlin Williams talks about the music of Florent...
John McLaughlin Williams, American violinist and conductor. One of the most interesting violin sonatas in the repertoire is Florent Schmitt’s Sonate libre en deux parties enchaînées, Op. 68, which was...
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Four Important Compositions of Florent Schmitt to be featured on 2015...
The Bachtrack website has just completed uploading its global database of programs for the upcoming concert season. Although it isn’t an exhaustive listing of every orchestral group, the site covers...
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Florent Schmitt and the Organ
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 —...
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Winsome Winds: Florent Schmitt’s Clarinet Sextet (1953)
While he may be far better known for his lush orchestral scores, French composer Florent Schmitt also explored the emotional range of solo instrumental and chamber ensembles. In addition to a vast...
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Delightful Discourses: Florent Schmitt’s Á Tour d’anches for Oboe, Clarinet,...
Fernand Oubradous (1903-1986), the French bassoonist, teacher and conductor for whom Florent Schmitt’s score Á Tour d’anches was dedicated. In his later career, the French composer Florent Schmitt...
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Timpani’s world premiere recording of Florent Schmitt’s Le Petit elfe...
Cellist Henri Demarquette, conductor Jacques Mercier and the Lorraine National Orchestra share in the honors. First recordings: Jacques Mercier and l’Orchestre National de Lorraine. From the very...
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Florent Schmitt and Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Friendship Over Five Decades
The cover story in the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Journal, published in October 2014, focuses on the half-century friendship between the French composer Florent Schmitt and his English...
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French Pianist Vincent Larderet Talks about Performing and Recording the...
Vincent Larderet (Photo ©Fabrice Rault) To say that Vincent Larderet is one of the most accomplished of the younger generation of classical pianists would be an understatement. As a Steinway Artist,...
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Spirit of the Dance: Florent Schmitt’s Suite sans esprit de suite (1937/38)
Florent Schmitt, photographed outside his home in 1937, the year he composed the Suite sans esprit de suite. ©Boris Lipnitzki/Roger-Viollet In the last two decades of his long life and extensive...
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Florent Schmitt and Igor Stravinsky: A Consequential Musical Relationship
Igor Stravinsky (l.), photographed with Florent Schmitt in about 1910. Throughout his long life and composing career, Florent Schmitt would forge many personal friendships with his counterparts. He...
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Experiencing Florent Schmitt’s Psaume XLVII in concert: An eyewitness report...
Marek Janowski On Sunday afternoon, March 1, 2015, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, joined by American soprano Jacquelyn Wagner, performed Florent Schmitt’s monumental Psalm 47, Op. 38....
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Just announced: The premiere recording of Florent Schmitt’s own version of...
While the French composer Florent Schmitt wrote vast quantities of music for solo and duo-pianists, the concertante pieces he composed for piano and orchestra are few. In fact, there are just two of...
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