The music of French composer Louise Farrenc has been unjustly forgotten over the past century and a half. Her orchestral music in particular, which reaches a kind of culmination point with the Third Symphony, is interesting. It shows how much French music in the first half of the nineteenth century was still based on German examples. Those who listen carefully will hear that Farrenc was particularly
… at home in the symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann and Mendelssohn. With a preference for absolute music (music without external content), she is the opposite of her contemporary Hector Berlioz. He composed one of the first program symphonies with his Symphonie Fantastique. Robert Schumann, with his Third Symphony, nicknamed "Rheinisch," hangs a bit in between. Initially, like Beethoven had done in his Sixth Symphony, Schumann wanted to give the individual movements descriptive titles. Eventually Schumann omitted those titles, leaving an "absolute" symphony. The combination on this album of both Farrenc's and Schumann's Third Symphony is refreshing. Both pieces originated more or less simultaneously (in 1847 and 1850, respectively). Moreover, in his journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Schumann was particularly enthusiastic about Farrenc's music: "so sure in conception, so logical in development. The nail on the head (JWvR).more
