Schmitt, Florent

(1870-1958)

   composer

   Born in Blâmont, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Florent Schmitt was the student of both jules massinet and gabriel fauré at the Conservatoire de Paris. Winner of the Grand prix de Rome (1900), he gained his celebrity with Psaulm XLVII, for orchestra, choir, organ, and soprano (1904). From his travels throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, he brought back sparkling inspirations that are evident in his Feuillets de voyage (1903-13), Reflets d'Allemagne (1905), and in a nostalgia for the East that, joined with his intense romanticism and his complex writing, would characterize his major work, especially orchestral compositions (Le Palais hauté, 1907; Antoine et Cléopâtre, 1920; Mirages, 1921; Salammbô, based on gustave flaubert, 1925; Danse d'Abisag, 1925), ballets (La Tragédie de Salomé, 1910; Oriane et le Prince d'amour, 1938), a Symphonie concertante, for piano and orchestra (1928), a second Symphonie (1957), and chamber music (Quintette, 1908; Trio, 1944; Quatuor, 1947).