# Your Top-20 by French Composers



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I’m vacationing in France next Summer and I’m thinking about French music. What are your Top 20 works by French composers?


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Faure
Messiaen
Boulez
Berlioz
Varese
Debussy
Ravel
Rameau 
Poulenc
Taffillferre
Milhaud
Bizet
Lully
Couperin
Lili Boulanger 
Dutilleaux
Machaut
Franck (if he counts)
Alkan
Satie


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

^ Top 20 works methinks.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Le petit elfe ferme l'oeil (either piano or orchestral version): Florent Schmitt
Anthony et Cleopatra: Florent Schmitt
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (_*or*_ Mother Goose ballet): Maurice Ravel
Estampes (for pianoforte): Claude Debussy
Symphony no. I "Le Poeme de la Foret": Albert Roussel
Poeme for Violin and Orchestra: Ernest Chausson
Symphony in D (_*or*_ Symphonic Variations): Cesar Franck
Opera in four acts "Esclarmonde": Jules Massenet
Opera in three acts "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue": Paul Dukas
Ballet "Coppelia" _*or*_ "Sylvia": Leo Delibes
Opera in three acts "Le Roi d'Ys": Edouard Lalo
Trois Sarabandes for pianoforte: Erik Satie
Three Mouvements perpétuels for pianoforte: Francis Poulenc
Piano Sonata _*or*_ Symphony no. I: Henri Dutilleux
Opera in three acts "Guercoeur": Albéric Magnard
Pelleas et Melisande: Gabriel Faure
Piano Trio in C: Guillaume Lekeu
Suite provençale, for orchestra: Darius Milhaud
Violin Concerto (_*any*_, esp. the one in G major, Op. 8): Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Opéra bouffe in three acts "Geneviève de Brabant": Jacques Offenbach
Symphony No. II in B flat _*or *_Tableaux de voyage: Vincent d'Indy
Enjoy!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

So much to choose from that making a top20 would take too much time.

My #1 spot is clear though: Faure's Requiem.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

eugeneonagain said:


> ^ Top 20 works methinks.


Ah, that makes more sense. I was kinda struggling thinking of enough French composers I really liked to fill out 20.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Top 20 is not easy. I'm not entirely certain of the order, things could up or down. There's composer repetition, but like a lot of people I like a lot of work by certain composers:

1. Preludes (particularly book 1) - Claude Debussy

2. Avant-dernières pensées - Erik Satie

3. Sonatine - Maurice Ravel

4. Wind Quintet 2 - Jean Françaix

5. Cinq Nocturnes - Erik Satie

6. Jeux d'eau - Maurice Ravel

7. String Quartet - Debussy

8. String Trio - Jean Françaix

9. Heures séculaires et Instantanées - Erik Satie

10. Meditation - Jules Massenet

11. Concerto for Percussion & Orchestra - Darius Milhaud

12. Rhapsodie (for 3 winds and piano) - Arthur Honegger

13. Wind Trio (oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon) - Georges Auric

14. Score for _Relâche_ - Erik Satie

15. Dolly Suite - Gabriel Fauré

16. The Sorceror's Apprentice - Paul Dukas

17. Amériques - Edgard Varèse

18. 25 Etudes Op.100 (youth sentiment!) - Henri Bertini

19. Carmen (the music, not the idiotic dialogue additions by other hands) - Georges Bizet

20. Flower Duet - Leo Delibes (also like his ballet Sylvia. It was the first ballet I ever saw).


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame
Josquin: Missa Pange Lingua
Mouton: Nesciens mater virgo virum
Rebel: Les Élémens
Rameau: Les Indes Galantes

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Fauré: Requiem
Hahn: À Chloris
Magnard: Symphony No. 4
Koechlin: Paysages et Marines

Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp
Ropartz: Prélude, Marine et Chansons
Varèse: Amériques
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Poulenc: Sextet for Piano and Winds

Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie
Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain
Murail: Désintégrations
Boulez: Répons
Dhomont: Forêt profonde


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Here's my current list...it changes a lot from one day to the next...

1. Debussy: Preludes, Books 1 and 2
2. Debussy: La Mer
3. Ravel: Miroirs
4. Debussy: L'isle joyeuse
5. Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

6. Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony
7. Debussy: Images for piano, books 1 and 2
8. Massenet: Thaïs 
9. Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie
10. Debussy: Trois Nocturnes

11. Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila
12. Ravel: Piano Trio
13. Debussy: String Quartet
14. Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
15. Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5, "Egyptian"

16. Bizet: Carmen
17. Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano
18. Debussy: Etudes
19. Alkan: Les quatre âges
20. Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Trout said:


> Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame
> Josquin: Missa Pange Lingua
> Mouton: Nesciens mater virgo virum
> Rebel: Les Élémens
> ...


Oops, I forgot Grisey's _Les espaces acoustiques_! I'd probably drop the Mouton for that.


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

One per composer, to preserve my sanity.

Murail: Désintégrations
Schaeffer & Henry: Symphonie pour un homme seul
Fauré: Requiem in D minor, op. 48
Honegger: Symphony #3 "Symphonie Liturgique"
Koechlin: Le Livre de la Jungle
Boulez: Répons
Grisey: Les Espaces Acoustiques
Dhomont: Forêt profonde
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Dutilleux: Ainsi la nuit
Schmitt: La tragédie de Salomé, op. 50 
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time)
Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp, L 137
Onslow: String Quintet #15 in C minor, op. 38 "The Bullet"
Alkan: Grande Sonate 'Les Quatre Âges', op. 33
Rebel: Les Élémens
Satie: Gnossiennes
Roussel: Symphony #3 in G minor, op. 42
Radulescu: Das Andere, op. 49


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Very difficult for me, considering that for whatever reason, French classical music isn't really my thing. But here was my attempt (clearly unranked):

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Bizet: Symphony in C
Chabrier: España
Chaminade: 6 Romances sans paroles
Debussy: Petite suite
Dukas: Piano Sonata
Dusapin: Aufgang
Dutilleux: Métaboles
Françaix: Clarinet Concerto
Lalo: Cello Concerto
Magnard: Symphony No. 3
Poulenc: Les biches
Poulenc: Flute Sonata
Poulenc: Piano Concerto
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
Saint-Saëns: Clarinet Sonata
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2
Varèse: Amériques


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

In no particular order:

Chausson Symphony 
Debussy Violin Sonata
Ravel Piano Concerto in G
Berlioz Symphony Fantastique
Magnard Violin Sonata

Saint Saens Piano Concerto no 2
Poulenc Flute Sonata
Ravel Piano Trio
Chausson Piano Trio
Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Poulenc Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano
Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals
Ravel Tzigane
Debussy Sonata for Viola, Flute and harp
Faure Requiem

Saint Saens Symphony no 3
Bizet L'Arlesienne Suites
Poulenc Gloria
Faure Violin Sonata
Ravel Daphnis and Chloe


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

If I posted my top 20 French Composer works surely the world would by necessity end. I have to keep such information secret.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

My list won't indicate anything by Varèse since all his mature compositions (which I like a lot) were written 1) after he departed from France and 2) during his residence in the U.S.A. Thus, I consider the works by Varèse to be American and not as "French" just because he was of French lineage. André Jolivet, the only European student of Varèse, was truly a French composer and you'll see some of his works (as well as some by Maurice Ohana in spite of his mixed heritage) in my list below:

1. _Le buisson ardent_ by Charles Koechlin
2. Jolivet's _Symphonie N.3_
3. _Livre des prodiges_ by Ohana
4. _Le miroir de Jesus_ by André Caplet
5. Koechlin's _Ballade pour piano et orchestre_

6. _Les Perses_ by Jean Prodromidès (this is my icon/avatar in TC)
7. Koechlin's 1921 _Quintette_
8. _Le livre des Katuns_ by Prodromidès
9. Koechlin's _Les heures Persanes_
10. _Timbres, Espace, Mouvement_ by Henri Dutilleux

11. Jolivet's _La fleche du temps_
12. _La noche triste_ by Prodromidès
13. Ohana's _T'haran-ngo_
14. Jolivet's _Missa uxor tua_
15. Dutilleux's _L'arbre des songes_

16. _Symphonie concertante_ by Florent Schmitt
17. _L'hiver qui vient ... _ by Aubert Lemeland
18. Jolivet's _Cinq danses rituelles_
19. Schmitt's _Antony et Cleopatra_
20. _Requiem_ by Renaud Gagneux

Plus a special mention for George Enescu's opera _Oedipe_ [which is sung in French and possesses orchestrations which sound French (to me)], though I don't know if this opus is formally deemed a French work within official classical music circuits.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Bettina said:


> Here's my current list...it changes a lot from one day to the next...
> 
> 1. Debussy: Preludes, Books 1 and 2
> 
> ...


I was surprised you didn't include _Estampes_. Your top 20 is unique to you, so I'm not criticising it. For myself, I never warmed to _Images_ and I feel the preludes supersedes them. To be honest though, most of both Estampes and Images are a bit beyond my piano ability..so I'm not particularly speaking from a player's point-of-view.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (complete)
Ravel: Ma Mere l'Oye (ballet)
Ravel: String Quartet
Ravel: La Valse
Ravel: Piano Trio

Ravel: Introduction & Allegro
Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales
Debussy: Beau Soir
Debussy: La Mer
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Debussy: L'Enfant Prodigue
Debussy: Symphony in b minor
Debussy: String Quartet
Debussy: Jeux
Faure: Cantique de Jean Racine (op 11)

Faure: Apres une Reve
Faure: Pavanne (op 50)
Ibert: Escales
Saint Saens: Symphony #3
Chaminade: Concertino for Flute & Orchestra (op 107)


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## josquindesprez (Aug 20, 2017)

Something like this:

Bizet, Carmen
Bizet, L'Arlésienne Suites
Debussy, String Quartet
Dufay, Isorhythmic Motets
Dufay, Missa Se la face ay pale
Dukas, Sorcerer's Apprentice
Josquin, Missa l'homme armé sexti toni
Josquin, Missa une mousse de Biscaye
Josquin, Missa pange lingua
Josquin, Qui habitat
Messiaen, Livre du Saint Sacrement
Offenbach, Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Poulenc, Dialogues of the Carmelites
Poulenc, Mass in G
Poulenc, Sept chansons
Poulenc, Un soir de niege
Saint-Saëns, Bacchanale
Saint-Saëns, Symphony 3
Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe
Ravel, String Quartet

There are some Franco-Flemish composers that I'd include, but not sure if I can call them exactly French (Ockeghem and de la Rue, for example).


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## StDior (May 28, 2015)

Peter Abelard: Planctus David super Saul et Ionatha
Jaufre Rudel: Lanquan li jorn
Machaut: Se j'aim mon loyal ami / Lasse! comment oublieray / Pour quoy me bat mes matris? (with Ensemble Musica Nova)
Machaut: Veni creator spiritus / Christe, quie lux es / Tribulatio proxima est et non est qui adjuvet 
Machaut: Plange, regni respublica / Tu qui gregem tuum ducis / Apprehende arma et scutum et exurge
Dufay: Ecclesie militantis (with Huelgas ensemble)
Dufay: Nuper rosarum flores 
Dufay: Salve flos Tusce gentis
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Franck: Piano trio Op.1
Saint Saens: Swan
Saint Saens: Organ symphony
Delibes: Lakme
Bizet: Carmen
Debussy: Le petite suite
Debussy: String quartet
Ravel: String quartet
Boulez: Répons
Boulez: Anthèmes II
Grisey: Les Espaces acoustiques

+1: Certainly French composer from the Le Manuscrit du Roi - Estampies & Danses Royales: La seconde Estampie Royale


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## KJ von NNJ (Oct 13, 2017)

Couperin - Les Barricades mysterieuses, from Orde 6eme de Clavecin, Book II.
Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Berlioz - L'enfance du Christ
Berlioz - Les Troyens
Saint-Saens - Piano Concerto #1 (all five really)
Saint-Saens - Symphony #1 in E flat major
Poulenc - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra FP51a
Poulenc - Mass in G
Magnard - Symphony #3
Magnard - Symphony #4
Magnard - Quintet for Piano and Winds
Chausson - Symphony in B-flat
Ravel - Piano Concerto in G
Debussy - Preludes
Debussy - La Mer
Faure - Requiem
Bizet - Carmen
Delibes - Coppelia
Delibes - Sylvia

I think another twenty or thirty would cover most of what I enjoy. I love CSS's Organ Symphony but I ran out of room.
At least three more by Ravel, Faure, CSS, Poulenc, Berlioz and Magnard. Not to even mention many other composers of whom I have a somewhat limited amount of listening experience.There are so many to explore. This thread has given me some insight into what I am missing. Thanks all!


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Ravel - Piano trio; Introduction et Allegro for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet
Chausson - Concert for violin, piano and string quartet
Saint-Saëns - Piano concerto 5
Berlioz - Te Deum, Harold en Italie
Roussel - Symphony 2, Bacchus et Ariane
Debussy - String quartet; Sonata for flute, viola and harp
Messiaen - Trois Petites liturgies de la présence divine
Poulenc - Organ concerto, Flute sonata
Duruflé - Requiem
Le Flem - Piano quintet
Varèse - Arcana
Cras - Piano quintet
Magnard - String quartet, Symphony 3
d'Indy - Istar Variations
Lalo - Piano trio 3


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