Gounod's instrumental music doesn't enjoy the same renown as his operas, in particular Faust, which remains one of the most-played works in the world. Written in 1889, the Petite Symphonie for wind instruments emerges from this obscurity, thanks to its utterly charming melodic qualities, which would not have disgraced a composer like Chabrier.
The problem of the symphony in France remained central for a good portion of the 19th century. Of course, there were the symphonies that Hayden and Mozart had composed for Paris; and then those by Beethoven were played superbly; but there was little appetite for playing new works by French composers. Berlioz had to gather together musicians himself in order to get his played. Gounod met this challenge when he wrote his Symphonie en ré majeur in 1852 following the misadventures of his opera La Nonne sanglante. Only partially performed by the Concerts Pasdeloup in 1855, this is a joyful score, but an undeniable Beethovian shadow looms, in particular over the Allegretto which recalls the Seventh Symphony. Commissioned to reduce it for the piano, a very young Bizet, just 17, was inspired to write his own, sole, symphony, which he thought of as a student's essay, unworthy of publication. But what happened next is well-known: by an irony of history, this youthful work was rediscovered and published in the 20th century and is now well-known, to the detriment of Gounod who served as its inspiration. © François Hudry/Qobuz