Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Florent Schmitt

Beethoven & Beyond Sonatina Delights on KWAX

Think a sonatina for mandolin and piano is a bit far-fetched? Tune in to hear what Beethoven made of it.

This morning on “Sweetness and Light,” the unifying theme is sonatinas, or “little” sonatas.

Florent Schmitt’s “Sonatine en Trio” is a happy discovery indeed. There’s a certain neoclassic quality to the music, which we’ll hear in a version for flute, cello and piano, by a French composer whose orchestral works can be quite opulent. The title itself seems to harken back to an earlier time. In fact, the keyboard part was originally conceived for harpsichord. It’s cheering music, and I think you’ll agree, a great start to the day!

Carlos Guastavino is largely remembered for his songs. He wrote his Sonatina while visiting Manuel de Falla, who spent his final years in self-imposed exile in Cordoba, Argentina, following the Spanish Civil War. We’ll hear it performed by Gila Goldstein from a Centaur Records release, “Latin American Piano Gems,” a transporting collection of works by Ernesto Lecuona, Astor Piazzolla, Manuel Ponce, and Heitor Villa-Lobos.

We’ll also hear Philadelphia composer Romeo Cascarino’s Bassoon Sonata, written after World War II for his Army buddy Sol Schoenbach, principal bassoonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. “Sonatina” may not be in the title, but the character is light, and the sonata is only seven minutes long!

The program will also include delights by Federico Moreno Torroba, Eugène Bozza, and Erik Satie.

A cup of coffee, a scone, and a soundtrack of sonatinas. Give thanks for life’s “Small Pleasures” on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it wherever you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

September 27, 2025
Florent Schmitt Rediscovered Composer

Florent Schmitt was one of the most successful French composers of the early 20th century. However, as fashions changed, his characteristically opulent music became marginalized, only to experience something of a revival, in recent years, mostly on recordings.

This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll mark the anniversary of Schmitt’s birth (on September 28, 1870) by sharing selections from his incidental music for a production of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” and his grandiose setting of “Psalm XLVII.”

Schmitt entered the Paris Conservatory in 1889, where he studied with Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet, and Théodore Dubois. He was a winner of the Prix de Rome in 1900. He also befriended Frederick Delius, while Delius was in Paris, and prepared the vocal scores for a number of his operas.

In addition, Schmitt was a music critic, who attained a degree of notoriety for shouting out his assessments from the audience. He was described by one music publisher as an irresponsible lunatic.

The later neglect of his music may have been due, in part, to his willingness to go along with the Vichy regime during the Nazi occupation of France. But Schmitt is too fascinating a figure to be dismissed out-of-hand. Stravinsky was an early admirer, remarking that the composer’s “The Tragedy of Salome” gave him greater joy than any other he had heard in a long time. Certain elements of the ballet anticipate analogous experiments in Stravinsky’s own “The Rite of Spring.”

Indeed, Schmitt’s appetite for overheated decadence and lurid orientalism seems to have been insatiable. There will be nothing on our menu this week but overegged Florentine. I hope you’ll join me for “Schmitt Happens,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

Exhaustive website devoted to all things Florent Schmitt: florentschmitt.com

September 28, 2024
Sonatinas: A Light Music Program with Cascarino & Schmitt

I was really scratching my head on this one. How to construct a unified light music program with such seemingly disparate pieces?

This morning on “Sweetness and Light,” marvel at how gracefully I meet the challenge of marking the birthday anniversaries of composers Romeo Cascarino and Florent Schmitt and also including music from a too-long-deferred pleasure: a recent release of “Latin American Piano Gems” (Centaur 4083) performed by pianist Gila Goldstein.

The unifying theme is sonatinas, or “little” sonatas.

Philadelphia composer Romeo Cascarino’s Bassoon Sonata was written after World War II for his Army buddy Sol Schoenbach, who would go on to become principal bassoonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. “Sonatina” may not be in the title, but the character is light, and the sonata is only seven minutes long!

Florent Schmitt’s “Sonatine en Trio” is a very happy discovery indeed. There’s a certain neoclassic quality to the music, which we’ll hear in a version for flute, cello and piano, by a French composer whose orchestral works can be quite opulent. The title itself seems to harken back to an earlier time. In fact, the keyboard part was originally conceived for harpsichord. It’s cheering music, and I think you’ll agree, a great start to the day!

“Latin American Piano Gems” is a transporting collection of works by Ernesto Lecuona, Astor Piazzolla, Manuel Ponce, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. We’ll enjoy a piece by Argentine composer Carlos Guastavino, who is largely remembered for his songs. Guastavino wrote his Sonatina while visiting Manuel de Falla, who spent his final years in self-imposed exile in Cordoba, Argentina, following the Spanish Civil War. All in all, a very enjoyable album. We’ll be dipping into it again soon!

This morning’s program will also include delights by Federico Moreno Torroba, Eugène Bozza, Erik Satie, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

I hope you’ll join me for “Small Pleasures” – an hour of sonatinas for varied instruments and instrumental combinations – on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it wherever you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

Think a sonatina for mandolin and piano is a bit far-fetched? Tune in to hear what Beethoven made of it.

September 28, 2024
Poe’s Dark Verse in Haunting Halloween Music

With Halloween only days away, it’s time to get the frock coat out of moth balls. This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll celebrate Edgar Allan Poe, with an hour of music inspired by his mad and melancholy verse.

We’ll hear a “melo-declamation” for narrator and orchestra on “The Raven” by Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966), a violinist in the New York Philharmonic. The piece was given its world premiere at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 1932, captured in an experimental recording by RCA Victor, on 35mm optical film. It was issued on a special 78 rpm, 2-record set, with the poem, together with monochrome engravings of Stokowski and Poe etched into the shellac. Benjamin de Loache is the speaker.

Then we’ll have a symphonic poem inspired by Poe’s “Ulalume” by English composer Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958). Holbrooke evidently adored Poe, as he wrote a number of pieces inspired by his writings, including “The Raven,” “The Bells” (which predated the work by Rachmaninoff), and “The Masque of the Red Death.” “Ulalume” was first performed in 1905. The composer thought it one of his finest pieces. Again, the source poem is a gloomy meditation on the loss of a loved one.

Then, from the Princeton-based Affetto label, we’ll hear selections from a song cycle, “Lenoriana,” by Benjamin C.S. Boyle (b. 1979). Boyle was on the faculty of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, as were the performers, baritone Elem Eley and pianist J.J. Penna. Of the seven songs, we’ll sample Boyle’s settings of “Annabel Lee,” “The Conqueror Worm,” and “To Helen.”

Finally, we’ll have an orchestral etude on “The Haunted Palace,” which Poe incorporated into his story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) knew the work from a translation by Stéphane Mallarmé. It tells of a king of olden times full of presentiments of impending doom to his palace and himself. The house and the royal family are destroyed, and remnants of the court may still be glimpsed as phantoms flickering in the windows and doors.

“The Haunted Palace” may be the first piece of music by a French composer to be inspired by Poe. It was completed in 1904, and first performed the following year.

Prepare to brood over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. That’s “Edgar Allan Poems,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

October 28, 2023
Edgar Allan Poe Music Special This Sunday

High time to get the frock coat out of moth balls. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll celebrate Edgar Allan Poe, with an hour of music inspired by his mad and melancholy verse

We’ll hear a “melo-declamation” for narrator and orchestra on “The Raven” by Arcady Dubensky (1890-1966), a violinist in the New York Philharmonic. The piece was given its world premiere at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 1932, captured in an experimental recording by RCA Victor, on 35mm optical film. It was issued on a special 78 rpm, 2-record set, with the poem, together with monochrome engravings of Stokowski and Poe etched into the shellac. Benjamin de Loache is the speaker.

Then we’ll have a symphonic poem inspired by Poe’s “Ulalume” by English composer Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958). Holbrooke evidently adored Poe, as he wrote a number of pieces inspired by his writings, including “The Raven,” “The Bells” (which predated the work by Rachmaninoff), and “The Masque of the Red Death.” “Ulalume” was first performed in 1905. The composer thought it one of his finest pieces. Again, the source poem is a gloomy meditation on the loss of a loved one.

Then, from the Princeton-based Affetto label, we’ll hear selections from a song cycle, “Lenoriana,” by Benjamin C.S. Boyle (b. 1979). Boyle is on the faculty of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, as are the performers, baritone Elem Eley and pianist J.J. Penna. Of the seven songs, we’ll sample Boyle’s settings of “Annabel Lee,” “The Conqueror Worm,” and “To Helen.”

Finally, we’ll have an orchestral etude on “The Haunted Palace,” which Poe incorporated into his story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) knew the work from a translation by Stéphane Mallarmé. It tells of a king of olden times full of presentiments of impending doom to his palace and himself. The house and the royal family are destroyed, and remnants of the court may still be glimpsed as phantoms flickering in the windows and doors.

“The Haunted Palace” may be the first piece of music by a French composer to be inspired by Poe. It was completed in 1904, and first performed the following year.

Get ready to brood over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. That’s “Edgar Allan Poems,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

October 18, 2020

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