“This musician of immensity and altitudes”: French music journalist and writer Paul Locard takes the measure of Florent Schmitt at eighty years of age (1950).

Several months ago, I published an article about an 80th birthday tribute event honoring Florent Schmitt that was organized in 1950 by the town of St-Cloud, where the composer had lived for 40+ years. The festivities included a gala reception and concert featuring recent compositions created by Schmitt, presented by leading French classical musicians. Not […]

American soprano Korliss Uecker talks about preparing and singing the solo soprano part in Florent Schmitt’s choral masterpiece Psalm 47 (1904).

July 2, 2018 · by Phillip Nones | in Choral Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Vocal Music | tagged American Symphony Orchestra, Augusta Holmes, Canticum Novum Singers, David Korevaar, Eric Wyrick, Feminine Musique, Florent Schmitt, Howard Watkins, Jerry Grossman, Kenneth Fuchs, Korliss Uecker, Leon Botstein, Lili Boulanger, Lowell Liebermann, Marguerite Meyerowitz, Martin Katz, Mel Bonis, Michael Ching, Nelly Sachs, Psalm 47, Psaume XLVII, Schmitt, Tammy Hensrud | 1 Comment

One of the most memorable highlights of my concert-going life was hearing Florent Schmitt’s stunning choral masterpiece Psaume XLVII, Op. 38 presented at Lincoln Center in New York City. Although I was well-familiar with the piece, having discovered it several decades earlier, this was the first opportunity I’d had to see it performed live in concert. Like […]

Finnish composer and music journalist Osmo Tapio Räihälä shares his experience of visiting the gravesite of Florent Schmitt in Paris (November 2017).

December 7, 2017 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Bagneux Cemetery, Cemetiere de Picpus, Find a Grave, Florent Schmitt, French Composers, Jonathan Darlington, Kate Mockler Jenkins, La Tragedie de Salome, Mel Bonis, Montmartre Cemetery, Orchestre de Paris, Osmo Tapio Raihala, Sakari Oramo, Schmitt, Stephane Abdallah | 3 Comments

Osmo Tapio Räihälä is one of Finland’s better-known composers of today. He has created music in many forms, from vocal and chamber pieces to large orchestral works. Mr. Räihälä’s highly active career includes fulfilling numerous composition commissions. His works have been performed by important European orchestras and ensembles, interpreted by leading artists such as the […]