Louise Farrenc: a French treasure

I am very passionate about French music. If I am not listening to great composers like Ravel, Debussy and Messiaen, then I am constantly on the lookout for artists that I should know.

Thanks to an intensive research I did about a couple of weeks ago, I ran into the impressive work -and life- of Louise Farrenc. 

Pianist, composer, teacher and music publisher: Louise Farrenc was absolutely devoted to music, and in each one of these facets she was able to succeed. 

In 1842, she became the only woman to become a professor at the Paris Conservatory, a position that she held for over 30 years and made her one of the most revered and respected piano teachers in the City of Lights. As a matter of fact, a lot of her students ended up winning prestigious awards like the Premier Prix and developing remarkable careers as soloists.

This restless woman also helped her husband, Aristide Farrenc, a well-known flutist, to open a publishing house known as Éditions Farrenc -considered one of the most important French music publishers of the 19th century. Le Trésor des Pianistes, a book about early music performance style, counts as Farrenc’s most notable achievement of her foray into publishing.

Farrenc was also a relentless fighter for justice. When she was working at the conservatory her salary was unfairly smaller than her male colleagues’, but she did not resign herself to accept this injustice. Instead, she fought incessantly over a decade, protesting to the authorities until she got what she deserved, which made her one of the precursors of the current women’s fight for gender equality.

As to her music, Farrenc did not fall short in regards to her ambition in other fields. She wrote lush symphonies and enchanting smaller pieces for chamber ensembles, like her famous nonet, her two piano quintets and her trio, which constitute the most notorious pieces in her repertoire.

After listening to her captivating music and reading in awe about her extraordinary life, I have to admit that I feel somewhat ashamed that I hadn’t discovered her earlier. That being said, I strongly encourage you to discover her as well -you will be in for a treat.

This is a performance of her Symphony No. 3 in G minor, by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Mikko Franck.