Farrenc

Few will have heard of Louise Farrenc (1804-1875). She seems to have spent most of her life in Paris, receiving tuition from Antonin Reicha, Hummel and Moscheles. She wrote a considerable amount of piano and chamber music and was appointed professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire in 1842. Whilst other female composers of the period, such as Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, focused on songs and instrumental works, Farrenc progressed to writing three symphonies and two overtures.

Pursuing a musical career was no easy matter for women in the 19th century, but Louise Farrenc’s character and determination resulted in her becoming a respected part of the European scene, and the first ever female senior professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Farrenc’s Second Symphony owes something to Mozartian models, with imaginative writing for winds and hints of Beethoven. The Third Symphony is notable for a richness of harmonic writing which, in its colour and lyricism, is reminiscent of Mendelssohn and Schumann.

Louise Farrenc was renowned in her lifetime as a pianist, composer and teacher, but it is only recently that her compositions have emerged from many years of neglect, Symphony No. 1 in C minor- cast in the German tradition- is an exceptionally accomplished work, finely orchestrated, lyrical and fiery, and a substantial contribution to the canon. The Grand Variations on a Theme by Count Gallenberg is a showcase for virtuosic elegance, and the two overtures demonstrate real theatrical drama- Overture No. 2 was admired by no less a figure than Hector Berlioz.

Louise Farrenc was renowned in her lifetime as a pianist, composer and teacher, but it is only recently that her compositions have emerged from many years of neglect. Symphony No. 1 in C minor—cast in the German tradition—is an exceptionally accomplished work, finely orchestrated, lyrical and fiery, and a substantial contribution to the canon. The Grand Variations on a Theme by Count Gallenberg is a showcase for virtuosic elegance, and the two overtures demonstrate real theatrical drama—Overture No. 2 was admired by no less a figure than Hector Berlioz.

New Chamber Music by Louise Farrenc
Following the release of her symphonies, our ambitious Louis Farrenc Edition continues with more chamber music by this French composer. Shortly after her first symphony (1841) she composed her first piano trio and performed it herself as the pianist together with two fellow musicians in Paris.

The case for Louise Farrenc no longer requires special pleading: she has emerged in the last decade as a major figure among French composers of the early-Romantic era, whose neglect in previous eras can only be understood in the context of her gender. Both live performances and recordings have revealed.