IDAGIO | Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé - Le palais hanté

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Yan Pascal Tortelier
Susan Bullock
Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo
Coro da Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo
Florent Schmitt

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Compositional Technique

In La Tragédie de Salomé, Florent Schmitt's 'Danse des éclairs' (Dance of lightning) and 'Danse de l'effroi' (Dance of fear) feature jagged, arbitrary accents and a five-in-a-bar metre, anticipating Stravinsky's 'Danse sacrale' from Le Sacre du printemps.

Critical Reception

Florent Schmitt was elected to the Institut de France in 1936, beating Igor Stravinsky, despite Stravinsky's significant influence on young French composers.

Composer Biography

Florent Schmitt, the composer, entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1889 and studied with notable teachers including Massenet and Fauré.

Composition History

La Tragédie de Salomé originated as a 'drame muet' (unsung opera) and was performed no fewer than fifty times at Jacques Rouché's Théâtre des Arts in Paris, featuring the American dancer Loïe Fuller.

Historical Context

Florent Schmitt's Le Palais hanté (The Haunted Palace) was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's tale The Fall of the House of Usher, a popular work in French intellectual circles due to translations by Baudelaire and Mallarmé.

Composition History

Florent Schmitt won the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome competition in 1900 with his cantata Sémiramis, which allowed him to spend three years studying in Rome.

Compositional Technique

In Le Palais hanté, Florent Schmitt uses two tritones, known as 'diaboli in musica' (devils in music), in the very first phrase on bass clarinet to immediately suggest an intimation of evil.