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Gulf Coast Chamber Orchestra: Farrenc Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 3 in G minor, a work by Louise Farrenc, is the last of the symphonies she composed. It is the best known and most appreciated of her symphonies. Although less performed and recorded, it is nevertheless compared by the music journalist Tom Service to the symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. This all French program includes music by Milhaud and Gounod.
PROGRAM
Darius Milhaud Le Bœuf sur le toit (literally “the ox on the roof”), Op. 58
Charles Gounod Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Louise Farrenc Sumphony No. 3 in g minor
About the Composer
Louise Farrenc
Louise Farrenc (May 31, 1804 – September 15, 1875) was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. Born Jeanne-Louise Dumont in Paris, she was the daughter of Jacques-Edme Dumont, a successful sculptor, and sister to Auguste Dumont, also a sculptor. Louise Farrenc enjoyed a considerable reputation during her own lifetime, as a composer, a performer and a teacher. She began piano studies at an early age with Cecile Soria, a former student of Muzio Clementi.
Read More ››Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod, in full Charles-françois Gounod, (born June 17, 1818, Paris, France—died Oct. 18, 1893, Saint-Cloud, near Paris), French composer noted particularly for his operas, of which the most famous is Faust. Gounod’s melodic vein is unmistakably original, though often oversentimental. He knew how to write for the voice and was also a skillful orchestrator; but in his operas his sense of musical characterization, though rarely devoid of charm, is often excessively facile,
Read More ››Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud, (born Sept. 4, 1892, Aix-en-Provence, France—died June 22, 1974, Geneva, Switz.), a principal French composer of the 20th century known especially for his development of polytonality (simultaneous use of different keys). Born of a Provençal Jewish family, Milhaud studied under Paul Dukas and Vincent d’Indy at the Paris Conservatory. He was grouped by the critic Henri Collet with the young composers whom Collet called Les Six. In 1940 he became professor at Mills College, Oakland, Calif. After 1947 he taught at the Paris Conservatory. In his later years he suffered from crippling arthritis, but he continued to compose and conduct.
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