Second Overture (Op. 24) by Louise Farrenc Concert Band - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1525677

Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a wide variety of piano music. Born in Paris, she was the daughter of Jacques-Edme Dumont, a successful sculptor, and sister to Auguste Dumont, also a sculptor. She began piano studies at an early age with a former student of Clementi, with much success, and studied composition privately, as women were prohibited from traditional classes at the time. In 1821 she married Aristide Farrenc, a flute student ten years her senior, who performed regularly at concerts where Louise's family lived. Following her marriage, Farrenc interrupted her studies to give concerts throughout France with her husband. He, however, soon grew tired of the concert life and, with her help, opened a publishing house in Paris, which, as Éditions Farrenc, became one of France's leading music publishers for nearly 40 years. During the 1820s and 1830s, she composed exclusively for the piano; several of these pieces drew high praise from critics, including Robert Schumann. In the 1830s, she tried her hand at larger compositions for both chamber ensemble and orchestra. In addition to chamber music and works for solo piano, she wrote two overtures and three symphonies; despite some new editions of her chamber music after her death, her works were largely forgotten. This wonderful overture works very well for winds and is an excellent example of the kind of piece you might hear before an opera, something that Farrenc never had the opportunity to write. This arrangement has been made as part of an ongoing project to bring more music by women into the worldwide concert band repertoire.