Romantic French Works for Piano & Orchestra

[FBerwald]

I would add the Piano concerto in E flat Major by Leo(or Stanislao) Silesu - Absolutely charming work!!!!

That sounds very interesting! Can you tell me anything about this piece? I must admit, I've never heard of the composer - his name sounds Eastern European to me...

Lao (born Stanislao) Silesu (1883-1953) was a Sardinian ..(Sardinian by birth but Parisian by adoption) who wrote more than 600 compositions, most of them songs. The Piano Concerto in E flat Major (1929) is a wonderful amalgamation of Selim Palmgren and Debussy.

I know its been mentioned before but I simply cant help but add Reynaldo Hahn's Piano concerto to this list (I absolutely LOVE this one!!!)

[thalbergmad]

There are a couple of Concertstuck's by Pugno & Diemer and a couple of Fantasie's by Dumas and Duvernoy, but i have not studied them.

If they have not been recorded, the works for piano and orchestra by Theodore Dubois would be ideal candidates, especially the tuneful Suite.

Perhaps the best candidate for a "modern" recording would be the Concerto Italian by Louis Abbiate. I know he was born in Monaco, but i think it was under French control when he was born. This is full blown romanticism.

Herold perhaps a liitle lightweight, but i can imagine either of the Prudent works being effective, especially the first.

Thal

[thalbergmad]

Gradually rotting away in my loft is the Rapsodie Basque by Charles Bordes.

Hinsons guide tells us that it is based on Basque tunes. Could not comment on this as I don't know any Basque tunes, but it has a dance like feel to it.

Not much by Bordes appears to have been recorded apart from some songs and chamber music.

Thal

[gentile]

Before this thread dies out because of the sheer lack of recorded works, let's try to exhaust the subject.
For the sake of completeness I would mention the piano concerto by Henri Collet (1885-1951), the famous Parisian critic (the one that coined the name "Les Six" for the group of composers around Cocteau). As some of his countrymen, he became fascinated with Spanish folklore. He came to Spain to study the culture in depth and composed a Concerto Flamenco (i.e. Flamingo Concerto) for piano and orchestra. This has been issued in CD by the label Claves (CD 50-9801) together with a similar one for violin and orchestra and an Alhambra symphony. I do not recommend this work. First, because it doesn't sound French at all and, most important, because Collet uses popular rhythms and tunes without much elaboration, in a way that sounds quite provincial (at least to my Spanish ears).
So, instead of a French concerto that sounds Spanish, let me go the other way round and introduce you a Spanish concerto that sounds French. I am referring to the piano concerto of one Antonio (or Antoni) Torrandell (1881-1965), a native of the Spanish island of Majorca who went to the Schola Cantorum in Paris to study with Charles Tournemire. Shortly after returning to Spain he composed the piano concerto in B minor. It is a work of symphonic proportions that sounds as if Tournemire had composed it himself. Well, perhaps it has a certain sunny Mediterranean touch (as if Tournemire had spent summer vacations in Mallorca) but is certainly a lovely work. It has been issued in a locally subsidized CD coupled with Torrandell's Symphony No.1 for violin and orchestra (in fact a Concerto Symphonique for violin) which is also an interesting work in the same style. The recording has had a very limited distribution but still can be found at the following website:
http://www.onadigital.com/botiga/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=147&category_id=6&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=32
I guess that some excerpts of the works can be heard at this URL but they are not working for me (probably because some setup problem in my computer).
Please forgive me for sneaking in a non-French work in this thread but I think that this could be real find for those of you who like to discover little gems from obscure composers.

[chill319]

In the spirit of exhausting the subject, I recalled the list of recorded concerted piano works compiled by Allan Ho, a forum member. (I'm guessing 'recorded' often means off-the-air tapes.) If one sets a time frame of 1800-1914 (WWI) [extended to the 1920s in four cases] and limits composers to unsungs who composed in France, the Allan's list filters down to what follows. Some overlaps with composers mentioned above, of course, but other works, too:

Alkan [Morhange], (Charles-)Valentin (1813-88) France
§Concerto, Op. 39 (orig. for solo piano, 1857; first movement alone arr. for piano and
orchestra by Karl Klindworth, 1872/1902)
§Concerto da camera No. 1 in a, Op. 10 (premiered 1832)
§Concerto da camera No. 2 in c-sharp for Piano and Strings (1833)
§Concerto da camera No. 3 (1833) [published for piano solo in 1837 as Andante
romantique No. 2, Op. 13] (original string parts lost; reconstructedby Hugh
Macdonald, 1995)
§Rondo brillant for Piano and Strings (orig. Quartet), Op. 4 (c.1833)

Aubert, Louis (François Marie) (1877-1968) France
**Fantaisie in b, Op. 8 (1899)

Beriot, Charles Wilfried (1833-1914) France/Belgium
**Concerto No. 2 in c, Op. 46 (1881)

Bonis, Mel [Mélanie] (1858-1937) France
**Septet for 2 Violins, Viola, Cello, Piano, and 2 Flutes

Bordes, Charles (1863-1909) France
Rapsodie Basque, Op. 9 (1889)

Boulanger, Nadia (1887-1979) France

**Fantaisie variée in c (1912)

Castillon (de Saint-Victor), (Marie-)Alexis [Vicomte de] (1838-73) France
§Concerto in D, Op. 12 (1871)

Chaminade, Cécile (Louise Stéphanie) (1857-1944) France
**Concerto "Autumn" (arr. Semprini)
§Concertstück in c-sharp, Op. 40 (1893)

Chausson, (Amédée-)Ernest (1855-99) France
§Concerto for Piano, Violin, and String Orchestra, Op. 21 (1889-91; orig. for piano,
violin, and string quartet)
+Concerto for Piano, Violin, and String Orchestra, Op. 21 (1889-91; orig. for piano,
violin, and string quartet, arr. by Dmitry Sitkovetsky)

Dumas, Louis (1877-1952) France
**Fantaisie (1908)

Dupré, Marcel (1886-1971) France
**Fantaisie in b, Op. 8 (1912)

Emmanuel, Maurice (1862-1938) France
**Zingaresca for 2 Pianos, 2 Piccolos, Timpani, and Strings, Op. 17 (1902)

Filtsch, Carl (1830-45) Transylvania/Austria/France
+Konzertstück (1844)

Gédalge, André (1856-1926) France
**Concerto in c/C, Op. 16 (1899)

Godard, Benjamin (Louis Paul) (1849-95) France
**Beceuse
§Concerto No. 1 in a/A, Op. 31 (1870)
§Concerto No. 2 in g/G, Op. 148 (1899)
§Fantaisie persanne, Op. 152
§Introduction et Allegro, Op. 49 (1881)
**Village Wedding

Gounod, Charles (François) (1818-93) France
*Fantaisie sur l'hymne national russe for [Pedal] Piano and Orchestra (1886)
**Suite concertante in A for Pedal Piano and Orchestra (1888)

Hahn, Reynaldo (1875-1947) Venezuela/France
+Le bal de Béatrice d'Este for Winds, 2 Harps, and Piano (1909)

Heller, Stephen [István] (1813-88) Hungary/France
**Tarantella No. 2, Op. 85 (1854) [guessing this must be an arrangement by someone else--CH]

Hérold, (Louis Joseph) Ferdinand (1791-1833) France
**Caprice for Piano and String Orchestra, Op. 8 (c.1817; orig. for piano quintet;
reconstructed by Frederick Robert)

Herz, Henri [Heinrich] (1803-88) Austria/France
+Concerto No. 1 in A, Op. 34 (1828)
§Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 87 (1835)
§Concerto No. 4 in E major, Op. 131 (1843)
§Concerto No. 5 in F minor, Op. 180 (1854)
+Concerto No. 7 in b, Op. 207 (1864; publ. 1890s)
+Concerto No. 8 in A-flat, Op. 218 (1873)

d'Indy, (Paul Marie Théodore) Vincent (1851-1931) France
§Concert in E-flat for Piano, Flute, Cello, and String Orchestra, Op. 89 (1926)

Jadin, Hyacinthe (1776-1800) France
+Concerto No. 2 in d (publ. posth., 1803)
+Concerto No. 3 in A (1800)

Koechlin, Charles (Louis Eugène) (1867-1950) France
§Ballade, Op. 50 (1911-15; orchestrated 1919; recast from an earlier symphonic poem
La Forêt, 1897-1907)
+Berceuse phoque for Chorus, Orchestra, and Piano (from Trois Poèmes, Op. 18, of
the Jungle Book)

Lalo, Edouard(-Victoire-Antoine) (1823-92) France
§Concerto in f (1888-89)

Le Flem, Paul (1881-1984) France
§Fantaisie (1911)

Massenet, Jules (Emile Frédéric) (1842-1912) France
§Concerto in E-flat (1902-3; earliest sketches 1863-65)

Neukomm, Sigismund von (1778-1858) Austria/United Kingdom/France
+Grande Concerto in C, Op. 12

Ollone, Max d' (1875-1959) France
+Fantaisie (1897)

Paray, Paul (M. A. Charles) (1886-1979) France
§Fantaisie in c-sharp (1909)

Pierné, (Henri Constant) Gabriel (1863-1937) France
§Concerto in c, Op. 12 (1887)
**Concertstück, Op. 39 (1903; orig. for harp and orchestra)
§Fantaisie-ballet in B-flat, Op. 6 (1885)
§Poème symphonique in d, Op. 37 (1903)
§Scherzo-caprice in D, Op. 25 (1890)

Pleyel, Ignace Joseph [Ignaz Josef] (1757-1831) Austria/France
§Symphonie concertante [No. 2] in F for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra, B. 115 (1802 or 1805)

Riegel, Henri Jean (1772-1852) France
**Concerto No. 4 in E-flat, Op. 28

Roussel, Albert (Charles Paul Marie) (1869-1937) France
§Concerto in G[C], Op. 36 (1927)

Vierne, Louis (1870-1937) France
§Poème, Op. 50 (1925)

Widor, Charles-Marie(-Jean-Albert) (1844-1937) France
**Concerto No. 1 in f, Op. 39 (1876)
§Fantaisie in A-flat, Op. 62 (1889)

Witkowski, Georges (Martin) (1867-1943) France
**Mon lac: prélude, variations et finale (1921)

[thalbergmad]

The Koechlin Ballade is a spellbinding work that leaves one in a dreamlike state.

Can be played solo as well if memory serves. Excellent composition.

Thal

[ahinton]

Boulanger, Nadia (1857-1979) France
**Fantaisie variée in c (1912)

All fascinating material, but I think that your dates for NB are somewhat optimistic (should read 1887-1979 - still a long life, for all that, even if not quite that of le Flem or of her one-time student Elliott Carter)...

Best,

Alistair

[eschiss1]

If I recall, the Vierne has indeed been recorded commercially, with his symphony. There was a topic about this briefly in this forum, now that I look. I've only heard the symphony, though (quite good!) - not the piano-orch. work. I have heard one of Widor's piano concertos (off-air tape though, indeed.)
Eric

[thalbergmad]

One I forgot to mention is the C Minor Concerto by Marie Jaell with its monstrously difficult vivace. Possibly more of a display piece than many other French works.

Georges Mathias also wrote a couple of concertos and judging by his solo works, they might well be worth a look.

Thal

[chill319]

Thanks for the catch, ahinton. Date emended.

[giles.enders]

They arenot exactly romantic but I like the two concertos by Francis Poulenc. No one has mentioned poor old dErlanger 1868-1943 or Louise Ferranc 1804-1875 0r Dubois who wrote two.
Giles Enders

[Gareth Vaughan]

I think Baron d'Erlanger is generally considered an English composer, despite his French origins. I didn't know Louise Farrenc had written a piano concerto. Please correct me if I'm wrong and point me in the direction of the score. In fact, I thought she definitely had not and that the absence of one from her pen was to be lamented as it would probably have been very good. Theodore Dubois, certainly deserves a mention: 2 very attractive PCs and an equally charming and tuneful Suite for piano and strings. These deserve to be recorded. I'd also like to hear the 2 PCs of Marie Jaell.

[peter_conole]

Hi all

This is a fine thread for concerto folk! I agree with the comments on Debussy's Fantaisie in G for piano and orcahetsra (1890). It is a true concerto and in traditional form. It may have been Debussy who kick-started what might be considered an overly precious affectation, conceit or trend among some composers who produced a few concerted works in the 1890s and later. That is, a calling them everything but a concerto. A petty and rather adolescent rebellion against the traditional form and even more pointless if there was no real change in the musical form.

Cecil Chaminade's Concertstuck in C Sharp for piano and and orchestra was first performed at Antwerp in 1888. The work is a delight and a real hoot, starting with a massive orchestral intro that is a jolting 'take-off' of a Wagnerian theme.

One more concerto to add - Louis-Emmanuel Jadin's Piano Concerto no 4 in D Minor appeared in 1810. A work on a rather grandiose scale that, to me, sounds like a direct retort to Beethoven. It appeared on the same disc as the  concerted works of his brother Hyacinthe: Forlane label, 2003. 

regards
Peter

[jimmattt]

Wow! To actually see Marie Jaell's name in print, and to hear that thalbergmad has played it, is exciting!!!! I am new here, don't wish to bring up old stuff that may have been discussed before, but from reading about Jaell, seems her works would be worth hearing, especially her Piano Cto. I also want someone to tell me more about Louise Farrenc' Piano Concerto. I have collected obscure piano concertos for many years, only thing I love more than a big romantic piano concerto is a classical one, or a 20th century one, or... Then there are organ concertos to talk about, too. Thanks for this subject, and for the forum

[eschiss1]

Wow! To actually see Marie Jaell's name in print, and to hear that thalbergmad has played it, is exciting!!!! I am new here, don't wish to bring up old stuff that may have been discussed before, but from reading about Jaell, seems her works would be worth hearing, especially her Piano Cto. I also want someone to tell me more about Louise Farrenc' Piano Concerto. I have collected obscure piano concertos for many years, only thing I love more than a big romantic piano concerto is a classical one, or a 20th century one, or... Then there are organ concertos to talk about, too. Thanks for this subject, and for the forum

Farrenc- I'm pretty sure that was a typo, since I don't believe Farrenc's orchestral output includes any concertos. (The two of her three symphonies that I've heard, and even moreso her chamber music - e.g. two fine piano quintets, is very very good, and if you are not yet familiar with her muse I recommend acquaintance highly.) If however she did write a piano concerto- I'm glad to be wrong and hope to hear it.
Eric