Ravel and Debussy share a kinship is what is called impressionism -- musical ideas more hinted than stated. Faure is more pastoral and Saint Saens has been called the "French" Beethoven; his music of the four is the least French in my opinion and more Germanic -- more emphasis on strings volume than woodwinds, drama, bigness, etc.

Some instrumental, orchestral and concert works from these composers you should hear if you don't already know them (I'll leave others to recommend piano music):

Debussy La Mer, Nocturnes, Sonata for Flute, Violin & Harp, Children's Corner Suite (piano music also orchestrated), Afternoon Of the Fawn, Clair de lune

Ravel Daphnis and Chloe or Suite 2 of same, Introduction And Allegro, Bolero, Rhapsodie Espanole, Alborada del Graciozo, La Valse

Saint Saens "Organ" symphony, Piano Concerto No. 5, Violin Concerto No. 3, Carnival Of the Animals, Danse macabre


Here are some other French composers and works you may enjoy based on what you've already said:

Ibert Escales and Symphonic Suite Paris

Roussel Serenade, Symphony 3, Bacchus & Ariadne

Jongen Symphonie concertante

Milhaud Little Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5, Concerto for Percussion, Viola Concerto No. 1, La Création du monde, Suite française

Poulenc Concerto for 2 Pianos, Concerto for Organ, Strings, Orchestra and Timpani, Sinfonietta

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Overtures, Harold In Italy

Composers from the time of the French revolution that may interest you:

Mehul Symphonies 1-4, Le chant du depart (a brief choral piece written to the revolution)

Gossec Symphonies in particular Symphonie Militaire

Jadin Overture in F major

Here is a recording of music from the time of the French revolution you may enjoy:

 

Jongen Symphonie concertante

I love this one! I bought the Michael Murray Telarc CD for a dollar at a library sale.

 

That's a great list. I'd add:

Florent Schmitt: Antony and Cleopatra and most anything else he wrote.
Franck: Symphony in D, Violin Sonata, Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra
Chausson: Symphony in B flat
Widor: Organ symphonies, the fifth being the most popular
Chabrier: collected orchestra works (all on on disk)
Dukas: Symphony, Sorcerer's Apprentice
Delibes: Sylvia, Coppelia (ballets)

 

If you like piano music, Chopin is the obvious choice. You could pick just about any piece at random. He did write two piano concertos.

Bonne chance!

 

Chopin while sounding French was Polish of course. Lots of Frenchmen wrote piano music among them Debussy -- Preludes, Images, Suite Bergmaneque and the aforementioned Children's Corner Suite -- and Eric Satie whose Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes are favorites of subtlety and nuance.

 

Chopin while sounding French was Polish of course.

True. However, he moved to France and lived his adult life there, and became a French citizen. Was he Polish? Yes. Was he French? Yes.

 

Didn't we already do this in and earlier post?

 

If so I'd be glad if you sent me a link, I couldn't find one (I'm not very good at looking tho)

 

https://www.talkclassical.com/threads/im-lost-but-at-least-i-can-say-hi.88122/post-2608084

 

Hey, so, I'm a beginner, not playing any instruments (altough I may start piano or a wind instrument next school year... wind instruments are expensive ahah), and I want to immerse myself in French music.

Why? Well, first, because I'm myself french, second, because my favorite composer is Poulenc; but I also very much like Ravel, Debussy, Fauré or Saint-Saens, even though I didn't listen to much work of the last two.

My problem is I don't know what to listen to, and what to listen for, is there an order I should listen to different composers to get a better overall picture? Certain important pieces I shoul be most familiar with? Basically, I need a guide or at least direction, because there's too much to digest.

Thanks!

If you like Poulenc then you should explore Satie - not Satie's early Rosicrucian inspired music, but the later stuff. There's a really idiomatic pianist I recommend called Eve Egoyan.

Only this week I listened to Poulenc's 15 Improvisations and I thought that if I didn't know, I would have said the music was by Satie.

 

All of the above, and give Chabrier a try. Tuneful, charming.

 

Let me introduce you to a group that I call F.O.G. The FRENCH ORGAN GANG.

Cesar Franck: Plenty of organ music, including the first true organ symphony; "Grande Piece Symphonique." Also wrote one orchestral symphony and a lot of other music.

Charles-Marie Widor: Wrote ten solo organ symphonies and other organ music, five orchestral symphonies, and plenty of piano and chamber music.

Louis Vierne: Wrote six solo organ symphonies and other organ music, one orchestral symphony, plenty of chamber music, and so forth.

Marcel Dupre: Wrote plenty of organ music, some orchestral music, the beautiful "Cortege et Litanie," and plenty of other music.

Alexandre Guilmant: Eight organ sonatas, other organ music, two symphonies for organ and orchestra, other pieces.

Charles Tournemire: A treasure trove of organ music, including "L'orgue Mystique," eight orchestral symphonies, chamber music, choral works

There are other French organ greats, but these are the standouts for me.

 

For me, Saint-Saens and Bizet would be the most accessible French composers though their 'Frenchness' of their music could be less distinct compared with that of their colleagues. Faure wrote some popular tunes (pavane, sicilienne, berceuses, elegie etc.) and a masterpiece Requiem. He also wrote a bunch of great pieces for chamber or solo piano that worth exploring, such as piano quintets, quartets, impromputs and nocturnes. There are, of course, a lot of lesser known good French composers, however I would recommend going over the basic repertoire first.

 

Dutilleux! After listening to many of the people listed by mbhaub, PathfinderCS and others, listen to to Dutilleux. His music is a culmination of the French impressionist tradition, which it merges with mid 20th-century modernism. His early works (Flute Sonintina and Piano Sonata) sound almost inseparable from Ravel/Debussy, but once you get to his First String Quartet or First Symphony, he really pushes his sound world forward.

 

There's also French opera. Some famous tunes;

Salut demeure chaste et pure (Gounod)
Les oiseaux dans la charmille (Offenbach)
Connais tu le pays (Thomas)
Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix (Saint-Saëns)
Je crois entendre encore (Bizet)
En fermant les yeux (Massenet)
Depuis le jour (Charpentier)

 

Salut! Ne demeure pas chaste et pure! would be a good chat up line.

 

After getting acquainted with Debussy, Ravel, et al., go back in time to the 1600s and listen to Jean-Baptiste Lully. You'll find some entertaining Lully videos on Youtube.

 

Ibert - Flute Concerto / Immanuel Pahud - flute
Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin / orchestral version conducted by Jean Martinon
Debussy - Images Books 1 & 2 / Claudio Arrau - piano
Dutilleux - Symphonies 1 & 2, Les Citations, violin concerto (L'Arbre des Songes), The Shadows of Time, Metaboles, Mystere de L'instant, cello concerto (Tout un monde lointain)

 

It's fairly easy to list the most well known French orchestral works since the 19th century. This should be a good basic list to get you started. I'm going to include the already mentioned Dutilleux, who was a great modern French composer!

• Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
• Franck - Symphony in D minor
• Saint Saens - Symphony No. 3 "Organ"
• Debussy - La Mer, Images
• Ravel - Bolero, Daphnis et Chloe
• Dutilleux - Timbres, espace, mouvement

I also recommend the TC Top Recommended Lists. You can easily pick out the French names there:

Compilation of the TC Top Recommended Lists

Welcome to the TC Top Recommended Lists project! The project philosophy is summarized below: - The TalkClassical members with a wide variety of interests and experiences can reach a consensus on the top works from a variety of musical forms. - The process should lead to some interesting debate...

www.talkclassical.com

 

No love for Messiaen on this thread.

 

Or Machaut, Lully or Dutilleux

 

Dutilleux was mentioned on the first page. I listed some pieces. I have a lot of Messiaen. The Kent Nagano set on BR Klassik is a fairly recent release that I can highly recommend. It includes Poemes Pour Mi, Chronochromie, and La Transfiguration...

Other recordings I enjoy:

Turangalila by Chailly or Antoni Wit
Eclairs by Simon Rattle
Des Canyons by Salonen or Chung
Chronochromie by Dorati on a Warner Classics CD which also includes Quartet for the End of Time. Fantastic sound on that CD.

 

Surprised no one mentioned this man --- Charles Koechlin:

For me, he's one of the finest composers of the 20th Century regardless of nationality. I first became immersed in his sound-world through the cycle of symphonic poems and mélodies called Le livre de la jungle, which I consider a masterpiece. Other works to check out are Le buisson ardent, Parts I & II, Vers la Voûte étoilée, all three SQs, Sonate à sept, Paysages et Marines, Violin & Viola Sonatas and Le Docteur Fabricius.