Dark Victories
Donald Macleod discusses Louise Farrenc's activities later on in life. She completed a ground-breaking anthology of keyboard music, dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
Louise Farrenc may not be a household name in the twenty-first century, but in her own lifetime she enjoyed a career of international standing. Her music was played across Europe; she was twice recognised by the French Institute for her outstanding contribution to chamber music; she was an accomplished pianist who received favourable reviews for her public performances, for thirty years she was a valued teacher at the Paris Conservatoire and in the latter part of her life, she devoted the majority of her time to scholarly research.
She was born in 1804, a year before Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn's older sister. However the fifty plus published works that make up her legacy, immediately set her apart. While the majority of her contemporaries had a tendency to focus on smaller forms, songs, choral works and salon pieces for the piano, Farrenc's creative interests involved writing music for much larger combinations of instruments, including quintets, a sextet, a nonet , orchestral overtures and three symphonies.
In the final part of his survey of Louise Farrenc, Donald Macleod looks at her activities in the later part of her life. She completes a groundbreaking anthology of keyboard music, dating from the 16th to the 19th century. Plus, there's a rare chance to hear the song that might have been Farrenc's calling card, as she worked to persuade the theatre directors of Paris that she could write dramatic music too.
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Music Played
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Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc
30 Studies In Every Key Op 26 - No.3 Allegro non troppo in A minor
Performer: Konstanze Eickhorst.- CPO:999 879-2.
- CPO.
- 6.
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Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc
Le Suicide - Scene Et Air
Performer: Anna Tilbrook. Singer: Ruby Hughes. -
Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc
O Pere Qu'Adore Mon Pere (Hymne De Lamartine)
Choir: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Singers. Conductor: David Hill. -
Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc
Sextet In C Minor Op 40
Ensemble: Ambache Chamber Ensemble.- Carlton Classics: 30366 00302.
- Carlton Classics.
- 1.
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Jeanne Louise Dumont Farrenc
Symphony No. 3 In G Minor Op.36
Orchestra: North German R S O. Conductor: Johannes Goritzki.- CPO : 999-603-2.
- CPO.
- 5.
Broadcasts
- Fri 6 Nov 2015 12:00´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
- Fri 6 Nov 2015 18:30´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
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