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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)

Composer of the Week: Louise Farrenc (1804-1875): Episode 5: Dark Victories

Episode 5

Episode 5: Dark Victories

Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)

Dark Victories

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Louise Farrenc (1804-1875), Dark Victories

Donald Macleod discusses Louise Farrenc's activities in the later part of her life.

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.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of 19th-century French composer Louise Farrenc. While her reputation was built on writing instrumental and chamber music, she also produced vocal music

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Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)

Episode 5: Dark Victories

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